However I came across an article that has made me rethink burnout and how it's actually a more personal topic than I realised. I immediately bookmarked the article as it intimately resonated with me. Ignore the fact that it's on Buzzfeed; it's basically an academic article: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work
It has made me realise that I'm suffering from burnout, a generational and contemporary problem apparently. It is why among my group of friends, acquaintances and Facebook community, it seems very few of us have settled down, got married and had children. Some of them are only just starting to at the age of 35. Those who are just coming round to that idea, after finally getting to a place in their careers where they feel stable, are made to reconsider bringing new life into a world with uncertain political situations, unstable global circumstances and the decline in the climate and the environment.
That is not only the way I feel, but also my mental health has prevented me from even getting close to a place where children might be a possibility. Add to that my physical health; a recent diagnosis of endometriosis, after a few years of an "unusual presentation" of symptoms and almost 20 years of symptoms I was unaware of, which I will write about at a later date once I've had a procedure and seen a specialist, might mean it's impossible anyway or at least more difficult.
Let's break the article down. I'll try and beware of sweeping statements, but I will ignore the exceptions. One statement to start with: burnout isn't necessarily a bad thing to our employers, our families and those we rely on, "our capacity to burn out and keep working is our greatest value."
Millennials
If you're born between 1981 and 1996, you're classed as a millennial whether you like it or not. We went through extensive exams, global terrorism, the financial crisis. We grew up with computers, mobile phones and then social media. We're the most connected generation, but this has made us feel unconnected. Millennials are "struggling to achieve the same standards of living as our parents, operating in psychological and physical precariousness, all while being told that if we just work harder, meritocracy will prevail, and we’ll begin thriving. The carrot dangling in front of us is the dream that the to-do list will end, or at least become far more manageable."
Life has become work
Our work-life balance is gone. "That’s one of the most ineffable and frustrating expressions of burnout: It takes things that should be enjoyable and flattens them into a list of tasks." Even when we're not working, we might be treating life like work; TV programmes we watch become a box-ticking exercise, life experiences are on a mental to-do list and relationships/friendships can be treated like goals. We feel guilty when we're not working, so we're always on call, always contactable: "burnout isn’t a place to visit and come back from; it’s our permanent residence."
Errand paralysis
The time-intensive, analog tasks with little reward, but necessary sit undone. I put it down to anxiety, procrastination and laziness, which I've been beating myself up over for a while now, especially as I hadn't been through my finances for months. I've been putting off tasks at work which have no deadlines. I moved house a few months ago and I've been getting my stuff in order in phases. It's made me feel inefficient, unproductive and unmotivated. It's made me feel less engaged with life.
Self-optimisation
Everything we do has to be efficient. We take the shortest routes, easiest options, multi-purpose products: convenience is key. We're our own promoters, showing our best selves on Instagram and Facebook, sharing opinions on Twitter and creating a personal brand on LinkedIn. However the things that are supposed to help like website optimisation, there's an app for that and electronic customer service, only make things worse.
Decision fatigue
Life is full of options, it's difficult to choose. We're bombarded with information and information overload has become the norm. Our attention is divided all the time. Just having our phone on our desk, email alerts and a social media tab open, is an unconscious diversion. We are not just experiencing information overload, but cognitive overload.
"Self-care isn’t a solution; it’s exhausting."
We know there's a problem, with the rise in mental health problems. Meditation, yoga, health apps, sleep trackers, Marie Kondo... "What is anxiety if not the condition of trying to live under these conditions?"
The solution
If you're reading this expecting a solution? There isn't one.
"You don’t fix burnout by going on vacation. You don’t fix it through “life hacks,” like inbox zero, or by using a meditation app for five minutes in the morning, or doing Sunday meal prep for the entire family, or starting a bullet journal. You don’t fix it by reading a book on how to “unfu*k yourself.” You don’t fix it with vacation, or an adult coloring book, or “anxiety baking,” or the Pomodoro Technique."
We have to understand that "it doesn’t feel hopeless. It’s not a problem I can solve, but it’s a reality I can acknowledge, a paradigm through which I can understand my actions."
