Modern fathers found to be just as prone to ‘burning out’:
Rosie Taylor from the UK DAILY MAIL reports,
Fathers of this ‘millennial’ age group were also more likely to have adapted work around looking after children, with more than two thirds working flexibly compared to half of fathers aged over 45.
But more than two in five ‘millennial parents’ said they felt burn out most or all of the time, compared to one in five parents aged 36 to 45 and one in six aged over 45.
They were also most likely to say they would rather take a pay cut for a better work/life balance and less likely to be attracted to progressing in their careers if it meant working longer hours and being away from family.
Four in ten fathers aged 35 and under resented their employers, compared to three in ten overall, but three out of five would not feel confident asking their boss to reduce their hours, allow remote working or cut down on the amount of calls and emails they take outside of work.
The study conducted concludes statistics for Britain. But it is imaginable that the same type of study and results could happen in the United States.
Nearly a third of parents of all ages said they felt burnt out often or all the time, according to the report compiled by campaign charity Working Families and childcare provider Bright Horizons.
Half of 1,000 parents surveyed said their working life was becoming increasingly stressful and more than a third said this impacted negatively on family life.
Around a third of parents said they had taken annual leave or sick leave to cope with juggling family commitments or feeling burnt out.
Despite fathers becoming increasingly more involved, mothers were nearly twice as likely to consider whether a new job would work around their childcare responsibilities.
There needs to be a new approach to all of this. It is not working.
Parenting and life itself is burning people out. The fast paced approach to modern technology seems oppressive and burdensome, people checking their Facebook and Twitter pages constantly all day long gives a sense that life is passing by in the blink of an eye.
Earlier this year I posted a prediction that 2016 will be the year we give up some technology in favor or life. Maybe an analog phone or two.. perhaps a fax machine. Maybe putting down the phone for a day on the weekend .. I think that is coming, especially when you read studies like then one being reported on about dads maxed out to the max..
Another factor not being considered: The need to work more than 1 job, often with spouses working two jobs, juggling sports and school appointments for children.. finding time to get dinner and settling for unhealthy and cancer causing fast food instead, thus making themselves more unhealthy and tired and more mentally imbalanced. Fry up hot dogs instead of a healthy salad and protein. This is a problem. A major problem.
I will go out on a limb.. and say .. drum roll: We actually DO HAVE enough time in the day to do things we want. We just need to task prioritize better, knowing what matters and what does not. If you need to choose between two, three, or even four things, pick the actual one thing that means the most to you. If there’s three feet of snow outside, you may opt out of work that day. Spend it with your kids–spend it actually doing something and not just gluing yourself to a device or app.
Life IS short.
We make it shorter by choosing to complain about not having enough time to live it. Just stop wasting time and make time.
You can.
In between the dishes, chores, sports, soccer matches, homework fights, bath times, work schedules, cooking, cleaning, phone calls, flat tires, and the rest of ‘life’ that happens when you’re busy making other plans.
