Family First convenes a panel to study why we’re so overwhelmed — and how to combat it

Compiled by Naomie Rubner

It’s 2023.

And we’re a generation of overwhelmed women. There. I said it.

We’re just. So. Overwhelmed.

The phone is pinging, the kids are crying, the computer’s beeping, wait hold on, that’s the microwave reminding me about the coffee I reheated for the third time this morning.

The mental load that a modern woman juggles at any given moment is astounding, and yet with every hack or machine or gadget, our life is “supposed” to become streamlined, seamless, and simple.

So why do things feel like they’re getting faster and faster? I’m not a guru. Just a (somewhat sleep-deprived) mom on a search for peace. Serenity. Sanity. Naps. You know, the small things in life.

Trust me when I say I was the queen of overwhelm. (And proud of it, too.)

Oysh, you were up till one a.m. working on a project? I was up till three, and then my baby woke up. Twice.

You cooked pasta for dinner for the third time this week? My kids have been eating toast for a month.

What’s that? Your laundry is taking over the living room? I can’t see the floor anymore.

I’m more overwhelmed, my life is more hectic, I have a to-do list until 2034. I win. I win. I win.

But clearly, I’m not the only one. If I’m winning something, it means I’m racing someone else. Somehow “overwhelm” became more than a biannual crisis. It’s become a culture norm. A status symbol. A rite of passage. The frum woman totes it like a Tory Burch shoulder bag.

So when Ricky Boles of Family First asked me to join a panel she was moderating on “how to combat feeling overwhelmed,” my answer was a resounding yes. I got together with Ricky and seven other beautiful, busy Jewish women for a long, productive discussion.