When Busy Becomes Your Identity: How to Break Free of Exhaustion and Get Into Energy and Ease

If you’re reading this while your coffee goes cold (again), your phone pings with reminders, and you’re already wondering how you’ll get through today’s to-do list…

Take a deep breath. You’re not alone.

For so many women, feeling busy, stressed, tired, and overwhelmed has become the new normal. 

It’s almost as if exhaustion is a badge of honour, and juggling too much is just what’s expected. 

Maybe you’ve even found yourself thinking, “This is just how life is. Everyone feels this way, it’s normal.”

But what if that’s not meant to be normal? 

What if constant overwhelm wasn’t your everyday reality?

In this post, we’ll explore why so many of us feel this way, how our culture has made stress feel like the default setting, and why you’re not alone—or broken—for feeling overwhelmed. 

Because while you might be used to running on empty, it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Why is constant stress and overwhelm so normal?

With a culture that celebrates being busy all the time, it’s no wonder that feeling stressed and overwhelmed seems like the new normal.

Hustle culture tells us that working long hours, always being available, and sacrificing rest are just the price of success, especially for women who are often juggling work, family, and everything in between. 

Social media and society in general constantly reinforce the idea that if you’re not busy, you’re falling behind, making it easy to compare ourselves to others and feel like we’re never doing enough.

But there’s more beneath the surface: the invisible load that so many women carry. 

It’s not just about checking off tasks at work or home—it’s the mental labour of remembering birthdays, managing schedules, keeping the peace in relationships, and making sure nothing falls through the cracks. 

This invisible labour is exhausting and, because it’s rarely acknowledged, it becomes yet another part of what’s expected.

Over time, all of this gets normalized. 

We see everyone around us running on empty, so we assume it’s just how life is supposed to be. The lines between work and personal life blur, and the pressure to keep up never lets up. 

But… It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way

Stress and overwhelm might be everywhere, but that doesn’t mean they’re healthy, or that we have to accept them as our default setting.

I did for way too long. Working evenings and weekends, signing up for clubs and committees, and coaching various sports teams… as a teacher, many of my colleagues were doing the same. It was “normal”.

Years of feeling utterly exhausted and overwhelmed led me to question if this way of living was just how it had to be. 

I promise you, it’s not. There’s another way, and you’re worthy of finding it.

The truth is: 

Just because feeling overwhelmed and exhausted is common, it doesn’t mean it’s normal—or healthy. 

We’ve been conditioned to believe that running on empty is part of being a successful woman, but that’s simply not true. 

When stress becomes our everyday state, it takes a real toll—not only on our energy, but on our health, our relationships, and our sense of joy. 

This is what burnout looks like: the emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that creeps in when we push too hard for too long. 

I know firsthand how easy it is to ignore the warning signs and keep going, thinking “this is just how life is.” 

But I need you to know: it’s not supposed to be this way. 

You deserve more than merely surviving—you deserve to feel balanced, purposeful, and totally blissed out with your life.

And you don’t have to wait for a wake-up call to start making a change.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or as if you’re barely keeping your head above water, please know this isn’t a personal failing. 

These feelings are a completely natural response to the relentless pressures and expectations our society places on women. 

We’re handed impossible to-do lists, expected to show up for everyone, and told that our worth is measured by how much we can juggle without dropping the ball. 

I’ve been there too—carrying the weight of it all, wondering what was wrong with me when I couldn’t keep up (and this was before even having children!). 

I remember the moment I realized I couldn’t keep living on autopilot. I was pouring my heart into my work and my community, but inside, I felt empty and disconnected. 

That was when I knew I had to do something different, and I started taking steps away from the busy-ness and toward something better. 

It eventually led me here, helping women like you rediscover what lights them up.

There’s nothing wrong with you and you’re not broken. 

It’s just that you’ve been taught to believe that burnout is simply part of the deal, but I promise, it doesn’t have to be. 

You get to feel calm, energized, and inspired by your own life. Your life gets to be spacious, joyful, and deeply meaningful.

 Your first step to experiencing the peace, balance, and joy you crave is getting clear on where you are today. 

My Burnout Reality Check is a quick, insightful way to see how much stress you’re carrying—and the first step toward making meaningful change.

Take a well-deserved moment for yourself and do it now.

Next time, I’ll share how you can start breaking free from this cycle and step into a life that feels lighter, more energized, and deeply aligned with who you truly are.