Internet Cheers Wife's Spreadsheet Explaining the 'Mental Load' to Husband

A TikTok video showing off a woman's organizational skills alongside her honesty about her mental health has inspired thousands of people across the internet, drawing praise from viewers who identified with her struggle.

The now-viral footage broke down a spreadsheet and to-do list that she created to help her husband understand the invisible labor that she puts in, outside of her professional work, to maintain their home and raise their children.

In the TikTok post, which can be seen here, the woman talks of carrying a "mental load" and claims that her husband wasn't aware of the additional work that she puts in to maintaining their lives.

According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, approximately 93 % of employed women regularly undertake unpaid housework.

"Welcome to the mental load one-o-one," she opens the video with.

The video goes on: "If you're a woman in charge of any kind of household, family, or human being then scroll on. You already know what I'm talking about. The mental load is a term for the invisible labor that comes from managing a household and family".

The videos creator Cat Sims, who posts under the social media username @NotSoSmugNow, argues that the "mental load" and its accompanying additional labor usually fall on the shoulders of women, regardless of the responsibilities they may have outside a home.

The video continues: "After banging on about it numerous times my husband asked me to explain to him what mental load was. I expected him to know... I created a detailed spreadsheet of the things that need doing every 1 to 2 weeks, and every 4 to 6 weeks."

An exhausted Sims finished off the extensive spreadsheet by adding a daily to-do list, so that her husband could see the tasks that she has to tackle on a daily basis.

The caption reads: "It still doesn't get done, but now I know I'm not the only one worrying about it".

Sims' TikTok post appears to have struck a chord with people across the world. Since being posted to the social media platform on January 26, the video has attracted more than 1,578 comments.

Sims has received tons of praise online for opening up to her husband about the pressure she is under.

One user, who relates to Sims, wrote underneath the post: "After my husband announced that he did the dishes 'for me' I started announcing every single thing I did for the family. It got old real quick for him".

"But why does teaching them about the mental load fall on us too? We had to learn it all on our own. It's not like google is hard to find," another TikTok user added.

"Please sell this to me in an adaptable format," a third user added.

Newsweek reached out to @NotSoSmugNow for comment.

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