You’re providing for your family.
You’ve checked every box you thought you were supposed to check.
And yet — deep down — there’s a nagging thought:
“Will I look back one day and realise I missed my kids’ childhood?”
This isn’t just occasional dad guilt.
It’s a growing, researched problem called parental burnout.
According to a 2023 systematic review published in BMC Public Health, parental burnout is a unique form of burnout with devastating consequences.
Unlike everyday stress, parental burnout includes:
This can be even more dangerous for business dads because it often hides behind high performance.
The traits that help you win professionally can quietly push you toward burnout at home.
The research shows that the biggest risk factors include:
And here’s the real trap:
The more burnt out you feel, the more you double down at work…
… while your family gets less of you.
Parental burnout doesn’t just affect you. It impacts:
Many dads think: “If I could just organise my schedule better, I’d be fine.”
But the research is clear: this is an energy and emotional resilience problem, not a time problem.
What you actually need is:
Parental burnout doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
It means you’re human.
I coach high-performing business dads through this challenge, helping them sustain leadership at work while reclaiming their presence at home.
Because your children don’t need perfect. They need you to be present.
Keep showing up for them!
Ren, X., Cai, Y., Wang, J. et al. A systematic review of parental burnout and related factors among parents. BMC Public Health 24, 376 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17829-y
Roskam, I., Brianda, M. E., & Mikolajczak, M. (2018). A Step Forward in the Conceptualization and Measurement of Parental Burnout: The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA). Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 758.