What you don’t know about the mental load with Leah Ruppanner

We've been talking about the mental load for decades, so why are so many women still carrying it?

It's the unseen mental and emotional work we do to keep our lives running — the planning, problem-solving, and remembering that often goes unnoticed.

The term isn't new, but our understanding of it is changing. Yumi is joined by sociologist Leah Ruppanner, who interviewed thousands of women as part of a research project to develop tools to help manage and lighten your mental load.

As part of this research, Leah's developed a simple online quiz that breaks the mental load into eight categories, helping you see where your energy is going and how you might redistribute it.

Further information

Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More is published by Penguin Random House

Free Mental Load Assessment | Lighten Lab | Professor Leah Ruppanner)

This episode will answer questions like:

• What is the mental load?
• How can I reduce the mental load?
• How does carrying the load impact women?
• How can I share the mental load?
• What are the eight categories of the mental load

What to listen to next:

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What to read next:

Empty-nesters on how they 'fill the void' left by childrenWomen on being in a sexless marriage and tips for reconnecting

This episode contains references to the mental load, housework, invisible labour, emotional labour, parenting, emotional responsibility.