Anonymous wrote:I'm so brain-dead, wiped, blotto. It's not even physical exhaustion (as my kids are 6 & 8), just the constant "executive function" of running virtual school and dual-earner work in one house for a year. I realize this is the most absurdly ridiculously privileged thing to say given our health and financial stability but I just want one month where I am not doing 10 things at once (poorly, laughably poorly). Has anyone been able to finagle some sort of limited leave of absence*? One month where I just made sandwiches, de-cluttered and turned on & off Zoom for the kids sounds like some sort of weird heaven.

*And worst thing is I have one of those wonky "save the world" DC jobs where I also feel guilty for not *wanting* to be 100% all the time!

Anecdotally, I have heard from many parents that the multitasking, stressors and lack of sleep brought on by this Covid year have created a kind of mental overload. And it’s not just parents, either. As a sketch on “Saturday Night Live” that could serve as our pandemic anthem expressed it, “I was fine in the fall but now I’ve hit a wall and I’m loco, as in my brain done broke-o.”

It turns out that many aspects of our pandemic lives could lead to impaired executive functioning, which is a fancy way of describing the mental processes that allow us to plan, organize and remember instructions.
...

“For many of us, life has changed from being divided in well-defined areas of work, kids, activities, to a situation where everything is a mix,” Dr. Eckerström said, and that muddling puts a strain on our cognitive abilities.

Smart employers will recognize that this is the path to retaining good employees who are in really trying circumstances. But, it requires the ability to think long-term.

Look at what leave you have under your current terms, make a plan to take it, get approval of the plan, and stick to that plan. I did not take all my leave in 2020, but I will not be making that mistake in 2021.

If you don't have any leave, then see what you can negotiate and consider unpaid leave. Lots of employers will push back hard, but when push comes to shove, what are they going to do? Fire you? Well, then, at least you'll get a break

Another poster here. I had a previous employer who pushed back. They were just unreasonable, but it was more from a control-freak boss than from top management. I ended up taking FFCRA leave expecting I wouldn't need it past the summer. Little did we all know...

I'm now at a new org that is a lot more flexible, but I'm burned out from running back and forth between my kids' devices and my work laptop. My memory isn't what it used to be, I'm tired and moody. I remind myself every day not to get mad at my kids when they're just being kids if they distract me because it's not their fault we're all cooped up and I have to make a spreadsheet when they're asking for snack. I'm not usually like this. It's not us, the parents, it's the situation. We're being called on by schools and employers to accomplish something absolutely ridiculous. The system is broken. I pray every day the kids are back in school full time this fall. There is no way this can go on for another school year.

Anonymous wrote:I am so happy I was laid off last March. And I am a divorced mom! So yeah I get it.