Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

by Anne Helen Petersen

It feels like it’s harder than ever to keep our lives—and our family’s lives—in order, financially solvent, and prepared for the future, especially as we’re asked to adhere to exacting, and often contradictory expectations. We should work hard but exude “work/life balance.” We should be incredibly attentive mothers, but not helicopter ones. We should engage in equal partnerships with our wives, but still maintain our masculinity. We should build our brands on social media, but live our lives authentically. We should be current, conversant, and opinionated about the breakneck news cycle, but somehow not let the reality of it affect our ability to do any of the above tasks. Trying to do all of that at once, with little support or safety net—that’s what makes millennials the burnout generation.