...and why the problem is rarely lack of discipline or ambition
For a long time, productivity was presented as a simple equation.
You planned your week.
You showed up each day.
You executed with focus and consistency.
When that rhythm stopped working, the assumption was immediate and deeply personal: something must be wrong with me.
In my own experience, and in the work I do with women in leadership, I now see a different pattern emerging.
Many highly capable women are struggling not because they lack discipline or clarity, but because they are trying to mould themselves into productivity systems that were never designed with their biology in mind.
Most don’t consciously realise that this is what they’re doing.
The invisible mismatch
Modern work culture is built around a 24-hour productivity cycle.
The expectation is daily consistency.
Focus should be available on demand.
Decision-making should remain stable.
Energy may fluctuate, but clarity is expected to hold.
This model aligns closely with the circadian rhythm; the daily biological cycle that has been most extensively studied in men.
Alongside this circadian rhythm, women also experience an infradian rhythm, shaped by hormonal fluctuations across the month. These fluctuations influence cognition, emotional regulation, stress sensitivity, sleep quality, and confidence.
Research recognised by the National Institutes of Health shows that changes in oestrogen and progesterone directly affect executive function and stress response.
The issue is not that modern work is demanding.
It’s that the dominant productivity model assumes a biological stability that many women do not experience.
Where the conflict begins
Many women notice that some weeks they think clearly and decisively, while other weeks they hesitate, second-guess, or feel mentally foggy without an obvious reason.
Anxiety can appear even when nothing seems wrong; with tasks that once felt manageable begin to feel disproportionately heavy.
Because external expectations remain unchanged, the explanation becomes internal. Thus, women start to interpret this variability as inconsistency, weakness, or a loss of competence.
So they push harder.
They override fatigue.
They force decisions when reflection would be more effective.
They stay visible when their nervous system is asking for rest.
Neuroscience research summarised by Harvard Medical School shows that women’s brains naturally shift cognitive style across the hormonal cycle. This can feel like a loss of ability when, in reality, it is a change in operational mode.
Linear productivity systems reward repetition and sameness and do not accommodate for any rhythmic fluctuation.
Why this leads to burnout
Burnout rarely comes from workload alone.
For many women, particularly from their late thirties onward, stress is cumulative. Professional responsibility sits alongside household management, emotional labour, parenting, and often support for ageing parents. There is a significant amount of invisible plate-spinning.
The World Health Organization defines burnout as stress that has not been successfully managed. Yet, management of said stress, can be stressful in itself, as the strain feels unpredictable and deeply personal.
Women begin quietly asking themselves questions such as:
Why can’t I be consistent?
Why does my confidence fluctuate?
What happened to my clarity?
What changed between this morning and this afternoon?
Research from Stanford University shows that when internal biological signals repeatedly conflict with external demands, people override the body until performance eventually collapses.
In this context, burnout is not the first signal but the final one, reached only after a woman’s internal warning signs have been overlooked for far too long.
A different way to understand performance
Most women do not need more motivation or another productivity tool.
What is needed is a better understanding of how different biological rhythms operate, and how systems can be designed to work with them rather than against them.
When women understand when their biology best supports decision-making, execution, visibility, and recovery, performance becomes more predictable, confidence stabilises and energy is no longer wasted fighting internal signals.
Leaving burnout to be predictable and avoidable.
When biological data is used as a tool rather than a problem, growth becomes sustainable; not because women change who they are, but because the system finally makes room for how they work.
A reflection to leave you with:
What expectations of modern work quietly work against women, even when no one intends them to?
