
Mighty As A Mother
Time Poverty, Busyness, and Finding Joy in the Back-to-School Rush, with Cassie Holmes
The lunches are packed, the forms are signed, and the family calendar is already full through October. If the return to school has you feeling chronically behind, on time, on rest, on joy, you are in very good company. In this episode, we sit down with Cassie Holmes, chaired professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management and bestselling author of Happier Hour, for a grounding conversation about why time feels so scarce every fall, and what actually helps. Cassie doesn't just study happiness and time poverty. She has lived it. As a working mom moving through every season from toddlers to teenagers (her son just started middle school), she brings both data and deep empathy to the question so many of us are asking as the school year ramps back up: why does it feel like there is never enough time, and how do we stop feeling so depleted by it? Together, we talk candidly about: What time poverty really is, and why mothers feel it most acutely when the school-year schedule returns Why saying yes to every playdate, practice, and sign-up sheet quietly leaves us more depleted, not more connected The surprising research behind giving time to get time How small mindset shifts, like "less doing, more being," can change how a hectic fall week actually feels Why connection, not productivity, is often the missing ingredient in our busiest seasons A simple way to rate your days so you can find the joy already hiding inside the time you have How to treat an ordinary Saturday like a vacation without adding a single thing to your to-do list Why happiness isn't selfish, and how caring for yours makes you a more present parent, partner, and leader This conversation is full of permission slips: to stop racing the drop-off clock, to stop saving joy for "someday," and to notice the ordinary moments that won't always be there. The slow morning before the bus comes. The bedtime cuddle. The shared chair at the beach before summer fully closes. Links & Resources Happier Hour by Cassie Holmes Research on time poverty, happiness, and well-being Cassie's website For more conversations like this one, subscribe to Mighty as a Mother on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, and follow along on Instagram and LinkedIn.






