The effect of burnout and its impact on millennials and Gen Z goes deeper than the witty memes scattered across Instagram. We’re living in a time where people under the age of 30 are questioning whether the corporate hustle is even worth it. And to be honest, who can blame them?
A recent study by Spring Health found that 76% of surveyed, employed adults living and working in the U.S. are experiencing burnout. The term was recently redefined and recognized by WHO as “syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” in the organization’s International Classification of Diseases diagnostic manual.
The three symptoms included in the list are:
feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings negative towards one’s career
reduced professional productivity
The study also discovered that employed, younger women falling between the ages of 18–44 were more likely to experience burnout in comparison to their male counterpart and older generations. Could this be a nod to the notion that boomers had the work-life balance game figured out?
As a 28-year-old who’s experienced burnout at my last two jobs, I can attest that yes, our parents may have had a better grip on the reality that work does not equate to life, nor does it conquer the other facets of our everyday routines.
When the global pandemic of 2020 hit, millions of people found themselves working from their kitchen counters and cluttered bedrooms. Nearly everyone assumed this would be a major win for the mental health of workers everywhere. No commutes, less meetings (lol), and no staying at the office until the clock struck five just for the sake of it. Ah, yes, we were all salivating at the thought of being in charge of our own daily working schedule and having the freedom we all so desired.
Turns out that it would last a mere few weeks before we were experiencing a brand new wave of burnout. Between the constant news cycles and updates, rising death tolls and historical unemployment rates, pre-covid burnout seemed like a cake walk. If you were lucky enough to make it past the first, second and sometimes third round of pandemic layoffs, you became so fearful of being on the list for a potential fourth and started working in overdrive. Companies were decreasing pay while employees increased hours. The saddest part? Companies didn’t care.
So, fellow burnouts, I’ve gathered some tips that helped me not only survive the last 18 months, but increased my daily health and restored the bit of sanity that remains. *Deep breath*
1.) Set Boundaries
Setting boundaries goes far beyond snoozing slack for the night. In a culture where making yourself readily available at all hours of the day is viewed as “dedicated” or “passionate,” it’s down right unhealthy. As someone who’s spent countless hours refreshing my inbox at 9 p.m. to see if a client replied to my brief or checking if a colleague answered my comment in a deck, I know the feeling of always be “on.” It’s exhausting.
Set your phone to DND (do no disturb). Unless I’m expecting an important or pressing call, my phone is on do not disturb 99% of the time. I’m still able to see numbered icons appear on my text, slack and email apps housed on the home screen but I’m not being hounded by the sounds and notification banners. Do the same for apps such a slack, starting at the time that you decide to sign off nightly. For me, this is around 6 p.m. Anything after can wait until tomorrow.
Use your calendar! This is such an underrated tool. How many times does someone at work book meetings at a time you have something going on? Whether that be taking the dog to the vet or simply eating lunch, people aren’t mind readers. Now I know some [most] people don’t necessarily always check the attendees’ calendars before booking something, but at least yours will be updated and therefore have the option to kindly deny a meeting that conflicts with your time. *Hot tip: This doesn’t mean you have to write “Vet Appointment” or “Taking a second to eat without a screen in my face.,” a simple “busy” suffices. It’s 2021. Detailed calendars are so last year.
Do NOT work on PTO days. It doesn’t matter if it’s one day or one week, PTO means hands off. If you don’t have the personal discipline or restraint, delete apps, remove accounts or better yet leave the devices at home. There’s nothing worse than taking a personal day, despite the reason, and coming back to work feeling like you never left. May I suggest taking a trip to a country that conveniently doesn’t support your carrier? I heard hiking the trails of Peru is good for that.
2.) Practice Self-Care
I know, I know. Reading this one probably makes some of you want to nearly combust but hear me out. Self-care doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Sure, yoga classes and spa days have the ability to lift the mood and leave you feeling shiny and brand new, but there’s plenty of micro adjustments that can be made throughout the day that make zoom parades a bit more tolerable.
Take breaks. The Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford recently conducted a study on the effects of “zoom fatigue” and how intense incessant video conferencing can be. Raise your hand if you’ve recently fallen victim to 2–3 hour blocks or more of video calls on a weekday. (I raised both hands).
To combat zoom fatigue, I’ve dabbled with a few options. Number one being turning my video off altogether. You might get some shade thrown your way i.e. “I can’t see you” or “hey your video is off,” (duh), but as long as you can confidently reply with something like, “I’m not feeling up for video today but am here and available,” you’ll be good.
Prioritize health and wellness. As much as we all aspire to workout before the meetings and calls begin, some days it’s just not what our bodies or brains want. That’s okay. Find a gap in the afternoon to go for a quick run. Crank out some reps in between meetings. Set goals per hours. Whatever you have to do to keep moving. The same goes for nutrition. If you’re still working from home, there’s essentially no valid reason to be skipping any meals. Your brain needs fuel to function. Feed it well. No one likes a hangry coworker. Lastly, sleep; the most underrated recovery tool out there. Put the phone away at a decent hour, preferably outside of the bedroom and fight the good fight again tomorrow.
Do nothing. Yes, nothing. The gaps throughout the day don’t always need to be filled, no matter what the anxious voices in our head tell us. When a call concludes, remove yourself from the room you’re working in and go sit in silence, focusing on your breath. The same goes for completed task. Once you’ve checked something off your to-do list, reward yourself with a few “me” moments. Bringing yourself back to the present moment is key for daily longevity.
3.) Quit.
When all of the above fails and you still find it hard to peel your head from the pillow to spend another day making someone else richer, there’s option C: quitting.
Okay, I get it. Not everyone has this luxury because well, living isn’t cheap, especially if you’re a fellow New Yorker. If you have however saved up enough funds to get yourself through the next quarter and you’re finding your current workplace more unbearable by the minute, quit.
As a competitive athlete for more than half my life, quitting remains a non negotiable, for the most part. But I’ve also come to the recent realization that sometimes you have to leave something that’s no longer serving you physically, mentally or spiritually. A miserable job has the ability to steal from all three of those categories.
Now before you go and put in your two weeks notice, come up with a plan, both short term and long term. Short term questions consisting of: What will I do for supplemental income? What are my company’s severance terms and packages? Will I still have healthcare?
Once you figure out the staples of how to survive without the steady income, you’ll have the mental capacity to think long and hard on the important things, i.e. the long term. What am I passionate about? If I could have any job in the world, what would it be? What are the initial steps to get there?
This all may seem a bit daunting now, but once you’re out of the haze of a job that’s robbing you of your mental energy, you’ll thank yourself for the gift of time and clarity.
At the end of the day, our work is just a small fraction of what defines us as a human being. We aren’t the titles we wear between the hours of 9–5. A former mentor of mine within the industry used to have the same reply whenever an employee was stressing over a missed deadline or unresponsive client.
“This is marketing, not brain surgery. Call me tomorrow.”
Control what you can, when you can. It’s just a job.