The Power of Pause: A Work Life Balance Strategy for Working Mums

If you’re a working mum, chances are you’ve googled “how to find work life balance” or “how to avoid burnout.”  You’re not alone. Between school drop-offs, deadlines, meetings, family commitments and that never-ending to-do list, life can feel overwhelming.

It’s easy to slip into autopilot — doing, doing, doing — without ever stopping to ask if this is how we actually want to live. Over time, that constant motion leads to dissatisfaction, stress, anxiety, and eventually, burnout.

I’ve seen it time and time again with my clients (and lived it myself): small fixes don’t break the cycle.

• Setting new boundaries.

• Promising yourself an hour of “me time.”

• Squeezing in a quick yoga class.

  
  

These aren’t bad things. But when life ramps up — as it always does — those quick fixes fall by the wayside. And when they do, we’re left feeling even more deflated than before.

Why Working Mums Need to Pause

The only way to truly reset and reclaim control of your journey is to pause.

Pause doesn’t mean giving up or doing less. It means pressing reset — stepping back long enough to reflect and realign with what really matters.

When you pause, you create the space to ask yourself:

• What do I truly want in this phase of life?

• Why do I want it?

• What do I want my days to look and feel like?

• What genuinely lights me up?

This isn’t about becoming less busy. It’s about becoming busy with intention. When your choices align with your values, life starts to feel lighter, more fulfilling, and more in flow.

From Burnout to Balance

When working mums skip the pause, life owns us. We end up burning energy on things that don’t move us forward, running in circles, and edging closer to burnout.

But when we pause, something shifts:✨ Clarity emerges.✨ Boundaries make sense.✨ Every decision becomes strategic.✨ Busyness turns into progress.

The pause transforms overwhelm into direction. It’s the difference between treading water and swimming towards shore.

My 3-Step Framework: Pause → Design → Strategise

This is why “Pause” is the first step in the framework I use with my clients:

1. Pause: Step off autopilot. Reset. Reflect on what you really want.

2. Design: Create a vision for a life and career that excites you.

3. Strategise: Build a practical roadmap to make it happen.

It always begins with pause — because without it, everything else is just more noise.

If you’re a working mum feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stuck, the best thing you can do isn’t to try harder. It’s to pause.

Pause isn’t wasted time. It’s where balance begins, clarity emerges, and your journey forward finally feels like your own.

Because the power of pause isn’t about stopping — it’s about choosing a path that allows you to thrive.