“Millennial Burnout” — So What Now?
This article is for all of the people out there who have been told that we can accomplish anything we hope to achieve in this world if we simply put in more hard work.
Don’t get me wrong, hard work certainly yields desirable outcomes, more often than not. But the overwhelming challenge for many of those classified as “millennials” or younger is that overworking is exacerbated by constant additions of day-to-day, mundane tasks that come with being a self-sufficient adult. This is referred to as “millennial burnout,” a phrase popularized by Helen Anne Petersen’s recent article “How the Millennials Became the Burnout Generation,” published on BuzzFeed News.
To explain this better with an example, imagine yourself as an individual starting your first career in your early to mid-20’s. You are heading to the office each day at sunrise and you don’t leave until sunset. Eventually a task pops up on your agenda that needs to be completed, such as having to run to the post office to mail an important letter or package, but you may not have time this week to do it because of your busy work schedule. Soon this task is going to be followed by others, like cleaning the windows at home or scheduling your regular dental check-up. These mundane tasks inevitably will pile up if not completed in a timely manner and, before long, you’ll be dreading this long list of errands, since you already have a schedule that doesn’t allow for much free time. This hypothetical scenario serves as a poignant example of how burnout might certainly weigh someone down and subsequently hold serious mental health implications, if not handled and coped with properly (more on that later). Imagine… the check-up never gets scheduled, the package never gets sent, the bed never gets made, and so on. Just typing it out makes me anxious.
What is the root cause of millennial burnout, though? Is it a result of poor time management or the gig economy? I would argue there’s multiple factors at work here (pun not intended). Time management is certainly apart of it all — we can definitely move certain things around to where we can make time for extraneous errands. As far as structure goes, though, work schedules are terrible for so many people in the workforce and American society will have to engage in this, in the long-term. Is it really our fault sometimes that our innate tendency is oriented towards working all the time? It seems like a natural instinct that we prioritize and spend more time on goals and tasks that we are more passionate about than others. Of course, making money by doing a strenuous amount of physical or mental work from a real job is usually something that motivates us because our personal sustenance depends on it! Conditions have now reached the point to where our passion is forced into this intimate connection with bare sustenance. Capitalism at its finest.
It’s therefore important that we determine solutions to burnout before conditions worsen for future generations. We set an example for all generations to come and this is where individual habits come into play. Being a member of what’s considered Generation Z, I’ve observed people my age already adopting bad habits, typically from the younger millennials out there. The term “adulting” is used all over trendy social media outlets, such as Twitter, to describe when people pat themselves on the back for completing mundane tasks, similar to the ones I mentioned previously. Are you really doing more work or being a real adult because you went to the post office today, or are you simply just living? I suppose the real problem with what I’d like to call the “cult of adulting,” is that those who praise you as a role model might get the wrong idea of what it’s like to actually become an adult. Self-sufficiency is important and necessary, so hyping up the completion of very manageable tasks would seem to encourage a culture of little improvement, especially in regard to matters that don’t directly pertain to your nine-to-five job. In that world, everything other than that is just extra work for you. It makes me wonder what the generation after mine could be like when they reach young adulthood.
I’d now like to offer some of my personal tips and solutions for how I prevent, mitigate, and deal with burnout. My hope is that you can potentially take something away from them or can use them as a resource for you in your life.
- Pick up (and make time for) more hobbies or recreational activities. This is easier said than done, when you may already be of the mindset that you’re too busy, as it is. However, I recommend thinking about it as something that’s necessary for your own well-being and as the most straightforward way to prevent potential burnout. I can’t stress this enough — if you do too much work, both physical and mental, you are highly susceptible to experiencing burnout. So try playing video games, watching some Disney+, or listening to music. Make time for things that will give you a break from the whole work flow. You might even choose to engage yourself in activities that are both relaxing and productive, if you’re someone that prefers to keep the figurative gears in your head turning. A perfect example of this is my decision to take up writing; it allows me to be more creative and my work product may also potentially be fruitful for both others, aside from just myself.
