Another IWD and the inequity of Burnout is real

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) is #EmbraceEquity.

It’s a reminder that equal opportunities aren’t enough. That we need to remember that people start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.

An area of inequity that requires more attention is burnout in women. I say this as someone who experienced burnout this time last year. I had to take a week off last IWD due to this very experience. It’s only a year on that I feel like today is an appropriate time to share this.

Burnout stats – more women are affected

Burnout stats still show a higher proportion of women are affected. An article from HR news today reported that women are suffering from more burnout than men.

Add to that McKinsey’s recent report on women in the workplace reveals that 42% of women experience burnout, compared to 35% of men. In addition to this, a survey conducted by LinkedIn highlights the same trend, with 74% of women saying they were experiencing work-related stress, compared to 61% of men. Although its interesting to note from the LinkedIn article women are more proactive with activities to help manage stress. But potentially to our career detriment.

Impacts of burnout include the following;

• Self-doubt -which impacts confidence and imposter syndrome
• Feeling fatigued – which impacts energy to exercise
• Negative outlook – which can impact mindset & career progression
• Procrastination – which feeds all of the above

A key root cause of burnout relates to the fact that women are more likely to to have unpaid work responsibilities. And a personal take of mine is women may be more likely to have experienced a myriad of traumatic experiences in relation to misogyny and the impact of having children. This is based on me hearing more stories of women I’m connected with talking about trauma and the need to seek therapy.

Recognising the signs and tackling burnout

I recognised a lot of the signs of Burnout.After experiencing burnout last March I wrote this poem just before IWD 2022.

Enough time has passed that I feel comfortable to share such a personal writing.I’ve given some thought to this years theme. And until we start to talk about the burdens women bear in society and provide better wellbeing support in the workplace then more women will experience burnout. I also don’t want to get to equity in burnout. If we truly want better work-life balance or fit. Then we need to think about creating better workplace cultures that offer truly flexible working and reduce the stigma of proactively managing our mental wellbeing.

Does this resonate with you? I’m interested to hear of other peoples experiences of overcoming burnout.

Burnout is a sickness – a poem

Sick of quietness at home

Sick of sitting in silence alone

Sick of doubting myself

Sick of looking for self-help

Sick of trying so hard

Sick of feeling like a squidgy piece of lard

Sick of my inner critic

Sick of the doubt ever so demonic

Sick of feeling home alone

Sick of hearing the voice of no one

Sick of thinking I need to be fixed

Sick of my thoughts and feelings being in a mix

Sick of being in this funk

Sick of not tidying the junk

Sick of not standing up

Sick of letting this voice speak up

Sick of giving it time

Sick of this critic of mine