The National Working Families Report has found that a third of working parents feel work-life balance is adding stress and tension to their family life at home, and a quarter are thinking of leaving their jobs in the next year. Two-thirds of 6,289 survey participants felt too emotionally or physically drained to contribute to their family when they got home from work.
The impact of this is double – working parents don’t look after themselves, and feel stressed, the weight of expectations or guilt if they don’t spend adequate time with their family. Women are more affected than men, although the survey also had a much larger sample size of women.
Some tips to help with work-life integration include
- Prepare meals in advance
- Get help around the house or with kids
- Make use of flexible working arrangements
- Have regular health check-ups
- Make time for fitness and hobbies
- See friends, stay socially connected
- Get away and unwind
- Set hard boundaries with work
The health consequences of accumulating stress and overwork are significant. It can lead to depressed immunity and increased susceptibility for infections, sleep disturbance, mental health illness, drug and alcohol dependence, and higher cardiovascular disease risk. Moreover, inadequate sleep, insufficient exercise, poor diet can lead to a host of other physical conditions, plus impact productivity and decision making at work as well. Burnout is not classified as a medical condition.
Make time and look after yourself!
References:
- http://parentsandcarersatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/NWFSurvey-Executive-Summary.pdf
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-29/working-parents-and-burnout/11647864
- https://www.headsup.org.au/docs/default-source/resources/bl1270-report—tns-the-state-of-mental-health-in-australian-workplaces-hr.pdf?sfvrsn=8