Managing Fatigue, Brain Fog, and “Mum Burnout”

The holiday season is coming, and many Inner West mums might find themselves stretched thinner than ever juggling school concerts, work deadlines, family gatherings, and the usual chaos of daily life. Fatigue, brain fog, and burnout become so common they’re mistaken for “normal.” But while these struggles are common, you do not want to let them redefine your norm.

Energy depletion and brain fog feed into each other, and recognising the early signs are crucial. It’s not just the sensation of ‘feeling tired’, other normal symptoms reported are:
- Struggling to concentrate or remember simple things
- Waking up unrefreshed even after a full night’s sleep
- Feeling irritable or emotionally flat
- Constant sugar or caffeine cravings just to get through the day
- Frequent headaches, tension in the body, or a sense of heaviness
- Lowered immunity, catching every cold that’s going around

There’s no magic fix, but there are both long-term strategies and quick resets that can make an enormous difference. As a collaborative health team at Papaya Clinic, we look at wellness through the lens of physiotherapy, naturopathy, and Chinese medicine. From exercise “snacks” and smarter nutrition to acupuncture, sleep rituals, and the power of setting boundaries, we outline small but powerful changes that can make the season more joyful and less draining.

Practical Health Tips from our Collaborative Team

Physio Tips

Three Exercise Snacks
Moving your body is one of the fastest ways to shift energy and mood, short bouts of activity release endorphins and dopamine which improve focus and reduce stress.

Aim to integrate three ‘Exercise Snacks’ into our daily routine that is achievable - eg. 5-10 mins of brisk walking, stairs climbing, step ups and step downs, or a short circuit. That’s enough to improve energy and clarity.

Avoid high-intensity exercise late at night. Evening workouts can increase cortisol and delay sleep onset, making it harder to wind down.

Cycle syncing

Energy and exercise tolerance shift throughout the menstrual cycle. Syncing your activity with your cycle can reduce fatigue and improve performance.

Here’s a brief summary:
● Menstrual phase (Days 1–5) - Energy is lowest as your body focuses on menstruation.
→ Best for: gentle walks with the pram, yin yoga, or light Pilates.
● Follicular phase (Days 6–13) - Rising estrogen means rising energy, motivation, and recovery.
→ Best for: scheduling your bigger workouts - a morning gym class, the Bay Run
● Ovulatory phase (Days 14–16) - This is your “push harder” window. Estrogen peaks and testosterone gives you a short burst of extra strength and stamina.
→ Best for: strength training, higher-intensity classes, hill walk with the kids!
● Luteal phase (Days 17–28) - Progesterone rises. Energy often dips the week before your period and PMS symptoms may kick in. This is the time to prioritise rest and sleep
→ Early luteal: keep going with moderate workouts
→ Late luteal: scale back with restorative yoga, stretching, or park walks with friends.

Naturopathy Tips

Festive season sweets are tempting, but too much sugar can backfire. High sugar intake is linked to mood dips and fatigue, and those rollercoaster spikes and crashes put extra strain on your nervous system while worsening brain fog.
→ Tip: If you’re reaching for the Christmas shortbread or leftover kids’ lollies, try to balance it with protein to steady blood sugar and avoid the crash. Try to be intentional when it comes to the main meals of the day. Meals that combine protein, complex carbs, and leafy greens such as oats, salmon, lentils, brown rice, and spinach, can stabilise blood sugar and keep energy levels steady throughout the day.
→ Tip: Skipping meals or relying on quick carbs can cause glucose spikes followed by crashes, worsening fatigue and irritability. Alcohol is another hidden drain on energy. Even a couple of evening drinks can fragment your sleep, disrupt REM cycles, and leave you groggy the next day.
→ Tip: Drink water between each alcoholic drink and avoid alcohol 3 hours before bed. This small shift helps protect sleep quality, and you will feel more refreshed the next day.

Choose Quality Supplements
We often see parents stocking up on supplements at this time of year, either gearing up for the festive season or coming out of spring with a renewed focus on health. Investing in the rightsupplements not only supports your wellbeing but also saves you money and time in the long run. These are a few of the most common supplement types that come up in our consultations. Practitioner-grade supplements are higher quality and better absorbed. They also tend to be cleaner and more reliable than what you’ll find on the supermarket shelf.