- Regularly reflect on your priorities. Money isn’t everything. And you’ll probably find, through a bit of self-reflection, that working so much to make money or studying so much to get a degree that provides for good financial prospects might not always be what’s best for you. This relates to the previous point above — we all need things that engage in multiple aspects of our life or satisfy multiple parts of our brains. Reflect on whether you’re prioritizing things like your family, friends, and hobbies on a similar level to or on the same level as your work.
- Put the different aspects of your life into categories. This can be done through either mental reflection or by writing them down on paper. Compartmentalizing the various activities included in your daily life can help treating tasks needing completion for what they are. For example, putting your post office trip in a category, like “Small Chores,” might help you internalize that it isn’t much more difficult than a manageable errand. You may also decide to limit your completion of the “Small Chores” tasks to only being done on Saturdays or Sundays, so you keep them separate from what you do on workdays. This could further reduce the chance of you getting bogged down in a mindset of, “Oh no, now I have to make time to go to the post office on top of having to work all the time.” I know I keep returning to the post office example, but it’s definitely a good one — maybe I should pursue a career as a mailman.
- Give credit to yourself where and when it’s due. If you just took an exam, had an important interview, or just landed a big raise at work, you might want to remind yourself that this is a significant event. Therefore, you should take at least the rest of the day to celebrate the victory, if the outcome was up to par with what you originally wished to achieve. On the other hand, if you feel you performed poorly, you should still take the rest of the day to relax and recover from it. Just don’t think about the result more than you have to. This helps me to distract myself from all the pressure that was caused by the event. Afterwards, get back to either improving or continuing to maintain performance on the job at hand, so you kill it next time around! The war is much more important than a single battle, in the grand scheme of things.
- Identify what makes you the best version of yourself. This may be a longer version of self-reflection, but it’s well worth thinking about. If you do your best work at home vs in the library, then stay at home. I was talking to a friend Adam about this and he mentioned that he really prioritizes trying not to work too late into the night. He said, “Last night I decided to just play MyCareer, instead of read. I figure that my brain can only handle intensive research until 6 pm.” This is the opposite of my own personal needs because I consider myself a “night owl,” meaning that I usually do my best work after it’s dark. Regardless of whatever way you may align yourself, it seems important to identify your needs and then arrange your schedule around what works best for you.
- Be positive and optimistic (as best as you can) — be passionate. Self-explanatory. It’s easy to become anxious about a particular situation when you hold a generally negative outlook on life. If you’re like me, you may inevitably feel a lot of pressure when it comes to something that you’re passionate about. As long as you remain positive and confident, you may find it easier to tackle that next paper or present to your peers at the next meeting. I’m not saying you won’t ever feel down when failure presents itself, but reminding yourself of why you’re doing something or why you’re passionate about it, may go a long way.
This article isn’t meant to be a criticism of younger generations; it’d be a bit silly to write an entire article condemning myself. I’m just presenting what I believe to be an honest engagement with the concept of burnout, pointing out the danger of potentially overworking. In my opinion, it is extremely important for us as individuals to find ways to either prevent burnout or alleviate its harmful effects. Otherwise, we’ll be struggling with the phenomenon for the rest of our lives, and so will future generations. I offered to you some of the advice that helped me deal with burnout, and I hope they can be resources for you to utilize in your life, in any way possible.
Best,
Kyle
Thank you so much for reading. This was my first article that I’ve had the courage to publish and I’ll be coming out with many more in the future. If you enjoyed, feel free to give the story an applaud or share with a friend— it’ll show me that you took something away from this piece and walked away with some sort of value added. Also feel free to give me feedback by typing a response or privately contacting me; I always welcome comments and forms of constructive criticism on my writing! Lastly, follow me on Medium if you’d like to see more of my writing in the future.
Disclaimer: The opinions presented in this story are my own takes on the subject.
Works Cited:
- Petersen, Anne Helen. “How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 13 Nov. 2019, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work.
