When You Hit the Wall: The Real Signs of Burnout (And How Delegating Can Save Your Sanity)
- Jannine Mahone
- Nov 21, 2025
- 3 min read
By Jannine Mahone, Co-Founder of AndWhich
There are days when even the strongest women crash. Not because they’re weak — but because they’ve been carrying too much for too long without putting anything down.
I know this firsthand.I’m a full-time professional. I run a nonprofit. I’m a spouse caregiver. And like so many women, I’ve spent years telling myself, “I can handle it.”
Until one day, I couldn’t.
The signs were subtle at first: a pounding in my chest after a long day, an exhaustion that sleep couldn’t cure, snapping at people I love, staring at my to-do list in total paralysis. Then there were the days when I hit the wall so hard I genuinely wondered if it was worth continuing anything — the nonprofit, the job, the responsibilities. Burnout makes your brain irrational, hopeless, and loud.
This is what we don’t talk about enough:Burnout doesn’t just steal your energy. It steals your clarity, your patience, your joy, and eventually your purpose.
But it doesn’t have to get that far.
Know the Symptoms Before They Take You Down
Burnout rarely begins as a dramatic collapse. It starts quietly:
You wake up tired no matter how long you sleep.
The smallest tasks feel like mountains.
You feel yourself getting snappy, irritable, or emotional.
Your chest feels tight or your heart races.
You’re overwhelmed to the point of doing nothing at all.
You want to quit the things you care about most.
These are not personality flaws.They are warning signs.
Women especially tend to ignore them because we’ve been conditioned to “push through.” But pushing through is exactly how burnout turns from a bad week into a full-blown crisis.
Step Back Before You Break
The first step in preventing burnout is awareness. The second step is permission — permission to pause.
When you see the signs, don’t judge yourself. Don’t guilt yourself.Just stop.
Take a short walk.Drink some water.Go lay down for ten minutes.Let the task wait.Let someone else help.
You’re not abandoning your responsibilities. You’re protecting your ability to keep showing up for them — in a healthy way.
Why Delegation Is Not a Luxury — It’s a Lifeline
Here’s the hard truth: you cannot pour from an empty cup, and trying to do everything yourself is the fastest way to drain it.
Delegation is not about being fancy, or lazy, or “being a boss.”Delegation is healthcare.
When you hand off tasks — especially the repetitive, draining, or time-eating ones — you reclaim:
Your energy
Your creativity
Your emotional balance
Your time
Your ability to lead
Your ability to breathe
The moment you feel burnout creeping in is the exact moment to offload what’s weighing you down — not after you break.
This is why AndWhich exists:to give overwhelmed founders, women professionals, and caregivers the extra pair of hands they’ve been trying to grow themselves.
If You’re Overwhelmed, Start Here
To help you identify your burnout signs early, build a smarter support system, and delegate with confidence, I created a free resource that I wish I had years ago:
Download the e-book: Delegate Like a Boss
A practical, no-nonsense guide to taking back your time, your peace, and your life.
You’ll learn:
How to spot burnout before it explodes
What tasks to delegate immediately
How to prepare your business (or household) for smooth delegation
Tools and templates to make getting help effortless
The mindset shift that finally lets you stop doing it all yourself
If you’re overwhelmed — truly overwhelmed — this e-book is going to feel like oxygen.
You deserve help. You deserve rest. You deserve to breathe.
This week, let the message be simple:
You are not failing. You are overloaded.
And overload has a solution.
Start with one step:Download the e-book, read it tonight, and let’s rebuild your capacity together — one delegated task at a time.
Download Delegate Like a Boss now and give yourself the relief you’ve been denying.
Stay tuned for more in the series. Thank God I Finally...wrote this blog!
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