Burnout Recovery, Productivity Myths, and Reclaiming Time Wealth for Female Entrepreneurs

If you’ve been telling yourself you’re “just busy,” this episode might feel like a loving nudge.

In this episode of Penny for Your Shots: Conversations & Cocktails with Brilliant Women, I sit down with Peggy Sullivan, former VP of Marketing Communications at Blue Cross Blue Shield, to talk about time poverty, burnout recovery, and the hidden cost of chronic busyness — especially for female entrepreneurs and high-achieving women.

For 12 years, Peggy studied what was keeping people stuck. The answer showed up again and again:
95% of people feel over-the-top busy… and don’t know how to fix it.

We explore:

• What time poverty really means

• Why hustle culture is hurting your leadership and relationships

• How multitasking lowers productivity

• The connection between stress and health

• Practical time management strategies for women in business

• How to stop hiding in busy and start leading with intention

If you’re craving better work-life balance and more meaningful impact — without burning out — keep reading.

What Is Time Poverty?

Time poverty is the constant feeling of being overwhelmed, overbooked, and behind — even when you’re working nonstop.

Peggy defines it as living in a state where your calendar is full, but your priorities aren’t moving forward.

For many female entrepreneurs, time poverty looks like:

• Saying yes to everything

• Filling your day with low-value tasks

• Avoiding visibility work because you’re “too busy”

• Feeling productive but not progressing

And here’s the hard truth (said with love):
Sometimes busy is the safest way to avoid the scary stuff — visibility, leadership, growth.

The Productivity Myth That Keeps Women Stuck

We’ve been conditioned to believe:

Busy = important
Overbooked = successful
Exhausted = worthy

The data doesn’t support that.

Peggy shares research showing that chronic busyness:

• Damages relationships

• Lowers workplace performance

• Increases stress-related health risks

• Reduces focus and clarity

Multitasking, for example, can double task completion time and significantly increase mistakes. Constant interruptions can take up to 25 minutes to fully refocus.

So if you feel scattered and behind, it’s not a discipline problem. It’s a systems problem.

How Chronic Busyness Impacts Your Health

Burnout isn’t just emotional — it’s physiological.

When self-care is repeatedly pushed aside, we experience:

• Brain fog

• Reduced energy

• Increased stress response

• Higher risk for chronic illness

And yet 75% of people report putting self-care on the back burner because they “don’t have time.”

This is the irony of time poverty.
The very behaviors meant to help us “get ahead” are slowly eroding our capacity to perform.

The Subtraction Strategy: A Smarter Time Management Approach

Instead of adding another productivity hack, Peggy teaches subtraction.

Step one: Eliminate low-value activities.

Before adding new strategies, ask:

• Does this task create value?

• Does this meeting need to happen?

• Am I doing this from alignment — or obligation?

One CEO Peggy worked with reduced internal email traffic by 45% in six weeks simply by changing communication expectations.

Corporate performance improved.

Nothing was added.
It was removed.

That’s time wealth.

Reclaiming Time Wealth as a Female Entrepreneur

Time wealth isn’t about having endless free hours. It’s about aligning your time with your values.

For women in midlife reinvention or entrepreneurship, this often means:

• Saying no without apology

• Limiting interruptions

• Blocking time for focused visibility work

• Protecting energy

• Building intentional connection

And yes — that might mean hiring help at home instead of trying to “do it all.”

We are not superwomen. And pretending to be one is exhausting.

Why Busyness Can Become an Addiction

Here’s where it gets interesting.

Crossing something off your to-do list releases dopamine. Even if the task didn’t move your business forward.

That means low-value busyness can become habit-forming.

Peggy recommends replacing that dopamine hit with small, intentional “happiness rituals” — micro-moments that reset your nervous system and boost focus.

It takes about 90 seconds to stimulate mood-improving endorphins.

Tiny resets throughout the day can dramatically improve clarity and productivity.

This isn’t fluff. It’s neuroscience.

Choosing Meaning Over Mayhem

One of the most powerful parts of our conversation was Peggy’s family story — how her grandfather survived a concentration camp by anchoring to values like human connection and resilience.

The lesson?

When everything is chaotic, values guide decisions.

In business and in life, clarity comes from asking:

Is this aligned with who I am?
Is this meaningful — or just noise?

You don’t need a crisis to make that shift.

You need self-awareness.

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Poverty and Burnout

What is time poverty?

Time poverty is the feeling of being constantly busy without making meaningful progress. It often leads to burnout, reduced productivity, and strained relationships.

How does chronic busyness affect your health?

Chronic stress increases mistakes, reduces focus, damages relationships, and can negatively impact physical and mental health.

Why do female entrepreneurs struggle with burnout?

Many women feel pressure to overdeliver, stay visible, care for others, and prove their value — leading to overcommitment and exhaustion.

How can I stop being busy all the time?

Start by subtracting low-value commitments, limiting interruptions, aligning decisions with your values, and scheduling focused work blocks.

Key Quotes From This Episode

“Busy isn’t better.”

“You don’t need a crisis to change.”

“Eliminate low-value activities.”

“Choose meaning over mayhem.”

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been telling yourself you’re too busy to build the thing…
too busy to be visible…
too busy to lead…

Maybe it’s time to subtract instead of add.

Busy isn’t a badge of honor.
Alignment is.

And if this conversation stirred something in you, I’d love to talk.

Book a free connection call and let’s explore what time wealth could look like in your business.

~Penny

To learn more about Peggy and her work, visit her website: https://peggysullivanspeaker.com/   
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyasullivan/