Burned Out & Overbooked: Why Female Entrepreneurs Need to Start Scheduling Joy
As a female entrepreneur in midlife, I’ve spent years building businesses, mastering personal development, and pushing toward success. Most days, I’m pouring energy into growing my own brand or someone else’s, and when I’m not doing that, I’m listening to workshops or podcasts on mindset, neuroscience, conversion techniques, and marketing strategies. Between January and June of 2025 I had already listened to 173 podcasts!
It’s not that I don’t believe in rest. I do. I walk daily. I eat well. I go to the gym, get massages, see my acupuncturist, and maintain a wellness routine that many would envy.
But this morning, I looked in the mirror and saw someone who looked nothing like “well.” I looked haggard. Exhausted. The kind of face that doesn’t lie.
Here’s the kicker - I actually don’t feel exhausted. I had a pretty relaxing weekend. I slept reasonably well. But something was off. What I saw in the mirror was the cost of running at full capacity for too long, of building everything around productivity and growth while never, ever making room for joy.
Like many other high-achieving women and female founders I know, I’ve equated self-growth with self-care. My version of “me time” involves learning new techniques for business growth or consuming content on how to be a better leader, marketer, or coach. And when I have an hour to myself? I fill it with something “useful.”
So when my friend suggested I add some joy into my week, I didn’t even know how to respond.
“What do you do for fun?”
I don’t.
“What’s your hobby?”
I said “personal development” LOL and we both laughed.
I don’t actually have any.
“Okay, let’s schedule some joy.”
Right.... because I don’t even know how to do joy unless it’s structured – that's my fun little Capricorn rising.
That’s when it hit me:
This is not okay. I’ve created a life where joy is so absent, I have to pencil it in - and even then, I feel guilty.
So I’m doing something different. I’m putting Sundays back in my calendar - but not for planning, strategizing, or personal development. Just for joy.
No funnels.
No optimization.
No “healing work.”
Just being.
I’ll walk just to walk - not to track steps. I’ll watch a show just because I want to. I’ll try things like wine tastings, flower markets, or reading something completely useless and lovely. I don’t even know yet - but I’m going to find out.
Because maybe the routines that once worked no longer serve this season of life. Maybe weekday evenings of rest aren’t enough to offset the pressure and responsibility of being a midlife female entrepreneur.
Maybe I need more.
Maybe you do too.
So this quarter, I’m making joy part of my business strategy - not just as a midlife female entrepreneur, but as a human who wants to thrive.
I’m choosing joy. Even if I have to pencil it in.