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The Burnout Generation

The Burnout Generation

Stylish sweats, the dark side of selfies and Lost-meets-Mean Girls in this underrated YA series.

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Anna Haines
May 02, 2021
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Last week, I borrowed psychologist Adam Grant’s ‘languishing’ to explain the malaise you’ve been feeling lately. But COVID blues aside, I’m itching for a deeper explanation to our burnout. Because I can’t remember the last time I didn’t feel like I’m running on a hamster wheel. This nagging pressure to always be doing more wasn’t born from the pandemic; I’ve been addicted to working for years.

The only difference is that now, with all the hours bleeding together under lockdown, what was always borderline toxic productivity has become all-consuming. The shift—and the effect it’s having on my energy levels—is revealing just how much I’ve internalized capitalism; it’s making me realize our burnout might be a cultural condition.

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Relationship expert Esther Perel says it’s our addiction to work that explains why people feel so burnt out right now, “Burnout is what we experience today as a result of the intense meaning that work has for us. When work is the place where you search for s…

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