This is for my busy mums out there. If you often feel pulled in a hundred directions, like your brain is never at rest, you’re not alone. Being a busy mum means carrying an invisible burden, the mental load of managing family, work, and life’s endless tasks. This juggling act can lead to stress and burnout if left unmanaged.

In this post, you’ll find practical, actionable steps you can take right now: gentle routines, mindset shifts, and easy self-care that fit your unpredictable schedule. I’ll share real strategies I use with tools like Notion to lighten my mental load and help you find more calm and confidence in your day.

What Is Mental Load And Why Does It Overwhelm You?

Mental load isn’t just chores it’s the invisible mental effort of anticipating, reminding, and organizing everything that keeps your household running. It’s like a background to-do list that never seems to pause. 

You might be feeling this load especially hard if you find yourself balancing kids’ activities, meals, work commitments, and emotional support all while trying to care for yourself. Recognizing this is a powerful first step toward managing it.

Have you ever felt wiped out from holding everyone’s schedules and plans in your head, wondering if you’re forgetting something important? That’s a mental load.

Actionable Habits You Can Start Today

1. Choose Your Word Of The Year To Set Intentions

My words are Streamline and Optimize. Pick a word that inspires you to simplify and ease your mental load. Use it like a compass to guide your planning and your daily choices. What word will you pick to help steady your focus this year?

2. Weekly Top 3 Priorities. Keep It Focused

Every week, write down your top three must-do tasks. I use Notion as my digital planner to track mine, but a notebook works just as well whatever you love to use. Focus on tasks that will ease your stress or create breathing room in your week ahead. This focus helps you channel your energy where it makes the biggest difference and slows overwhelm. Try asking yourself. What three things will help me feel successful this week? This is personal to you and your life. 

3. Build Flexible Morning and Night check

Start your day with a short daily check-in. Review your priorities, jot down a gratitude list for that day, and choose one key task you want to work on today. One morning, I just started getting up before my little one got up so I could have a quiet moment with myself and my own thoughts. That small change made a massive difference to how my whole day now goes. 

This is my daily check-in page inside notion.  

End your day with a daily check-out. Note your wins, acknowledge challenges, and do a brain dump to clear your mind. My routines live in Notion and are very flexible for me to move around.

This is my daily check-out page. 

Imagine starting your day calm and grounded, and ending it by releasing mental clutter with ease just a few minutes each time.

4. Plan With Buffers To Manage Interruptions

Life as a busy mum is unpredictable! Add extra time to tasks and keep and use a calendar when you plan each week. Updated it every week for things that are coming up. Adding buffers in your calendar will really help. Try adding an extra 10-30 minutes to each task, or plan transitions deliberately.

Also, move apps that drain your attention into a folder and turn off notifications on your mobile phone. I don’t have notifications on and find this step hugely calming for my brain. I love to be in control of my own time. 

5. Create A Daily One-Thing Self-Care Menu

You don’t need hours, just one small act of self-care a day can refresh your mind and body. Make a self-care menu to pick from guilt-free. You are allowed to have time for yourself. Don’t let mum guilt get in your head. You need to be able to fill your own cup first to be able to be there for your family with intention. 

• Overnight hydrating mask (I swear by the KORMESIC Hyaluronic Acid Sleeping Mask. Been using this for the past year. Its lasted me ages
• Jade roller or blackhead remover tool. I got mine from temu
• Painting your nails
• Listening to music what you love
• Watch your favorite movie
• Five minutes journaling or meditation
• Coloring 
• Quick walk outside
  

Making this list can also be a fun little project with a friend or partner.

6. Mindset Shifts To Ease Mum Guilt And Build Compassion

Check in with your mood daily and rate how you feel on a scale of 1-5. Practice affirmations. 

I am doing my best, and that is enough. This is my daily reminder to myself.

Remember, your routines are yours to shape no pressure to do long rituals. Kindness toward yourself matters most. You can change what you’re doing whenever you like. 

How I Use Notion To Manage My Mental Load

Notion is like my digital brain and safe calm space. My checklists, gratitude journals, priorities, and reflections all live there. Each time I open it, my mental load lightens because my worries are finally organized, not bouncing around in my head.

Using Notion has helped me offload mental clutter and live with more ease and intention. Im more focus now than before. 

Books I Recommend For You

Here are some great reads for you to have a go. 

• The Mental Load: A Feminist Comic by Emma. A witty, relatable comic about the invisible mental work many mums carry.
  
• Overload: How to Unplug, Unwind and Free Yourself from the Pressure of Stress by Joyce Meyer. Practical steps to reduce stress and find peace.
  
• Fair Play: Share the Mental Load, Rebalance Your Relationship and Transform Your Life by Eve Rodsky. Insightful advice on sharing household and emotional labor.
  

Your Next Steps

• Pick your word of the year
• Write down your top 3 priorities for this week in Notion, a planner or how ever you do this normally
• Create your daily check-in and daily check-out pages. Start them of small you can always add more later
• Build your self-care menu and pick one thing to try today. You will feel so much more lighter the more you do this
• If you want, I can provide a Notion template to help you organize your mental load. Let me know if you want me to create this for you
  

Remember, starting small even one new habit today can steadily build more calm and confidence.

Final Thought

Lightening your mental load takes time; it’s a journey, not a quick fix. With small, intentional changes and kind self-talk, you can reclaim calm, joy, and presence in your day. You deserve support and simplicity.

You aren’t alone. Every small step you take leads you closer to calm and joy. Feel free to share your journey or tips in the comments. I’d love to hear from you and connect.