DO you ever feel like you have too many balls in the air?

Between work, kids, relationships, health, there are a lot of things competing for our attention.

2 Women are more likely to suffer a burnout because they juggle work and home life Credit: Getty - Contributor

This new study has unearthed what many women have known for a long time now: Women are getting burnt out, thanks to the long working hours on top of the unpaid, and an often disproportionate share, of domestic duties.

The study, conducted by the Australian National University, found that the healthy work limit for women is just 34 hours per week, compared to up to 47 hours per week for men - thanks to the hours women lose on domestic and care duties.

"Long work hours erode [people's] mental and physical health, because it leaves less time to eat well and look after themselves properly," writes Dr Huong Dinh, the lead researcher of the study.

"Given the extra demands placed on women, it's impossible for women to work [the] long hours often expected by employers unless they compromise their health."

2 Experts say women should be able to work shorter weeks to make up for all the extra work they do at home Credit: Getty - Contributor

So, what's the solution?

Well, experts suggest women should work shorter weeks to allow for the unpaid work they do, such as domestic chores, which is on average about 4.5 hours every day, the study found.

Men, on the other hand, contribute about half this time.

In reality, most women working full-time are putting in much more than 34-hour weeks.

One survey of 8000 Australian adults found that two thirds of Australia's full-time employees work more than 40 hours.

Talking to Broadly, Professor Lyndall Strazdins, one of the study's co-researchers, said the study revealed that men are operating at an advantage in the labour market, which equates to about 100 extra hours up their sleeves each year.

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"But if we encourage women to try to attain those work hours, we're basically confronting women with a trade off between their health and gender equality," she added, saying that there is an increase in the likelihood of depression and anxiety.

Strazdin says, until we can bring men's long hours down to even the divide, we need to somehow reward women who work closer to the official 38-hour working week.

"It's going to be a slow and difficult process because it's a major social change," she said.

This story originally appeared on Whimn.com.au and has been republished with permission.

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