Wednesday Bubble: working the transition
I’ve been absent for about a week now. The reason? I’ve been in transition, not menopausally-speaking but literally and physically. I’ve moved about a mile away from my last home. However, it feels as though it’s taken miles to get here.
I spend a lot of time on Flashfree discussing how the transition (and midlife) affects our wellbeing, our general health and our moods. And I would like to offer that this stage of life comes with a set of challenges that feel unlike any other. Whether it’s a change from full house to empty nest or a divorce or a new career, it’s tough. Throw a move into the mix, and well, it’s enough to get a person out of sorts.
The last time I moved, I was in another sort of transition. You can read about that here. This time, the move was again, out of my control but it was in my hands and on my terms. And as such, this transition, albeit difficult, holds promise for all good things to come.
Sheer exhaustion permeates the rambling words on this page and yet, underlying them is a hope that I’ve not felt in quite some time. So, I am taking a mental break this week. Friday’s post will be a guest post and next week Flashfree will be back to business as usual.
I’ll be working this transition to the fullest. Hope you’ll stick it out with me.
Read MoreWorking through the menopausal transition..the first step is the deepest
Back in July of last year, I wrote a post entitled ‘Working through the transition? Or is the transition working you?’ In it, I discussed some research being conducted in the UK that is looking at the effect of menopause and its accompanying symptoms on the work environment and preesenteism, i.e. impact on productivity while at work. Not surprisingly, an overwhelming majority of women surveyed reported that their symptoms, namely fatigue and insomnia, were impacting workplace functioning and relationships with managers and co-workers. Less clear, however, were the roles of other factors, like perceptions and stress.
This raises one of the most common and yet inconsistently addressed issues during menopause: quality of life.
Quality of life is a subjective construct and one that is significantly influenced by a multitude of factors that intersect at any given time, factors such as how well we function, what we think about our lives, how we deal with stress, the type of social and economic support we have and overall wellbeing. And when you throw a bunch of symptoms like hot flashes, depression, anxiety, insomnia, backache, joint pain or forgetfulness on top of any of these, well, all hell can and does break loose!
When researchers looked at 184 women in both early and late transition to menopause who were part of the larger, Seattle Women’s Health study, they learned just how intricate the interrelationship between all these factors truly is. Indeed, among women in their mid to late 40s who were juggling work, families and relationships, the degree to which symptoms interfered with work most relied on how they perceived their health, their life stress and how depressed they were or were not. The findings:
- Symptoms like hot flashes, mood issues, sleep issues, pain, or concentration had a significant impact on work productivity.
- However, when researchers started to tease out and analyze the symptoms over time, they found that how symptoms influenced how women felt about their health was most important. If women felt that their health was excellent or very good, symptoms tended affect their work productivity to a lesser extent than if they perceived their health to be poor or only moderate.
- Perceived stress levels reportedly influenced both work productivity and social/intimate relationships.
- Depression and difficulty concentrating were the final straws in the work/relationship back, affecting performance and the ability or interest in socializing or engaging in intimate or family relationships.
The one thing that these reports and the UK reports had in common were nighttime awakening.
So, let’s take a look at this. How we feel about our wellbeing affects work productivity, as does stress. If we are depressed or have difficulty concentrating, the ability to focus and be productive, either at work or in our worlds in general, starts to fall apart. Frequent awakening during the nighttime hours as a result of both aging and hormones can cause fatigue, depressed mood and concentration issues. In turn, this can influence how well we function at work and at home and the quality of our relationship, to ourselves, our children and our partners.
The conclusion is that we need to step back, take stock and think about how we feel and how that is affecting our wellbeing and our lives.
The solution isn’t simple. Part of it lies in learning how to best address symptoms like sleep disturbances, depression or focus. The other lies in openly communicating to our work colleagues, our managers, our partners and our friends how productivity and our relationships may be suffering and actively involve them in finding solutions to improve wellbeing.
It’s hard work, no doubt. But the more insight we have, the better we are able to deal. And while it starts within, without it, the menopausal tendrils can extend far and widely into our lives.
The first step? Step back deep within yourself, and take stock. It may ultimately be the insight that you need to turn those symptoms on their side where they belong.
Read MoreWorking through the transition? Or is the transition working you?
I ran across an interesting study examining how work affects menopause and visa versa. Initiated two years ago by Professor Amanda Griffiths of the Institute of Work, Health & Organizations at the University of Nottingham in the UK, the study aims to identify challenges that women face while working through their transition and also help raise employer awareness.
I contacted Professor Griffiths to learn more . Although she is still compiling her final data (culled from 900 women, ages 40+), she did share some interim nuggets that are pretty interesting.
The fact that menopause, or more specifically menopausal symptoms might affect life quality and work is not a novel idea. Numerous studies have shown that hot flashes in particular can significantly impact daily activities, especially when they are severe. In turn, hot flashes, night sweats and hormonal swings can significantly affect sleep and coping mechanisms. Hence it’s not surprising that among an initial group of 941 female police officers surveyed*, most agreed that the primary factors affecting their ability to function in their job were fatigue and insomnia. Nevertheless, about 2/3rds said that they wouldn’t or didn’t disclose the fact that they were going through menopause to their managers, either because their managers were men, were younger (and therefore unlikely to understand or have much empathy) or because they felt embarrassed. This point of view only changed if the symptoms were so obvious that they felt they had to explain, if they felt that their ability to cope with their symptoms was less than stellar, if their performance was somehow being affected by their symptoms or if they felt the need to justify a change in their behavior at work. However, I was heartened to read that many of the women felt comfortable sharing their experience with other colleagues who were similarly in the midst of menopause or had already gone through it.
