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The Burnout Generation
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1 hora y 47 minutos.
In January 2019, culture writer Anne Helen Petersen set the Internet on fire with her viral BuzzFeed essay diagnosing "millennial burnout"—a chronic state of stress and exhaustion that’s become a "base temperature" for young people today. Now, she continues this generation-defining conversation in a brand-new format, interviewing millennials around the ...more
In January 2019, culture writer Anne Helen Petersen set the Internet on fire with her viral BuzzFeed essay diagnosing "millennial burnout"—a chronic state of stress and exhaustion that’s become a "base temperature" for young people today. Now, she continues this generation-defining conversation in a brand-new format, interviewing millennials around the ...more
Audible Audio, 2 pages
Published
March 10th 2019
by Audible Original
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This isn't a book, it's a lazy blog post. The author confuses having a couple dozen anecdotes about young people working too hard as proof of an entire generation's status. I don't think there was a single piece of research in the entire book, and at no point did she make a compelling case that the circumstances of the millennial generation is significantly harder or somehow more dramatic than that faced by others. (My favorite moment was when she made the point that work is bleeding into off ti
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Super relatable. I was engaged in the interviews and liked the interview format for this particular subject matter. Could have been edited 1 more time. There was one interview where the interviewee repeated the same line several times as if they were trying to get the best take but then never went back and edited out the repeated line.
As an "elder millennial" (I'm 36 years old and was born in 1983, so I'm technically a "millennial," whether I feel like one or not.), I found the topic of burnout ...more
As an "elder millennial" (I'm 36 years old and was born in 1983, so I'm technically a "millennial," whether I feel like one or not.), I found the topic of burnout ...more

Dec 24, 2019
Anniken Haga
added it
What's up with this book constantly being deleted! Super frustrating!
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This is just anecdotes. There’s no actual research, just different millennials explaining what their burn out looked like for them and their relationships with their parents. It really feels more like a lengthy buzzfeed article than a book.
This is an important topic, but I really wish there had been some research or facts or anything beyond conversational discussion.
This is an important topic, but I really wish there had been some research or facts or anything beyond conversational discussion.

Once it got to the first interview I thought "Oh no, I don't want to listen to a podcast!" No wonder this "book" was offered for free by Audible. I can see how people would enjoy this but it should really be headlined: Millennials In Shock that Being an Adult is no Picnic and Continually Wonder when Said Picnic Will Begin!
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Well I listened to this while I was working today and it all felt incredibly relatable. Seeing as I've now worked over 40 hours and it's only Wednesday 🙈
Burnout is a real thing. Student debt is a real thing. Getting stuck in a job that expects you to work 24/7 7 days a week while barely paying you a living wage shouldn't be the norm. The negative reviews for this make it seem like millennials are whiny and lazy, which I guess is nothing new, but millennials work like no other generation. We're ...more
Burnout is a real thing. Student debt is a real thing. Getting stuck in a job that expects you to work 24/7 7 days a week while barely paying you a living wage shouldn't be the norm. The negative reviews for this make it seem like millennials are whiny and lazy, which I guess is nothing new, but millennials work like no other generation. We're ...more

Bullet Review:
Based off the piece, How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation. Great piece for all of us, as I feel many experience burnout now more than ever.
Based off the piece, How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation. Great piece for all of us, as I feel many experience burnout now more than ever.

Listened to this on audible...it was free. Thank goodness otherwise I wouldn't recommend it. Its interviews with a bunch of people complaining how tired they are and how much they have to do. Yes we all have alot to do and we all have our own struggles. I dont know seems like a way for people to have a cop out imo. Yes life is much more demanding now but seriously everyone's going through that
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Very rarely do I make angry noises at the audiobook I'm listening to, but Burnout Generation definitely elicited some. I think every comment I have about this one is critical, so I will simply say that Petersen's exploration into millennial burnout exemplifies many of the problems I find in the prevailing American worldview that centers self.
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It's OK. Could have been a blog post or a podcast.
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Oh was this a chore to finish, but I finally made it.
This audiobook has been recommended to me multiple times over the past year, it's literally everywhere, so I finally decided to listen to it and was utterly disappointed.
It's more like a combination of a podcast, a TedTalk, and those morning routine/positive thinking/take a cold shower trash YouTubers - it literally doesn't tell you anything and just wastes your precious time. The author herself said that she doesn't have a solution to the bur ...more
This audiobook has been recommended to me multiple times over the past year, it's literally everywhere, so I finally decided to listen to it and was utterly disappointed.
It's more like a combination of a podcast, a TedTalk, and those morning routine/positive thinking/take a cold shower trash YouTubers - it literally doesn't tell you anything and just wastes your precious time. The author herself said that she doesn't have a solution to the bur ...more

