Even though occasional stress is a part of everyday life, being under it constantly can have a negative impact on your health. And if you’re a busy woman with many goals and responsibilities, stress can prevent you from living the life you want. In this article, you’ll find out what causes stress, why it’s important to manage it, and how to do it.
Women should prioritize stress management even more than men
While there are partners who very much contribute to the household responsibilities, many women are left holding more of the work at home like cleaning, cooking, and raising kids on top of working on their careers is a recipe for chronic stress. No matter how good at multitasking you are, trying to balance all these responsibilities will take a toll on your health sooner or later, unless you learn how to manage it.
What are Other Reasons Women Tend to Be More Stressed Than Men?
According to recent statistics, women are twice as likely to experience severe stress as men and are more likely to suffer from its physical effects. [1] [2] While the reason behind increased stress levels in women is often juggling more responsibilities, a lot of studies indicate that the pay gap might also play a role. In many countries, female workers still earn less than their male coworkers even when they perform the same tasks, which can contribute to their frustration and cause tension within the workplace.
Another factor might be perceived stress levels. In one of the previous types of research, the findings revealed that more women than men thought that the quality of their working environment was low. [3] If you believe that your workload is too heavy and that your job isn’t good for you, you’re more likely to be under it.
Other causes might include:
"Toxic work environments where women can still be perceived as less capable by some employers which makes it less likely they'll get a promotion. Additionally, sexual harassment and sexism in the workplace create a hostile environment causing significant stress.
Reasons busy women might be stressed that are unrelated to gender include:
- Heavy workload – even if you love your job, trying to do too many tasks at once will eventually make you feel helpless and cause you to start doubting yourself.
- Job insecurity – worrying whether you lose your job and whether you’ll be able to pay your bills can affect your work performance and put you under chronic stress.
- Long hours – when you don’t get as much rest as you should, you might struggle not to think about work every moment of your day and end up having less time left for other obligations which further adds to the stress.
- Lack of job progression – feeling stuck in one place and not being able to fulfill your potential can make you worry about your future and increase the feeling of hopelessness.
- Unclear responsibilities – if you don’t know what’s expected of you, it’s no wonder that you’re stressed all the time. When your duties are outlined, you can come up with a plan to achieve your goals and know what to do to avoid making a mistake.
- Technology – the Internet makes it more difficult to escape work responsibilities - it’s tempting to check emails even after you’ve clocked out.
- Not having clearly outlined goals – if you have ambitions but not a realistic plan, you’ll struggle to see progress and achieve your goals.
The Impact of Working from Home on Your Stress Levels
Working remotely looks great on paper; there’s less noise, no one is looking over your shoulder and you can avoid dealing with your coworkers, all from the comfort of your home. Plus, you can wear stretchy pants and slippers all day. . But lack of supervision also means that being productive is more challenging, and working in your bedroom can disrupt your sleep. Additionally, you might be forced to care for a family member at the same time. If you work from home, learning how to manage it is even more important.
The Impact of Stress on Your Wellbeing
Why should you learn how to manage stress as a busy woman? Because you deserve to feel well enough to be able to juggle all your responsibilities and because you’re capable of doing amazing things, as long as you give yourself mental space to do so. Here’s how it can hinder you and impact your mental health and other areas of your life:
1. Poor work performance
While low levels of stress can be beneficial as they cause your body to release adrenalin that motivates you to complete a challenging task, acute stress has the opposite effect. Being overwhelmed all the time can make you feel helpless and translate into decreased productivity.
You might struggle to make decisions, work slower than usual, and find it difficult to maintain focus, which can result in making costly mistakes. Not feeling well enough to work can make it impossible to achieve your goals and add to your frustration; you might start neglecting your other responsibilities to compensate for not meeting your objectives and worry if you’re good enough.
2. Lower self-esteem
When you’re mentally exhausted and take twice as much time to complete tasks as you used to, you might start comparing yourself to other people who cope with their responsibilities better. When you notice that your coworkers or friends don’t face as many problems as you do, especially if they’re in the same line of work, this can create a lot of doubts about your abilities.
You might think that not being able to cope with stress means that your job isn’t for you and consider giving up, which in most cases isn’t true. Additionally, you might eventually develop a fear of failure; you might be afraid to start tasks because you know they take you more time than usual and that you’re more likely to make mistakes.
