Are you tired of giving everything to your job and still feeling like it’s not enough?
Or maybe you’ve convinced yourself that loyalty means exhaustion.
You answer emails at night. You take on tasks that aren’t yours.
You stay late, skip your breaks, breakfasts, birthdays, and even bathroom time, and continue to prove yourself to people who barely know your name.
When someone asks how work is going, you force a smile and say, “It’s fine.”
But here’s the truth: Over-giving is not noble. It’s how smart women slowly disappear.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re working harder than ever but receiving less in return, this post is for you.
Today, I’m unpacking the invisible cost of over-giving and what you can do instead.
Save it for later!!
Hello there! My name is Mina. Welcome to Work-Life Balance Hacks.
Here I share work-life balance tips, hacks for single parents, and self-care and wellness tips in my area of expertise as a health coach.
If you’re new, don’t miss these favorites:
Now, let’s talk about the silent habit that’s slowly draining us dry: giving too much to jobs that don’t give back.
When Did Over-Giving Become a Way of Life?
When did we start to applaud people for being endlessly available to work?
Late nights. Back-to-back calls. Emails at midnight. Skipping lunch is considered normal. Skipping weekends?
Why do we honor these as power moves?
The truth is that being constantly available doesn’t necessarily mean you’re respected. It just means you’re reachable.
And over time, that reachability chips away at your peace, boundaries, and life.
It’s not unusual to think of “working late” as a personality trait. Some people become defined by their over-performance. They weren’t bad people. They just lost their compass, and work became their entire identity.
As a full-time fintech analyst by day and a holistic health content creator by night, I know what it means to be stretched. I’ve had my fair share of tech job-related fatigue, and like you, I’m beyond tired. But I try every day to integrate the holistic practices I believe in: I go for walks, I hydrate, I unplug, and I remind myself that this job isn’t my entire life.
3 Signs You’re Over-Giving at Work
We live in a culture that applauds loyalty but ignores wellbeing. Here’s how over-giving might be showing up:
- You respond faster to work messages than your nervous system.
- You prioritize deliverables and work tasks over your basic human needs.
- You feel guilty when you take a proper lunch break or need to unplug because your family is waiting.
Over-giving looks like loyalty. But it feels like resentment. And over time, it makes you numb.
What you need to do is: Pause. What would it look like to take one hour of your day back?
Not for your manager. Not for productivity. For you.
👉 Lunch That Loves You Back is a printable ritual for burned-out corporate women like us, who gave everything away, including lunch.
It’s the beginning of your boundary.
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What’s Really Happening: A Silent Disconnect
You started this job with high hopes. And now you’re silently asking:
- Is this all there is?
- Will I ever be seen?
- When did my life become this?
This is emotional disconnection masked by productivity. It’s not laziness. It’s grief. Grief for the version of you that wanted more than just surviving every workweek.
What You Can Do Today (Small Shifts That Matter)
- Set one boundary. Close your laptop at a non-insane hour and don’t open it again until morning.
- Write down your job description. Then compare it to everything you actually do. That list will reveal so much.
- Start a work-life audit. What parts of you have been lost or silenced by this job?
Bonus tip? Talk to someone about it. Not in a “what are your KPIs” way—but a real human conversation.
These posts may help you take the first step towards change!!
Why You Deserve More Than Just a Paycheck
You didn’t work this hard to feel this empty.
The truth is: your career will not hug you back. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a change.
You are allowed to evolve. You are allowed to want more. You are allowed to outgrow the places that stopped growing you.
I’ve been writing about this for a while-> how hustle culture fails moms, how the mental load becomes invisible burnout, how the sweetness of doing nothing isn’t laziness—it’s medicine.
If you haven’t yet, you must read these!!
This post explains why “doing more” is not the cure, and how society keeps moms trapped in achievement loops.
Burnout is a term that many of us are quietly living with. It explains why chronic exhaustion, emotional distancing, and guilt are not flaws in your character, but symptoms of carrying too much, for too long.
And if you’ve forgotten what joy, presence, and peace even feel like, this is your reminder.
These aren’t just blog posts. They’re my lived experience, and they’re here to support yours.
Trade “Over-Giving” for Peace, Power, and Presence
Letting go of over-giving as your default is about reclaiming your energy and choosing your life over your workload. It’s about creating space for what truly matters—your kids, your creativity, your health, your joy.
When you stop giving all your best energy to a job that won’t hug you back, you open the door to everything that will.
This is one of the most radical acts of work-life balance you can commit to—not by working harder, but by saying: I matter more than my job title.
If this post made you pause or reflect, share it with another mom, parent, or corporate woman who needs a reminder that it’s okay to stop performing and start living.
You don’t need to burn out to prove your value. You are the value.
You don’t have to stay stuck.
You don’t have to stay silent.
You don’t have to do this alone. Stay close. Your rebuild starts here.
Here’s to less over-giving and more intentional living!
With Love,
Mina
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