Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

by Anne Helen Petersen

Burnout arrives when every corner of our lives feels unstable, and we convince ourselves that working all the time is what will fix it. It’s what happens when you feel that catastrophe could be around any corner and that there are no social safety nets to catch you.

A daily thought process. When you take the time to step away and assess, it makes you realize what should be prioritized in life.

As an adult, I’ve realized I get stressed when I’m not doing something,” Caitlin says. “I feel guilty just relaxing. Even in college, I found myself needing to take eighteen to nineteen units a semester, have a campus job, join clubs, volunteer, work on the plays and musicals, and I’d still feel like I wasn’t doing enough.”

This has been my life since 2009, when I started high school. Community service hours, theater, music, and leadership roles in clubs turned into multiple part time jobs and campus activities in college, which has now turned into reassessing what I can do within the school work community while also pursuing my PhD, having a relationship, sustaining a social life, and caring for my long-distance family.