How to deal with guilt over cutting down work hours to avoid burnout?
I’m an autistic woman in my late twenties and I was getting incredibly burnt out from working full time hours. My mental health was horrific to say the least, so now I’ve cut my hours down to 3 days in my workplace (avg 5-10 hour shifts) and one work from home day each week which is more manageable for me (especially with uni starting again soon, I currently study a BSc Psychology part time).
I have however began to struggle with the guilt of bringing home a lot less than my partner. I feel as though I’m not contributing enough in comparison, and when I work/contribute more I feel awful due to burnout so it feels like a lose-lose. Has anyone else dealt with feeling like this? My partner doesn’t make me feel bad about it at all, they are encouraging, despite this I still feel so guilty about it!
Posted Sep 8, 2026, 11:36 AM UTC