Dr. Celia
00:00 – 00:27
It’s October, the leaves are turning, pumpkin spice is everywhere, and if you’re like most moms, you’re already mentally calculating all the things holidays are going to be demanding of you. School parties, teacher gifts, travel, family expectations, meal planning, and oh yes, your business still needs to run. Maybe you had this moment. You’re trying to send out Black Friday emails, but your brain keeps jumping to Halloween costumes, the Thanksgiving grocery list, and just remembering what set of grandparents you’re supposed to call first on Christmas morning.
Dr. Celia
00:28 – 00:50
It’s like trying to run two full-time jobs in your head without the assistant. The holidays don’t just add joy, they add invisible weight to your already overloaded mental load. And if you don’t get ahead of this, you’re going to end the year exhausted, resentful and scrambling to recover instead of celebrating your wins. In today’s episode, I’m going to break down why the holiday mental load is so heavy for mom entrepreneurs.
Dr. Celia
00:51 – 01:16
The psychology behind it and how you can create a holiday plan that lets you protect your energy, show up for your business, and actually enjoy the season. And I’ll share a tool that’ll help you turn all this chaos into a weekly plan in under 10 minutes. So let’s start with why mental load spikes so much around this time of year. Mental load is an ongoing invisible work of remembering, planning, and anticipating, and research shows that it’s mostly on women.
Dr. Celia
01:17 – 01:48
Recent research, including a study published by Journal of Marriage and Family, found that mothers handle about 71% of the mental load, which is planning, scheduling, organizing, compared to the 45% by fathers, even in a dual-income household. Now, add in the holidays where traditions, family logistics, and cultural expectations pile on and the invisible work multiplies. For me, the tipping point was the year I forgot to register my son early enough for preschool. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, it was just that I was carrying all the things in my head.
Dr. Celia
01:48 – 02:06
The endless appointments, family travel, unpacking in our new home, then applying for preschool early enough just slipped my mind. And then the guilt I felt afterwards when I realized that I missed the early registration deadline. I felt like I failed as a mom and business owner and it was crushing. But in reality, it was really the mental load, not me.
Dr. Celia
02:06 – 02:36
It was just I had so much on my plate and struggling so many new transitions, so many things that I just dropped the ball on the one thing I didn’t know I was dropping the ball on at that time. What I wish I had was the Biz Mom Mental Load Planning App that I had built so I could go back in time and not drop the ball on this. And I just wanted to let you know that it’s not that you’re bad at juggling, it’s that you’re carrying double the invisible work during the holiday season, and naming it is the first step to changing it. Here’s what I know.
Dr. Celia
02:37 – 03:04
Your brain only has so much bandwidth. Cognitive load theory tells us that when working memory is overloaded, performance suffers. And that’s why you might feel scattered, forgetful, or less creative when holiday planning starts because it’s also competing with your business priorities. So research from the American Psychological Association shows that 38% of the people report increased stress during the holidays, with women significantly more likely to say they feel responsible for keeping the traditions alive.
Dr. Celia
03:04 – 03:28
And for mom entrepreneurs, that stress often translates into lost momentum in business, missed marketing opportunities, inconsistent client communication, or lack of clarity in decision making. And I’ve seen this in my own business. One December, I delayed launching a program because I was so mentally consumed with coordinating holiday travel, shopping, and extended family plans. And that decision cost me momentum and revenue.
Dr. Celia
03:29 – 03:54
Looking back, it wasn’t a lack of ability or strategy, it was just a sheer weight of mental load. Your holiday mental load isn’t just a personal stressor, it directly impacts your ability to show up in your business with the focus and creativity that you need. So, you’re probably wondering, like, how do we manage this? Well, I’m going to give you a couple of tips and I hope this helps you when you’re in the middle of, like, mental load holiday with everything going on.
Dr. Celia
03:54 – 04:10
First, brain dump everything, both business and family tasks. Getting it out of your head reduces anxiety and gives you a clear starting point. Second, prioritize based on energy and capacity, not perfection. And third, build in buffers and backup plans because chaos will happen.
Dr. Celia
04:11 – 04:32
When I started doing brain dumps during the holiday season, I realized how much I was just holding in my head. Once everything was on paper, I could see a lot of what I thought was going to be urgent really wasn’t. That’s when I started experimenting with systems to help me filter, prioritize, and plan realistically. And those experiments eventually evolved into a framework that I built into BizMob Mental Load Planning App.
Dr. Celia
04:33 – 04:50
It’s a tool that helps you turn those invisible weight of motherhood and business into a realistic weekly plan that actually fits your life in under 10 minutes. You don’t need to do more. You need a system that helps you do what actually fits into your chaotic life. Finally, let’s talk about your energy.
Dr. Celia
04:51 – 05:22
Your nervous system was not designed to live in a constant fight or flight. Simple practices like scheduling recovery time after big events, saying no to non-essential traditions, and aligning your work with your natural energy rhythms can actually protect your mental health. One study from the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that recovery experiences like rest, detachment from work, engaging in enjoyable activities significantly reduces stress and improves long-term productivity. One of the hardest lessons I learned as a mom and entrepreneur is that saying yes to everything means saying no to myself.
Dr. Celia
05:23 – 05:58
One holiday season I was supposed to bring dessert to a small group gathering and instead of stressing over baking it from scratch I just picked up something from the store and guess what like no one cared and By doing this like I had more energy to show up for my clients the next day and actually enjoy the evening with my family This small shift reminded me that protecting my energy doesn’t have to mean big sacrifices sometimes it’s just the simplest choice that makes the biggest difference and So protecting your energy is not optional. It’s the foundation that allows you to enjoy the holidays and keeps your business moving forward. So let’s recap.
Dr. Celia
05:58 – 06:15
The mental load is heavier because traditions and logistics multiply. It impacts your business by draining your focus and creativity. And the way through this is a brain dump, prioritizing realistically, built-in buffers, and protect your energy. And here’s the good news.
Dr. Celia
06:15 – 06:33
You do not have to carry the holiday mental load on your own. The Biz Mom Mental Load Planning App officially launches next week. And it was built just for mom entrepreneurs like us. In less than 10 minutes, it’ll help you turn all that invisible weight of motherhood and business into a weekly plan that actually fits your real life.
Dr. Celia
06:35 – 07:00
As a thank you for being part of the community from beginning, you will get the founding members pricing which is just $19 a month or $190 a year. And if you want this before it opens to the public next week, email me at celia at mindsetcoachmd.com and I will send you the link. So, Bisma, you deserve to end the year with peace, not burnout. You can run a business, love your family, and still feel like you.
Dr. Celia
07:01 – 07:23
Let’s make your holiday season the first one that feels light, doable, and aligned with your values. And if you love today’s episode, make sure you subscribe, share with another mom entrepreneur, and check out the show notes for the email to ask for early access to the Biz Mom Mental Health Planning app. This is the year you’ll drop the overwhelm and step into a season that actually works for you.
