We are dealing with a ‘do-it-all’ generation of women who are juggling job and family responsibilities and finding themselves stressed and overwhelmed as a result. How can we balance the demands of both working life and family life in an effective way without feeling constantly overwhelmed and out of whack?
The Dalai Lama said the ‘world will be saved by women’.
And it’s not surprising, given the many hats women wear and the multiple roles they juggle every day to make sure their careers are on track, their immediate family is well looked after, their extended network is moving along well in life and generally things are on track.
Picture this scenario: She has three children under 7 years and dreads the alarm clock screaming in her ear every morning, shocking her out of her much-needed sleep. But it buzzes, and she desperately begs for another 3 minutes and hits the snooze button.
Home Stress
As the snooze button is hit for the third time, she wearily drags herself out of bed, aching from moving furniture yesterday. She heads for the shower and throws herself in, hoping a sense of revival will kick in. She washes herself and gets dressed and rushes to the kitchen, makes lunch for her three young children, feeds the cat, lets the dog out and wakes the children up to get ready for school.
She hurriedly does her make-up, cooks the eggs, feeds and children and prays for the nanny to arrive, so she can rush to work where she has 5 important meetings scheduled. She feels anxious. She has to fetch the children on the other side of the day by 6pm, take the dog to the vet, rush home to cook the dinner and spend time with the children.
This is her day, every day, and she wonders why she is so exhausted.
She is the ‘do it all ‘generation of women suffering from a work stress epidemic.
Professionals can tell her to cut down, take it easy, have a break, cut her role to a part time job. But how? She needs one to survive, her husband has left and is in another relationship (living with young children is too stressful for him) and she faces her future exhausted… and alone.
Her situation is unenviable. She suffers from the work stress epidemic. Work stress at home, work stress at work. Where does she go? What options does she have?
Work stress
It is at work that our resilience is tested, to stay on top of our game and get the job done to the best of our ability. Where our best is demanded, and our worst is not tolerated. Our workload need not be a pressure though. The requirement to produce work to a high standard can be really stimulating and provide us with job satisfaction.
According to researchers Wainwright and Calnan, ‘there are various factors associated with the epidemic of work stress and include:
Harassment and bullying (from managers and colleagues), overworking or unsocial shifts, commuting long distances, a poor working environment (especially noise and dirt) and feeling unsupported by team members and managers.
Like some guidance?
The Be Unstoppable Program has been written for all women, no matter where you are, to help you take control of your life, feel more confident about you and to give you ways to become resilient, manage stress well and communicate more assertively.
The Be Unstoppable Program has been written for you. If not for you, then your daughter, sister, friend, mother, aunt.
What can you do now?
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Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash