To be clear, this is not about wishing to be sick so much as a yearning for relief. A desire to escape from the relentless responsibility of people who need stuff from us.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t a failure of resilience. When capable, committed women begin imagining escape just to rest, the question is not how we can cope better. It is a signal that something is out of balance in the way we live and work today.<\/p>\n
Burnout is more than being tired<\/p>\n
We often use the term\u00a0\u2018burnout\u2019 to describe bone-deep exhaustion, but that is only part of the story. Burnout, classified in the\u00a0International Classification of Diseases<\/a>\u00a0(ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon, is characterised by three dimensions:<\/p>\n energy depletion or exhaustion<\/p>\n cynicism or detachment from one\u2019s job<\/p>\n reduced professional efficacy<\/p>\n From my work with leaders in large organisations, I know that burnout rarely arrives in one dramatic moment. Instead, it creeps in. First comes the exhaustion (\u201cI\u2019m so tired I could sleep for a week\u201d). Then the detachment and cynicism (\u201cWhat\u2019s the point? Nothing changes\u201d). Then the quiet erosion of confidence and meaning (\u201cMaybe I\u2019m not cut out for this\u201d or \u201cIt\u2019s just a job now\u201d). By the time we call it burnout, the warning lights have been flashing for months.<\/p>\n When work becomes unsustainable<\/p>\n Decades of\u00a0research<\/a>\u00a0show burnout isn\u2019t random. It emerges when the demands of work consistently exceed the resources we need to meet them.<\/p>\n Finishing the day\u2019s work, then logging back on at night just to keep up.<\/p>\n Being expected to respond instantly while juggling meetings, messages and shifting priorities.<\/p>\n Carrying the team\u2019s emotional load because you\u2019re the \u2018caring one\u2019.<\/p>\n Doing a full day at work followed by a full shift at home.<\/p>\n Being the reliable high performer who gets more work, not more support.<\/p>\n When demands stay high and resources stay low, exhaustion and disengagement rise. When people have clarity, support and control, engagement and wellbeing improve.<\/p>\n Put plainly, burnout is the result of unbalanced systems, not an inability to cope.<\/p>\n A gendered lens<\/p>\n To talk about load, we need to talk about total load \u2013\u00a0not just workload.<\/p>\n Australian women perform around 32 hours of unpaid care and domestic work each week \u2013\u00a0about nine hours more than men (WGEA<\/a>). And while flexible work has increased, it often expands working hours rather than reducing them.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GF_-Instagram_-1080-x-1080px_-C-1.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n