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someoneworthfinding) wrote2019-01-06 10:51 pm
someoneworthfinding) wrote2019-01-06 10:51 pm
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Theres this article making the rounds, "How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation." I read it and didnt really relate to it at first: I'm a tried and true Millennial-'87 baby, class of '05- but I didnt go to college right after high school, and when I did go, it was to a community college where I paid out of pocket. I already had a fulltime job with benefits when my friends were graduating into a recession with tens of thousands of dollars of debt breathing down their necks. I'm not married, and I dont have kids. All I have is my job, and my fandom, so how could I possibly be burnt out?
Except I recognized myself in some of the things the author talked about anyway. I dont like to run errands either. I'm obsessed with efficiency and being efficient. If I have to go to the store, or to the DMV, or even to the movies, then it needs to either be as early or as late as possible, or I need to already be en route somewhere else, so I can do as much as possible in as little time as possible. I literally go to the movies after a closing shift at work, because I'd rather give up sleeping time to do something fun, than give up day time.
I hoard day time. I dont know why, because if I have it, I dont really use it. I haven't been writing. I just... read articles, I guess. I read a lot of articles. I don't even really read as much fanfiction as I'd like to, because there just seems to always be some article to read instead. Or Twitter. I do spend a lot of time on Twitter.
I've talked about my anxiety before, I don't really make a secret of it. I function at a low simmer most days, though every once in a while it jumps up to a boil. Reading that article made me wonder, how much of this situation is anxiety, how much is burnout, and how much are these things the same?
The article asks what we can do about burnout, and I don't really know the answer. I know that I like quiet, these days. I have more silent car rides than I used to. I like to sit in a quiet house. I used to like to fall asleep with the TV on, but now I fall asleep faster with it off. When I was in Vancouver, I liked to sit on a little chaise next to the window and listen to the quiet of the bay and the ocean nearby. I like the ocean too. It makes me feel small and insignificant and reminds me that if those things are true, then whatever is stressing me out is also small and insignificant.
I agree with the article that vacations aren't enough to cure burnout or anxiety. But I get to see the ocean next month, and that plus a margarita might lift some of the weight off my shoulders.
Except I recognized myself in some of the things the author talked about anyway. I dont like to run errands either. I'm obsessed with efficiency and being efficient. If I have to go to the store, or to the DMV, or even to the movies, then it needs to either be as early or as late as possible, or I need to already be en route somewhere else, so I can do as much as possible in as little time as possible. I literally go to the movies after a closing shift at work, because I'd rather give up sleeping time to do something fun, than give up day time.
I hoard day time. I dont know why, because if I have it, I dont really use it. I haven't been writing. I just... read articles, I guess. I read a lot of articles. I don't even really read as much fanfiction as I'd like to, because there just seems to always be some article to read instead. Or Twitter. I do spend a lot of time on Twitter.
I've talked about my anxiety before, I don't really make a secret of it. I function at a low simmer most days, though every once in a while it jumps up to a boil. Reading that article made me wonder, how much of this situation is anxiety, how much is burnout, and how much are these things the same?
The article asks what we can do about burnout, and I don't really know the answer. I know that I like quiet, these days. I have more silent car rides than I used to. I like to sit in a quiet house. I used to like to fall asleep with the TV on, but now I fall asleep faster with it off. When I was in Vancouver, I liked to sit on a little chaise next to the window and listen to the quiet of the bay and the ocean nearby. I like the ocean too. It makes me feel small and insignificant and reminds me that if those things are true, then whatever is stressing me out is also small and insignificant.
I agree with the article that vacations aren't enough to cure burnout or anxiety. But I get to see the ocean next month, and that plus a margarita might lift some of the weight off my shoulders.