Climbing the career ladder has always been tougher for women than men. Even in the 21st century, the perception that women are somehow less capable of leading persists. Their pay and promotion lag behind men, ostensibly forcing women to work twice as hard to achieve career success.
But women continue to battle to shatter the proverbial glass ceiling against all odds. After all, they’re the gender dealing with fertility, maternity, and childcare, keepers of the home and of elderly parents. And when it comes to climbing the ladder when menopause arrives, the workplace serves up gendered ageism at its worst.
Your career is important. So is your health. Finding a way to balance the two during this time in your life is challenging. Here are three tips that may help you find some equilibrium.
1. Supplement Your Life
Menopause marks the end of the significant estrogen production your body has enjoyed until then. This vital hormone contributes to heart health, blood flow to the brain, and strong bones. It boosts your mood, regulates body temperature, and keeps tissues and muscles in your urethra and vagina moist and strong.
Menopause can cause issues with all of these. Your risk of heart disease rises. You may experience brain fog and hot flashes. Your bone density may falter, leading to osteoporosis. You may experience sleep disturbances, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Sex may become painful and urinary tract infections frequent.
Taking hormone replacements and using daily supplements that address your menopausal issues may keep you and your career on track.
For example, a protein supplement and vitamins A and D may help you build muscle mass and bone density with exercise. A UTI supplement can help keep bacteria from attaching to the bladder and stop infections before they start. B vitamins can help with energy, metabolism, and cognition.
Menopause is unavoidable. And its timing can be incredibly inconvenient if you’re reaching for the top of your career when it strikes. Adding the right daily supplements to your routine, along with a healthy diet and regular exercise can help keep you focused and healthy. They’re certainly worth a try.
2. Erase the Stigma
Menopause affects women in the workplace in visible ways. Hot flashes, fatigue, and concentration issues can be difficult to disguise and even embarrassing. There’s a tendency to try and hide rather than shine while you’re on the clock. There’s a feeling that you lose power in admitting that your body is changing.
It’s up to women to take the lead in erasing the stigma of menopause. After all, it’s a fact of life for females, while men really have no clue what’s going on. And there is strength in numbers. More than 75% of women ages 45 to 54 are participating in the civilian labor force.
Companies need to recognize how menopause affects their employees’ physical and mental health and embrace it in their programs and policies. Otherwise, some of their best employees — women of a certain age — will leave employment due to symptoms of menopause.
Wellness programs that support menopause education and counseling can help prevent burnout. Health plans and leave policies should address menopause just as they do fertility, maternity, and chronic and serious disease. Moreover, companies should ask their employees experiencing menopause symptoms what they can do to help and respond to women who speak up.
Erasing the stigma doesn’t just empower menopausal women in the workplace. Many men are ill-equipped to understand how it affects their female leadership and coworkers, let alone the other women in their lives. So, getting real about menopause benefits everyone.
3. Get What You Need
Rather than suffer in silence, you can stand up for what you need to navigate menopause. You’re like everyone else, trying to strike a healthy work-life balance. You can’t leave your menopausal symptoms at home every day. That means you need to figure out how to manage them while you’re at work as well.
Moving to an office or area with good ventilation or getting a small air conditioner or fan can help with hot flashes. Don’t hesitate to ask coworkers to wear sweaters if that’s what it takes to keep everyone at a comfortable temperature. And if your job requires wearing a uniform, make sure it provides room for your skin to breathe. You may need to request a different version of the current one.
Apps provide easy ways to stay organized and productive if you’re experiencing brain fog. Look for ones that allow you to take notes, create detailed schedules, set reminders, provide prompts, and even relieve stress. Remember, short-term memory, concentration, and focus issues aren’t just menopausal symptoms. Long COVID, certain medications, and other medical conditions share them.
Request flexible work scheduling. If you can work remotely on days you’re struggling with symptoms, that will help. If your job isn’t suited to remote work, flex scheduling should give you time off to take care of yourself. And since sleep disturbances are common during menopause, give yourself time and space to take a power nap if necessary.
Every business wants their employees to be productive. If you’re struggling with menopausal symptoms, you’ll be more productive if you have what you need. If your employer will help provide that, you can do your job and continue to do it well.
It’s a Balancing Act
Your personal and professional lives are always a balancing act. Moreover, obligations and responsibilities you have for others on the job and off can get in the way. You need to learn to put yourself first when struggling with the symptoms of menopause.
Supplement your body, kick the stigma of menopause to the curb, and make sure you have what you need to thrive. That tripod may provide the balance you need to keep climbing that ladder.