{"id":113319,"date":"2021-06-25T17:23:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T22:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/?p=113319"},"modified":"2026-03-04T15:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T21:31:18","slug":"women-and-the-pandemic-finding-work-life-balance-and-mitigating-the-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/uncategorized\/women-and-the-pandemic-finding-work-life-balance-and-mitigating-the-damage\/","title":{"rendered":"Women and the pandemic: finding work-life balance and mitigating the damage"},"content":{"rendered":"

(LOS ANGELES) (JUNE 1, 2021)<\/strong> Maintaining work-life balance has always been challenging, but it\u2019s been made even more difficult by the pandemic, explains Dr. Michele Nealon<\/a>, licensed clinical psychologist and president of The Chicago School<\/a>. A study<\/a> conducted by McKinsey & Company found that women are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis \u2013 in both the workplace and at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen often carry a disproportionate burden in the workplace. This is in terms of both physical workload and emotional labor,\u201d said Dr. Nealon. \u201cAt home, it\u2019s usually the same, regardless of the changing times. All of this means that when the most impactful global health crisis of our generation hit, disparities increased, as did women\u2019s stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the pandemic forced Americans home to work and learn, women took on a greater share of responsibilities, including facilitating online learning for their children, and taking care of household duties. The McKinsey study also found that during the pandemic, women were most likely to feel pressure to work more, and to consistently feel burnout and exhaustion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is particularly difficult to find work-life balance during this time, but women must be intentional about achieving it,\u201d said Dr. Nealon. \u201cThe alternative leads to overstress, burnout and an undermining of our physical and emotional health. The goal is not to achieve perfect balance, but to actively and continually cultivate healthy<\/em> work-life balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Nealon offers the following advice for help in creating healthy work-life balance.<\/p>\n

Change your mindset<\/strong>. Recognize that no one is perfect, and be okay with doing your best with your given resources. Know that if you always think you\u2019re not being productive enough, you\u2019re likely underestimating your level of productivity. Finally, when you make mistakes, don\u2019t belabor them. Forgive yourself.<\/p>\n

Share the workload<\/strong>. You can\u2019t do everything and be all things to everyone. Ask for help and share the workload.<\/p>\n

Set boundaries<\/strong>. Determine what you can and can\u2019t do, will, and won\u2019t do. Establishing boundaries and sticking to them lessens the possibility of becoming overburdened.<\/p>\n

Make room for flexibility. <\/strong>When creating your schedule or ordering your tasks by priority, give yourself room for flexibility. Structure doesn\u2019t negate flexibility.<\/p>\n

Engage in self-care<\/strong>. Be intentional and do things that are just for you, or that relax you or take you away from your responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to the pandemic, many women in the workforce often felt they worked two shifts \u2013 one at work, and one at home. There was still a need to create a work-life balance. It\u2019s just more urgent now,\u201d said Dr. Nealon.<\/p>\n

For resources on mental and behavioral health, go to <\/strong>http:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MEDIA CONTACT:
\nLisa Riley
\n312.646.9130
\nlriley@thechicagoschool.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(LOS ANGELES) (JUNE 1, 2021) Maintaining work-life balance has always been challenging, but it\u2019s been made even more difficult by the pandemic, explains Dr. Michele Nealon, licensed clinical psychologist and president of The Chicago School. A study conducted by McKinsey & Company found that women are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis \u2013 in both the workplace and at home. \u201cWomen often carry a disproportionate burden in the workplace. This is in terms of both physical workload and emotional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":113330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[198,1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1084],"class_list":["post-113319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized","insight_authors-the-chicago-school"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFinding Work-Life Balance and Mitigating the damage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Exploring how women can navigate work-life balance during and after the pandemic.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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