Griffiths reports that a clear majority of women surveyed that expectations of their physical capacities did not change as they aged. Yet, less than half believed that their contributions were valued as much as their younger peers.
When asked what changes they’d like to see in their jobs to ease their way through the transition and challenges of growing older, most pointed out greater flexibility in working hours (e.g. flex time, no night shifts or since this was a police force, shifting from the front line to a desk job), access to workplace-focused health promotion, such as regular check ups and fitness program), improved awareness among managers of health-related changes in midlife and improvements in the physical working environment.
Griffiths says that more recently, she and her colleagues have surveyed women from all walks of career life, including education, administration and journalism and the final write-up of the study** will include these opinions as well. However, based on our correspondence, it appears that the difficulties that women face in the workplace during the transition are fairly universal. She explains that menopause is ‘taboo’ yet happens to 50% of workforce (I imagine that this number will only continue to grow as the population ages and we are forced due to economic constraints, to work well into retirement years.) “Evidence suggests that some women do experience a lot of difficulty – largely tiredness – much of which can be resolved with sensible line management and flexible work,” says Griffiths. However, “as with any other long-term health condition, employees should feel empowered to discuss health conditions with their line manager/supervisor, otherwise the latter are not in a position to help.”
Isn’t it time for change? Rather than let the transition work us, shouldn’t we be looking for empowering ways to work through it? In the early days of this blog, I wrote that science has confirmed what women have known all along: social support networks are one of the strongest weapons we have against the aging process. Griffiths’ research confirms that by engaging female peers who are going through similar experiences, we have a stronger experience overall. Yet, she also points out very clearly that men need to be brought into the equation as well. The only way to foster understanding is to share and educate, right?
The research shows that women want their managers to be more aware the menopause doesn’t simply affect their personal lives but also their occupational health. Although sharing may be risky, we really need to ask ourselves how much we are risking by allowing the transition to work us. Time for change, don’t you think?
*The initial research was funded by the British Association of Women in Policing. **Dr. Griffiths’ larger study is funded by the British Occupational Health Foundation.
Read MoreWorking the ‘Pause…the U.S. Experience
About a year ago, I wrote a post about a UK study exploring women experiences of working through the menopausal transition. Among the various challenges cited, poor concentration, fatigue, memory issues, depression and loss of self-confidence ranked among the highest. Moreover, the majority of women chose to avoid discussing their symptoms with their managers, making a bad situation even worse.
A more recent survey has been released by The Working Mother Research Institute and not surprisingly, the findings are similar. And, while the methodology is not quite scientific and based on a series of survey blasts, it does serve up some sobering statistics. Among 1,500 women surveyed (ages 45 to 65):
- About one-third cited hot flashes as the most troublesome symptoms in the workplace, and roughly two-thirds said that they occurred daily.
- Similar to their UK counterparts, changes in memory and concentration and fatigue (attributable to sleep disruption) were also among the most troublesome symptoms.
- Almost half (48%) reported that managing their symptoms took a toll on their work life, with 12% passing up more demanding work or promotions as a result.
- The more ‘male’ the work environment, the more that women tried to hide their menopausal symptoms while at work; this distinction was almost two-fold.
- Fewer than one on three women felt comfortable discussing their symptoms with their supervisors and among those who were, again, gender was a strong determining factor.
So, what do these flashing, fatigued women desire in their work environment? Overwhelmingly, one primary ‘want’ shines through: the ability to adjust temperature in their workspace. A close second and third? A flexible dress code and the ability to bring a fan into the workspace.
The bottom line of this survey echoes the UK study: employers need to be more aware that among their female employees ‘of a certain age,’ the menopausal transition can cause some difficulty. And while the solutions are relatively simple, the lack of consideration for an issue creates a problem in and of itself.
According to the North American Menopause Society, approximately 6,000 women enter menopause daily in the United States. Not only are these women living longer but increasingly, they continue working well beyond what was once considered traditional retirement age. So long as women keep working the ‘pause, employers will need to readjust the environment to keep those women happy and productive. Currently, it appears that there is a long way to go to achieve the optimal balance in the workplace.
Read MoreTransition
Menopause is called “the transition,” a time when the character and frequency of menstrual periods start to change and eventually cease. This transition is often accompanied by a larger life transition, a “crossroads” as you will, one that can make decisions difficult. I know several women around my age whose children are leaving (or have left) the nest, who are going through divorce, who are experiencing self-doubt and are feeling confused about what’s next and how to go about finding one’s way though the obstacles, be they their health, career, or family.
Social media guru Jeff Pulver has an interesting blogpost today about transitions and trusting oneself. I strongly encourage you to check it out.
One of the things that struck me during my conversation with Denise Polacek the other day was the fact that she left a successful, lucrative career as a technology transfer professional to pursue her own path. Using contacts, networking, experience, desire and commitment, Denise created a company, Life Quality Technologies, that is poised to revolutionize the way that women approach the transition and the symptoms that accompany it. Her goal? To provide women experiencing hot flashes with an alternative to drug therapy with one simple idea: cooling.
Denise told that she strongly believes, as I do, that a majority of women are open-minded and willing to explore alternative paths. Jeff Pulver says to trust ourselves. I think that both of these visionaries succeed because trying something new is viewed as a challenge that despite hardships, can yield growth and reveal unexpected surprises,
This transition that many of us are going through — in our bodies, in our lives, in our careers — is universal. Perhaps as we forge our paths, we should remember that it is only one of the many crossroads that we will face in our lives, that there will be good days and bad days and that stumbling (and even falling on our faces) is the rule, not the exception. As Queen wrote, “your every day is filled with sunshine. But into every life a little rain must fall…”
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