Parental burnout? What to do before you lose it

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Sometimes, parents and caregivers can feel overwhelmed or burned out. Caring for children can feel exhausting and add up without us even realizing it.

What’s a parent to do?

In this episode of In It, we talk with Dr. Nekeshia Hammond. Hammond is a psychologist, executive function coach, and motivational speaker. She specializes in helping people navigate burnout and exhaustion, as well as how to build resiliency.

During our conversation, Nekeshia shows us ways to answer the following questions:

• How am I doing?
• What do I need?
• What steps can I take today to make some improvements in my life?

She also talks about the importance of finding support you can lean on and understanding that you, as a parent or caregiver, don’t have to do everything. 

Timestamps

(02:08) Taking a minute

(04:47) Adult time-outs for managing parental burnout

(06:28) Long-term strategies for your mental health and finding boundaries

(11:11) Delegating tasks and accepting help

(14:07) What to do when we lose it

(17:10) Knowing when to walk away

(20:25) Feeling isolated

Related resources

• Parenting guilt: Tips to get past it
• A personal conversation about being a mom (and woman) with ADHD
• “I’m not yelling—you’re yelling!” Tips for staying calm when kids act out
• Building self-compassion skills
• 32 examples of workplace accommodations

For a transcript of this episode and additional resources, visit the In It page on Understood.org.

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Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give