How Much of My Day Do I Actually Enjoy?

As a working mom, business owner, and someone who spends a lot of time thinking about mental load, I've been reflecting on a simple question:

How much of my day do I actually enjoy?

Not every task needs to be enjoyable, of course. But when too much of our time is spent doing things that drain us, burnout isn't far behind. And if I’m approaching burn out, am I giving my kids the best of me, or just what's leftover?

What struck me recently is how closely the major contributors to burnout overlap with the realities of modern parenting.

1. Excessive Workload

Many parents are effectively working two jobs: the one they're paid for and the one required to run a household. When every hour is spoken for, even small disruptions can feel overwhelming.

2. Lack of Control

School schedules, appointments, activities, and family logistics can leave us feeling like we're constantly reacting instead of choosing how we spend our time.

3. Insufficient Reward

A lot of parenting and household management is invisible. The more smoothly everything runs, the less anyone notices the work that made it happen.

4. Lack of Community and Support

Parenting was never meant to be a solo endeavor. Yet many families are trying to manage work, children, and a household with very little support.

5. Perceived Unfairness

Burnout often grows when one person is carrying more of the mental load, planning, organizing, remembering, and coordinating than everyone else.

6. Values Mismatch

This one hits hardest for me. Most parents don't dream of spending their evenings managing calendars, paperwork, and errands. We want to spend our time connecting with our kids, our partners, our friends, and ourselves.

A Question Worth Asking

Take a look at your average (or upcoming) week and ask yourself:

• Which tasks energize you?

• Which tasks drain you?

• Which tasks could someone else do? Not because you're incapable of doing them, but because your time and energy are finite.

At Heron House Management, we believe outsourcing isn't about avoiding responsibility. It's about intentionally deciding where your energy creates the most value.

Because their childhood is short and our kids deserve more than the exhausted version of us that shows up after we've spent all day working and carrying the mental load.

They deserve our presence, our attention, our patience, and our joy and honestly, so do we.