Episode 66 - 5 Shifts That Helped Me Stop Feeling Overwhelmed as a Single Mom

Being a single mom feels like A LOT sometimes. You’re trying to take care of your kids, while juggling work, managing a house and no one is taking care of you. It feels overwhelming!

Overwhelming isn’t sustainable – and it’s probably not how you want to show up as a mom. 

Today, I’m sharing 5 ways that I’ve been able to shift OUT of overwhelm into being a more relaxed and fun mother.

Enjoy :)

If you want to break free from the 9 to 5 or spend more time with your family, then check out this FREE webinar that goes over exactly what I'm doing to create time and financial freedom.
https://www.breakingfreewithlindsay.com/learn

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Transcript

If you're listening today as a single mama who feels stretched thin, pulled in too many directions, and maybe just a little tired of holding everything together… this one’s for you.

I want to start with this:

You are doing an incredible job.
Even if you don’t feel like it.
Even if the house is messy, the schedule is overflowing, and your nervous system is hanging on by a thread.

Single motherhood is one of the most sacred and demanding paths I know. It asks more of us than we thought we had to give—and then asks again the next day. But I also believe this: you don’t have to live in a constant state of burnout to be a good mom.

So today, I want to walk you through a few mindset shifts and tangible practices that have helped me move from survival mode into something that actually feels sustainable—even beautiful.

✨ 1. Set Realistic Goals That Actually Support You

Sometimes the exhaustion isn’t just from doing too much—it’s from expecting too much of yourself.

You don’t need a color-coded calendar, a perfect home, or 10-year plan right now.
What you do need is clarity around what actually matters.
So start small. Ask:

• What are 3 things that would make this week feel successful?
• What would make today feel lighter?
• What is your vision for today?

Focus on the must-do’s. Prioritize these and don’t worry about everything else. If you check all of the must-do’s off your to-do list, then you’ve had a successful day. So make the must-do list extremely simple to achieve.

Your goal might be as simple as “Have 10 minutes alone” or “to do 5 squats while you wait for your coffee” or “when you notice your stress levels amping up, take 4 deep breaths.”

That’s enough. Let your goals serve your peace, not add more overwhelm to your life.

Usually we’re trying to do too much.

Which leads me into my next point…

✨ 2. Create Boundaries That Give You Back Your Energy

Exhaustion often comes from energy leaks. And as single moms, we have a lot of them—people pleasing, over-giving, saying yes when we really doing want to.

Start protecting your time like it’s sacred.
Because it is.

That might mean saying no to plans.
It might mean carving out tech-free hours, even with your kids, so you can recharge.
It might even mean saying no to your kids (playdates, sports, extracurriculars, etc.)

Boundaries are a beautiful way to not only protect your kingdom, but to allow for the things you want in your life or the things that you need to thrive. And say no to everything else.

Learning to set strong boundaries for yourself is the ultimate form of self-care, and models for your children what self-respect looks like.

If you want to learn more about how to set boundaries without force, then I encourage you to join my conscious co-parenting course. Right now, you’ll get my bonus course “The Easy Way to Set Boundaries”

If you’ve ever felt resentment or taken advantage of, these are signs your boundaries are being compromised. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and like you’re almost drowning in day to day life, that’s also a sign that clearer boundaries are needed.

So definitely jump into the conscious co-parenting course while the boundary option is still available.

✨ 3. Make Self-Care Non-Negotiable (Even If It’s 5 Minutes)

I know, I know—self-care is one of those buzzwords that can feel totally unrealistic when you're solo parenting.

But hear me on this: self-care isn’t a luxury. It’s necessary.

If you’re not taking care of yourself, you’re more likely to yell at your kids, you’ll have zero patience, you’ll be grumpy and irritable, and feel like life is a slugfest → and that’s no fun.

If you burn out, the whole house of cards falls.
So what’s your minimum baseline?

• A 10-minute walk?
• Music and deep breaths while the kids play?
• A phone call with a friend who actually gets it?

