Drained by Leah Ruppanner

This book is a toolkit designed to help you identify and prevent the things that sap your energy, so that you can free up capacity to live the life you truly want.

The term mental load has become more familiar in recent years, but the popular understanding of the concept often reduces it to managing a list of household chores and logistics. The reality is far more complex. Based on groundbreaking research from the University of Melbourne’s Future of Work Lab, Professor Leah Ruppanner reveals the real toll of the mental load on women-especially mothers.

The heart of the book is the Mental Load Audit, a powerful, practical tool to help you assess where you are spending your time and attention. Take the Mental Load Burnout quiz to find out where you rate on the scale, then use Leah’s research-backed battle plan to reorient your life towards the things that matter most.

Urgent and provocative, Drained will enable you to stop blaming yourself for never feeling like you are enough and create a richer, less overwhelming existence filled with more meaning and joy.

Praise for Drained

‘Every woman in the Western world must read this book before they fold that next load of washing. Leah is the real deal: she writes with such warmth and understanding, and I spent a lot of this book with tears in my eyes as I felt seen and validated. But here’s the thing – she doesn’t just acknowledge the struggle, she gives you a road-map to managing it all without everything falling apart.’ Felicity Harley

‘This isn’t another vague lament about doing it all, being busy or overwhelmed; it’s a razor-sharp, research-backed reckoning with the invisible labour crushing women across the world. Drained will make you feel seen, understood and – critically – hopeful.’ Georgie Dent

‘Drained will validate the lived experience of women en masse who are “working at top speed” but feel like they cannot get ahead, and its messages about the benefits of more equal distribution will enrich the lives of all those men smart enough to read it.’ Wendy Tuohy

‘A must-read for all women to help them reset how they spend their energy, and lead more balanced, fulfilling, joyful lives.’ Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play and Find Your Unicorn Space

‘Offers an essential blueprint for happier, healthier relationships and lives.’ Brigid Schulte, New York Times bestselling author of Overwhelmed and Over Work

‘This book is a revelation. Buy it, read it, and recommend it!’ Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of Unfinished Business

‘It takes a lot to write something new about the mental load that surprises me-but Drained did exactly that. This book is a must-read for all parents! If we want to tackle the care gap and the pay gap, burnout, parents’ mental health, and women’s leadership, we need to understand the mental load, and we need to tackle it. And our first step is to read Drained.’ Kate Mangino, PhD, author of Equal Partners

‘I wish I had this wisdom twenty years ago, before I became a mum. Leah Ruppanner offers a strikingly honest, deeply validating look at the unseen burdens so many of us carry and a path toward living with more ease, agency, and joy.’ Susan MacKenty Brady, CEO, Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership, and Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Chair for Women and Leadership

A groundbreaking new way to understand the mental load-and why it’s crushing so many women around the world.

About the Author: Professor Leah Ruppanner is a leading sociologist at the University of Melbourne and Vanderbilt University and one of the foremost voices on gender, work and equity.

Recognised as Australia’s top in field for Gender Studies (2022 and 2023) and Sociology (2023), she is the author of Motherlands (2020) and Drained: Reduce your mental load to do less and be more (2026).

As founder of the Future of Work Lab and the Gender Equity Initiative, Ruppanner’s research drives real-world change in workplaces and policy. Her insights have been featured by The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Vox and CNN, and she is the host of the acclaimed podcast MissPerceived, where she unpacks modern gender myths with data and wit.

28 Apr 2026
 

Drained: Reduce your mental load to do less and be more by Leah Ruppanner ISBN 9781761471957