3. Burnout
Burnout is a state that is often a result of chronic stress. It might be accompanied by feeling empty, unable to cope, and experiencing a lack of purpose. If you feel tired and overwhelmed all the time, you might start to dislike your job even if you’d been passionate about it before and eventually dread going to work. However, the good news is that burnout can be prevented with stress-management techniques.
4. Neglecting other areas of your life
As women, we might feel pressured to constantly prove our worth because our gender still puts us at disadvantage in many ways. The more stressed you are and the more you struggle to be productive at work, the more you might pressure yourself to do better which has the opposite effect. This might also make it difficult for you to focus on other important things in your life, friends, family, and hobbies.
5. Not feeling satisfied with your life
Instead of recognizing that women often have to do unpaid labor, society encourages them to do it all: be a mother, a wife, and a businesswoman but without giving them the credit they deserve and encouraging them to ask for help and take a break. You don’t have to “do it all.” . And if you can’t achieve all those things, you might feel like a failure. When you’re stressed, this feeling of guilt is especially difficult to cope with: whenever you make a mistake, you might feel like you failed yourself and everyone else’s expectations of you.
6. The impact on your relationships
If you’re in a relationship and your stress gets out of control, it can affect the bond you have with your partner. For example, you might snap at them more often, shut down instead of talking things through, avoid intimacy and even engage in passive-aggressive behaviors. Similarly, if you have kids, they aren’t just able to detect that you’re stressed, they can also become affected by it.
Physical Impact of Stress
Unfortunately, stress can also affect your body in a way that also has a negative impact on your wellbeing. Here's what you might experience if you’re under a lot of it:
1. Unexplained pains
Chronic stress isn’t a problem that you can just sweep under a carpet and forget about. The more you wait to resolve it, the more symptoms you might experience and that includes dealing with unexplained pains. Most people get headaches more frequently or struggle with back or neck pain. Even if your job isn’t physical or doesn’t require you to sit for long periods of time, having unexplained pains can cause a domino effect; it might make you overthink, worry about your health, keep you up at night and translate into less productivity at work.
2. Loss of interest in sex
One of the main reasons behind the decrease in libido is stress, which is unfortunate because sex causes your body to release hormones that promote relaxation. If you have a partner, stress might also make you less likely to be intimate in any other way and potentially cause traction in your relationship.
3. Disrupted sleep
Being under stress causes your muscles to tense and unless you realize the impact it has on your body early on and includes relaxation techniques in your routine, you essentially allow your body to practice being in that state all the time. This might make you unable to relax even when you aren’t working and eventually cause sleep problems, which in turn affect your ability to concentrate and attend to your duties.
4. Premenstrual problems
Even if you’re one of those lucky women who don’t experience mood swings and a depressive mood before or on your period, being under a lot of stress can significantly worsen your PMS symptoms. Not being able to achieve your goals and be as productive as usual can make you doubt your abilities and discourage you from working.
Quick Stress-Management Tips
It’s never too late to take steps to improve your health. Here are a few things you can do to eliminate unnecessary stress from your life:
1. Outline your goals and adjust them depending on your performance
Ambitious people might find it difficult not to set the bar too high for themselves. If you want to avoid chronic stress, evaluate your schedule regularly and break your goals into smaller ones if you struggle to achieve them.
2. Practice relaxation techniques daily
It doesn’t matter if you choose to do controlled breathing, yoga, or any other physical activity if it helps you relieve stress. Make it a part of your self-care routine, just like brushing your teeth. Remember, regular repetition is crucial in making something a habit.
3. Be kind to yourself
Being or not being productive doesn’t define your worth and it’s okay to have lazy days sometimes. Instead of telling yourself you should’ve tried harder, congratulate yourself on your effort so far. You can always do better tomorrow.
4. Try journaling
Writing down your worries can help your clear your mind and stop you from overthinking when you’re trying to sleep. Try to do it every day before bed.
5. Build a support network
Talking to your loved ones can be a great stress reliever and help you become more resilient.
References:
[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/brb3.497
[2] https://www.myshortlister.com/insights/workplace-stress-statistics
[3] https://www.skillsyouneed.com/rhubarb/women-workplace-stress.html