It's a quick listen. If you're in media or advertising, I would definitely recommend it.
I liked the fact that perspective was also given from a place where I know there is a lot of expectation from the community: religious organisations.
I love the fact that this is done by a younger group of individuals and then most of all, I love the fact that it underlines that you need someone to talk to. Someone to help you see things differently.
I rated it 3 because I found it informative and interesting ...more
I liked the fact that perspective was also given from a place where I know there is a lot of expectation from the community: religious organisations.
I love the fact that this is done by a younger group of individuals and then most of all, I love the fact that it underlines that you need someone to talk to. Someone to help you see things differently.
I rated it 3 because I found it informative and interesting ...more

A short listen on Audible of under 2h with a click-bait title aiming at a potential relatedness. I could however not really appreciate the podcast format and I did not really enjoy its structure. This is not an audiobook, much less a book, so don't waste your time.
It is attempting at some point to discuss millennials and the generation divide, but it does so in a kind of superficial and emotional fashion where obvious statements are made. Everyone is feeling the economic instability that inflati ...more
It is attempting at some point to discuss millennials and the generation divide, but it does so in a kind of superficial and emotional fashion where obvious statements are made. Everyone is feeling the economic instability that inflati ...more

Meh - it was okay for hearing stories about burnout and the various ways it can happen as well as it happening in one's "dream job" - but for any research, solutions or action to take - it falls far short. It was good for having something going in the background while waiting for my computer to run reports. At least at under 2 hours , it was short. Really a bunch of podcasts instead of an audiobook
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I previously reviewed this before one of the GR librarians went on an Audible Originals deleting spree and deemed this as one of the "NOT A BOOK" options that had to go. I don't remember what I wrote but I didn't C&P it anywhere else. This one just wasn't worth the time for me and I was glad that I got it for free because I would have been upset if I had to pay for that lost time.
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A collection of interviews that helps you understand what you already know.
I rated this 5 stars mostly because I think every millennial in college or beyond can relate in some way. It was more of a podcast type listen which made the time fly by while listening.
If you want a short listen that won’t tell you anything you don’t already know but helps you understand that you’re not the only one, I highly recommend.
(Also seemed personal being a veteran going back to college in my mid 20’s *in Ohio ...more
I rated this 5 stars mostly because I think every millennial in college or beyond can relate in some way. It was more of a podcast type listen which made the time fly by while listening.
If you want a short listen that won’t tell you anything you don’t already know but helps you understand that you’re not the only one, I highly recommend.
(Also seemed personal being a veteran going back to college in my mid 20’s *in Ohio ...more

Got free on audible. NOT a book... maybe not even a podcast. More like a whiney blog post that someone read into a mike.
Superfluous and entitled subject performed by a voice that sounded like something between a valley girl and text speak.
Little to no researched material formed the basis. I felt like I was listening to a bad report given by a college freshman who was trying way too hard to get a grade for something they had written after $1 beer happy hour.
Pointless. Please audible stop putting ...more
Superfluous and entitled subject performed by a voice that sounded like something between a valley girl and text speak.
Little to no researched material formed the basis. I felt like I was listening to a bad report given by a college freshman who was trying way too hard to get a grade for something they had written after $1 beer happy hour.
Pointless. Please audible stop putting ...more

Interesting. Shines a light on a real problem that millinnials face today that didn't exist in the same way for previous generations. However it offers no hint of a solution leaving you feeling educated but hopelessly enslaved to the whims of the machine.
...more