● Iron - One of the most common causes of postpartum fatigue. Low ferritin (<30 μg/L) is
linked to poor concentration, low mood, and exhaustion.
→ Tip: Ask your GP or naturopath for an iron study before supplementing.
● Magnesium (200–400 mg glycinate or citrate) - Supports energy metabolism, muscle relaxation, and deeper sleep quality. Studies show magnesium deficiency is associated with higher stress and sleep problems.
→ Tip: A magnesium powder mixed into warm water before bed can help restless legs and ease the wind-down after a busy day.
● B-complex vitamins - B6, B12, and folate are essential for neurotransmitter production and nervous system health. Deficiency often shows up as fatigue, brain fog, and low
mood.
→ Tip: If you’re relying on coffee just to get through the day, B vitamins can provide a more sustainable energy lift without the crash.

TCM Tips
Better Sleep Hygiene
Sleep can be tricky for mums with young kids, or perimenopause women. Mothers of infants lose approximately 1.5 hours of sleep per night in the first year postpartum, with ongoing fragmentation affecting cognitive function and mood. Chronic stress can shift the body into a sympathetic “fight or flight” state with increasing cortisol in the body. Over time, this can lead to persistent exhaustion, reduced focus, and higher injury risk.

Here are some ways to achieve better rest:
● Protect your “sleep hygiene”: Keep phones out of your bedroom. Breathwork or journalling before bed instead of doom-scrolling.
● If night feeds wake you, avoid staying up longer than necessary. Go straight back to rest.
● Build your energy bank: not everyone needs eight straight hours. What matters is your total rest across 24 hours. Quiet rest periods throughout the day still add to your energy
balance.

Nervous System Regulation through Acupuncture

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, fatigue and brain fog are signs of depletion in the Earth element, which is the body’s root system responsible for turning food into fuel.
Acupuncture reduces cortisol levels, improves sleep quality, and enhances parasympathetic activity.

Tip → Weekly treatments can calm the nervous system and support hormone balance. Many mums report feeling clearer, calmer, and more energised after treatment.

Community Care as Medicine
TCM also emphasises the importance of community support, recognising that health isn’t just an individual pursuit but something sustained by the balance within the whole family unit.
Parenting was never meant to be done in isolation. Social support is one of the strongest protective factors against maternal burnout. Without it, the mental and physical load on mums becomes unsustainable.

Tip: Let a partner handle the morning routine, accept a grandparent’s offer to babysit, or set up a carpool with another school parent. These small shifts add up to lighter days and a stronger nervous system.Help comes in many forms. Accept help from grandparents, friends, or even your child’s school community. Sharing the load and smart delegation are ancient forms of medicine that prevent depletion.

Your Boundaries
People-pleasing is exhausting, and every unnecessary commitment is another withdrawal from your already depleted energy bank.

Politely declining that extra weekend event, leaving work emails unopened after 7 pm, or choosing rest over one more social obligation, can help reduce stress, preserve energy, and model to your children that self-care matters as much as caring for others.

Managing Fatigue, Brain Fog, and Mum Burnout This Holiday Season

As our team at Papaya Clinic has shared, the key is not perfection, but prevention and consistency. Gentle exercise “snacks,” nourishing foods, quality supplements, acupuncture, and the power of saying no all create deposits into your energy bank. When mothers are supported and resourced, families thrive — and the holidays become more joyful, not just more exhausting.

If you’re ready to move beyond survival mode, our collaborative team of physiotherapists, naturopaths, acupuncturists, and women’s health specialists are here to help. Because you deserve to feel clear-headed, energised, and grounded — not just during the holiday rush, but all year round.

About Papaya Clinic

Papaya Clinic is a multidisciplinary women’s health clinic based in Newtown, dedicated to helping women feel strong, supported, and understood through every stage of life. Our team works together to provide holistic, evidence-based care, from perinatal and pelvic health to hormonal balance, chronic pain, and whole-body wellness. For more information, please visit www.papayaclinic.com.au

Credit:
● Winnie Wu - Director and Women’s Pelvic Health Physio
● Lauren Lee - Clinical Naturopath
● Louie Rachel - Acupuncturist and TCM Practitioner

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