Self-care doesn’t mean escaping your life. It means supporting yourself inside it.

It means tuning back into yourself and what the beautiful soul that is you NEEDS.

✨ 4. Entertain the Idea That It Could Be Easy

I know this might sound crazy, especially if you're deep in the chaos. But what if part of what’s making this feel so heavy… is the belief that it has to be?

This is like the chicken or egg thing.

If life feels hard right now, it’s probably hard, and you’re continuing to see evidence that it’s hard, therefore proving that it’s hard.

BUT… Just try this on:

What if this could be easy?

WHAT IF IT COULD BE EASY?

What if you sat with this possibility for a bit?… I can tell you from where I’m sitting, that it can be easy.

Every time I contemplate this question: What if it were easy? My life starts to shift.

When you open yourself up to different possibilities, your brain will start to search for different possibilities.

If you’re into law of attraction and manifestation, you know that in order to manifest what we desire, we have to let go of resistance… we have to allow our desires to come in.

What if it were easy? → This question allows the resistance to be lowered.

And then magic starts to happen.

Help appears.
Your kids settle down and become more cooperative.
Solutions present themselves that weren’t even on your radar.

I am telling you, BIG shifts can come from this one simple question IF (and only if) we’re willing to seriously entertain it as a possibility.

The first step in shifting out of the “life is hard” feeling is to believe that it might be possible for it to be easier.

So ask yourself: What if it were easy?

✨ 5. Ask for Divine Intervention

This is where the spiritual meets the practical.

There are moments when you’ve done all you can… and it still feels like too much. That’s the moment to hand it over.

I was taking a spiritual healing program last year and I had a lot of anger coming up – which was great because I hadn’t been able to access much anger before that, always stuffing it down or positive thinking my way out of it.

I was feeling a lot of anger, and my kids were triggering it. They were not listening to me for WEEKS. I felt like I may as well been talking to a wall. I felt completely disrespected and like my kids were out of control and I wasn’t sure how to stop it.

So I reached out to my mentor who I was doing the course with and told him that I loved that the anger was coming out but I didn’t like how I was parenting. It was too much.

His response: “OK, I’ll ask them to dial the kids back a bit.”

… and by “them” he meant the divine beings that were assisting in the spiritual program. My guides, God, etc.

I was just kind of like “sure, whatever.” not expecting much.

But I picked up my kids from school that day, and they were little angels that night. Listened to me the first time EVERY time. We had a calm, peaceful, playful evening – the first we had in weeks!

I was so grateful for the change, but I was like “What kind of puppet show am I in right now?”

How could simply asking the divine for help make such a drastic and noticeable change?

We often think of the Divine as outside of us, but we are included in this.

When we ask the Divine for help and support, we’re asking our souls (and in the story I just shared, I was asking my kids' souls) for help.

I’ve repeated a similar ask without going through my mentor – when life feels overwhelming, pray. Ask the Divine for help.

Tell them it’s too hard. It’s too much. To please scale it back.

You have nothing to lose by trying this and I have personally seen radical shifts in my life after asking for this kind of support.

You are ALWAYS supported.

You have a team of spiritual beings helping you. You are never alone.

Help is only a request or a prayer away. So just ask.

💛 Final Thoughts

Mama, if you’re exhausted, I see you.
You’re not weak. You’re not failing.
You’re just doing the job of two people—with the emotional labor of ten.

But you are not powerless.
You can shift this.

By setting gentle goals.
By setting boundaries that protect your peace.
By taking care of yourself and your nervous system.
By contemplating that it can be easier.
And by asking for help from something greater than you and leaning on divine support.

If this episode landed for you, send it to another mama who needs to hear it.
And if you want more support on creating a co-parenting relationship that doesn’t drain you—check out my course, Conscious Co-Parenting.
You’ll find tools, scripts, and mindset shifts to help you feel clear, empowered, and calm—no matter what your ex is doing.

It’s time to write your own rules, step into your power, and live fearlessly.

I’ll see you next time :)