I wished this had more research or statistics in it rather than simply anecdotes, but it was still fine. Many other reviews are really nasty and it feels like they weren't actually paying attention when Petersen outlined why millennials are feeling so burnt out. Don't be a condescending ass.
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I didn't learn a ton from this, but, as someone who has studied and conducted some qualitative research over the years, it was still interesting to hear individual (mostly privileged) millenials' experiences with burnout — what led up to it, why it happened, what they've done about it.
There are some good points made throughout this quick, 2-hourish listen, so I recommend it as a quick listen. I could definitely empathize with a few of these people (the guilt about taking time from work to pursu ...more
There are some good points made throughout this quick, 2-hourish listen, so I recommend it as a quick listen. I could definitely empathize with a few of these people (the guilt about taking time from work to pursu ...more

I grabbed this based solely on seeing it'd be a quick audiobook listen and that its intent was to discuss the concept of burnout. It went very quickly and I enjoyed getting some very different perspectives on how people experience and cope with burnout, particularly the younger generation. I wasn't quite as fond of the idea that the experience of burnout is uniquely experienced in every region and every age and even more granular from there; I find this need to so granularly define everything, a
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I am interested in this topic as I myself have experienced burnout and didn’t know how to articulate it. Society loves workaholics and then there’s this work culture which cheers you on when you push yourself past the point of exhaustion. Then there’s overtime unpaid work and late sitting. So many tough things about being a grown-up we never imagine when we’re young.
There are no set of words for you to articulate what you’re feeling when you’re burnout, let alone tell someone else about it. And ...more
There are no set of words for you to articulate what you’re feeling when you’re burnout, let alone tell someone else about it. And ...more

I am a millennial who works in both arts and the nonprofit sector. I've been suffering from burnout for a really long time. I think the most I've struggled with about it is feeling like I should just buck up and get over it because I theoretically speaking have nothing to be struggling with. Hearing a variety of stories from people of similar and different backgrounds, and hearing the same kind of responses was really interesting. I also appreciated hearing how burning out was not really an indi
...more

Definitely anecdotal, however, overall I think the author does a good job of introducing the idea of burnout and how it is increasingly being experienced by younger generations. I think this begins to delve into an important discussion that many aren’t able (or most aren’t willing) to partake in. I would have preferred some statistics or studies that would have further proved this point. I think burnout is a real issue, and unfortunately as many of the reviews here will detail, this book has a h
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It me. :|
The more I read about the specifics of burnout--and especially contemporary burnout--the more familiar it felt. That feeling of working all the time with little boundary between work and leisure, because increasingly everything--from going on vacation to hanging out with friends to exercising to posting on social media--is work. The call to show the world that your job is cool and exciting, but that you're also living a life of leisure. The constant financial stress, most of it to do wi ...more
The more I read about the specifics of burnout--and especially contemporary burnout--the more familiar it felt. That feeling of working all the time with little boundary between work and leisure, because increasingly everything--from going on vacation to hanging out with friends to exercising to posting on social media--is work. The call to show the world that your job is cool and exciting, but that you're also living a life of leisure. The constant financial stress, most of it to do wi ...more

Meh. This sounds like a longread in audio form. It is also anecdotal so no research is involved.
I don't think it is merely some people whining about how life is hard. Evette, for example, really had to struggle to make her voice heard. She knows life is hard, and she carrying some invisible burdens like a sense of responsibility in her community for extended family members. She is not whining. Society is really making lots of demands on her, and that is the question that someone should research. ...more
I don't think it is merely some people whining about how life is hard. Evette, for example, really had to struggle to make her voice heard. She knows life is hard, and she carrying some invisible burdens like a sense of responsibility in her community for extended family members. She is not whining. Society is really making lots of demands on her, and that is the question that someone should research. ...more

Found this a bit to short to be of much value.
Some good, relatable points are made. But I think so much more could've been done with the topic.
It ends up coming across as Millennials moaning about their hard lives.
I get the valid problems related to study debt and never getting out of the ditch.
I also get the expectation of always being available in the workplace.
But I think forming more part of the Xennial group, I am kind off in a "best of both" scenario.
It is short enough if you want to give ...more
Some good, relatable points are made. But I think so much more could've been done with the topic.
It ends up coming across as Millennials moaning about their hard lives.
I get the valid problems related to study debt and never getting out of the ditch.
I also get the expectation of always being available in the workplace.
But I think forming more part of the Xennial group, I am kind off in a "best of both" scenario.
It is short enough if you want to give ...more
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