Women face more stress at work because they are better at keeping to deadlines than men.
According to a new study from the US, “time stress” is categorised as “having too many things to do and not enough time to do them”; something which afflicts women disproportionately more than men.
Compared to men, women have a tendency to avoid asking for more time to complete work tasks, even when project deadlines are flexible.
This pressure affects women’s wellbeing and could undermine their performance and efficiency at work.
“[Women] are more likely to feel like they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them,” the report stated.
“Women’s discomfort in asking for more time on adjustable deadlines uniquely predicts time stress and burnout, controlling for marital status, industry, tenure, and delegation preferences.”
The report also noted the tendency for women to take on more activities outside of formally defined responsibilities, both voluntarily and due to more frequent requests from other people.
“Women have a harder time delegating work tasks to others than men,” the report stated. “As a result, women end up with a greater task load relative to men, which contributes to the feeling of having too many things to do and not enough time.”
The study’s authors suggested some helpful tips for women to challenge these tendencies, including asking for more time when a deadline was flexible.
They also advised managers to conduct regular check ins with employees who appear ‘stressed out’ and ask them if a deadline extension would be helpful, where possible.
Companies were also encouraged to create formal policies to promote deadline extension requests, making it simpler for workers to ask for more time to accomplish their tasks.
“Reducing ambiguity about whether or not asking for an extension is an acceptable behaviour by establishing a formal policy around extension requests could mitigate the proposed gender differences in asking for more time on adjustable deadlines at work,” the report concluded.
You can access the full report, “Extension request avoidance predicts greater time stress among women”, here.