Take What You Need
Let's lighten the mental load together in 2026.
Mockingbird Musings is where I write about the mental load, time inequality, motherhood and dismantling patriarchy. Subscribe and join the conversation. It’s free, but if you find value and can afford a paid subscription to support my work, it goes a long way. Annual subscriptions are currently 50% off through December 31st.
As we approach that time when we all start reflecting on what we’ve done over the past year and planning out the next one, I want to do something similar for Mental Load Monday.
This week, I’m going to share every resource I’ve created over the past year, all of which are free, except one (my four-week Mental Load in Balance program). I hope you’ll take what you need and that it will be helpful to you in the new year.
I started Mockingbird Learning with the goal of helping women better manage their time and mental load, but it has transformed into something bigger and more meaningful to me. I’ve learned a lot about the systemic nature of mental load imbalance at home, and what makes my resources different from many others is that I start there. Because we can’t make real changes without fully understanding why things were never balanced in the first place.
The Resources
Mental Load Management Workbook
This is a 12-page workbook to guide you through the process of identifying everything that contributes to your mental load, organizing it, and developing systems to help you manage it all.
A Guide to Sharing the Mental Load
This is similar to the workbook, but it’s designed for couples who want to more equitably distribute domestic labor and the mental load.
How to Discuss Mental Load with Your Partner: Scripts, FAQs, and Strategies
This 8-page document is designed to help you have more productive conversations about the mental load that lead to real change. It includes several scripts to help you raise the topic with your partner, FAQs about mental load, and strategies for working through common dismissive responses.
One of the best ways to build habits that last is by using a habit tracker. If you’re setting goals in the new year, this is something you can use every day. It’s very simple, but this one piece of paper helps me to meet my goals month after month by breaking them into manageable daily tasks.
A Guide to Sharing the Mental Load of Christmas
It’s probably a little late for this one, but you can save it for next year.
Sharing the Mental Load of Back-to-School
This is a 4-page document that includes 5 steps for having productive conversations about the mental load throughout the school year, plus 56 discussion points, organized by category. It might seem like it’s too late for this one, but if you ended up doing more than your share in the first half of the school year, try this in the second half.
Mental Load in Balance (free one-hour version)
This is a one-hour audio course on sharing the mental load with your partner. It contains 12 lessons you can take at your own pace, and it’s intended to be a preview into the full course below.
Mental Load in Balance (full course)
I put countless hours into creating this course, and it’s meant to be taken over several weeks (because real change takes time). It’s broken up into seven modules, each with several lessons you can take at your own pace, plus course materials and exercises.
The goal of this course is to help you identify why the mental load (along with domestic labor and childcare) was never balanced equitably in the first place, then guide you through the process of creating better systems that help you maintain a better balance over time. It covers everything from systemic inequality to communication to emotional labor to what makes people happy.
You can start with the free resources, but if you’re serious about creating a more equitable household, this course is for you. This is the only resource that isn’t free, but it’s on sale for $36 through 12/31. Starting in January, the price will return to $189.
You can find all the resources in one place here.
You can learn more about my story and the Mental Load in Balance course on my website here.
Thank You
I want to end with a sincere thank you.
I’ve been writing on Substack for most of this year, sometimes because I have something helpful to share and sometimes just for my own sake, but I never know if anyone will actually read what I write.
When I started Mockingbird Learning, I specifically chose the word “learning” in the name because, although I have things to share and teach, I’m also always still learning. (As we all should be.) Of all the books I’ve read and the people I’ve connected with, I think I’ve learned the most here on Substack. There are so many great writers whose work makes mine better, but I also learn from the thoughtful comments and messages I receive every day.
My hope for these posts is to start a conversation that moves us toward equality and making our lives better, even just the slightest bit. I truly appreciate every single time someone engages and joins the conversation.
In the new year, I plan to focus on providing more valuable content and building up a small group of paid subscribers to cover my basic expenses. But even if you’re a free subscriber or you just came across a random post, every like, share, and comment helps to support my work.
Sending you warm wishes, peace, love, hope, and gratitude this week and into the new year.
