“Life is like a never-ending marathon, and I'm just too tired to keep running.”
(I would suggest listening to the following song while reading this article, for the effects....you know)
So, apparently the millennials and the Gen Z are the “tired generation” or the “burnout generation”. Well, if I can be the one to corroborate this claim, I’d say it's bloody true. Not only am I tired, but everyone young around me is exhausted as well. Hell, my parents are more active than I ever will be! Even my Grandmother is more active than us. But why is it so? Why are we so exhausted all the time? Why do we not have the willpower to do anything useful for ourselves once we return from our place of work? And why do we seek to rest and/or sleep as much as possible?
Sleep is overrated anyway.
We seek all of the above, while ABSOLUTELY messing up our sleeping schedules, we stay up for more hours than necessary as Revenge Bedtime Procrastination- we do so because we tend to like that bit of control we have over our lives when others are not controlling us. But is it the only reason? Cause honestly, it isn’t just about physical tiredness. Let's take me for example; I need to visit court, study for it, go to the office, prepare my cases for the next day and draft S.L.P.s or the like, research for it, use the research to draft the said S.L.P.s or the like, all the while communicating to clients who are often a pain in the arse. Then, I have to take the work home, do my homework, and study some cases relevant to me etc. etc. Moreover, since I have my own household, I need to manage my own life. My family is a typical Indian family, which, though supportive, demands quite a lot of mental adjustments. My partner and friends deserve attention too, all the while I struggle financially.
I scroll, therefore I am.
As per Anne Helen Petersen, today young adults are exhausted due to the impending anxiety and their messed up sleeping schedule. She also states that the constant stimulation we get from our social media, has made us fear our minds, which might wander. The social media, especially with the reels and shorts, is addictive. In the hours and hours we have spent scrolling through these apps, we might have done something useful …. like sleep or daydream, or maybe pick something up and complete it, without feeling the sword of impending doom at the back of our neck. To quote Dan Q. Dao
“I think many of us are overwhelmed with information, whether that’s keeping up with the never-ending news cycle or endlessly navigating social media. With that kind of content overload, our brains struggle to keep up with real-life demands. I also think, as young people, many of us have generalized stress and anxiety about our economic and social situations, if not about the overall state of the world.”
Now Huberman, a very famously known podcaster and neuroscientist, has in one of his podcasts pointed out that the UVB light exposure from screens at night decreases the dopamine level. Thus, it negatively affects us, instead of giving us the positive small shots of happiness it gives us in the morning. Most of us are on our phones till we finally fall asleep, all the while consuming bad news, so much so, that the anxiety it induces tires us.
Always busy but never satisfied.
But it's not just technology and blaming it entirely would be wrong. So, let’s talk about Hustle Culture, the biggest B.S. sold to our generations by our generations itself. Hustle Culture believes that we should work at every point of our life, possibly doing three to four things together. It believes that we should keep ourselves busy ALL THE TIME and that after some time, it will reward us. The can-do attitude sold to us by high-earning Tiktokers and Youtubers fails to take into consideration that without enough time to rest, the 'can-do' can very easily become 'can’t do' (anything), increasing our risk of burnout. With that, it increases the lack of boundaries at the workplace, where you end up taking more work than you can handle and then feel the resultant work pressure. All this leads to us having failed at creating a work-life balance. We forget to work on ourselves, fail to enjoy our life, fail to spend time with family and/or friends which further leads to feelings of frustration and loss of motivation for anything else.
Money talks, but all it ever says is goodbye.
But I personally believe that out of all these reasons, the number one concern of stress and the resulting tiredness, is money. Now, while ABBA’s song 'Money, Money, Money' tells you perfectly as to why ‘Money, money, money, must be funny in the rich man's world’, in the real world I honestly believe, these generations (the millennials and Gen Z) are the poorest by comparison. Financial stress and being overworked is the ultimate combination awarded to our generations, especially in a country like India, where payment as per work is only available to some MBA graduates. The rest of them have to accept lower than what should be the average earning and live accordingly, while daydreaming of the day they’ll make it and buy everything on their wishlist. (Hey, are you manifesting too?).
These generations have been a victim to the pandemic and the recession that followed. They have been a victim of the ever-present high rate of inflation and the falling job opportunities (A.I. says hi). They are a victim to longer working hours, stagnating salary, increasing debt as well as the shame attached to asking money from our parents, because it is high time we started earning on our own. It’s a victim to increasing competition, to the fast-paced life which everyone around us seems to be living, a weird increase in the number of nepotistic products and religious and communal hatred, which is more often than not vile. It’s a victim of wanting to have an opinion, wanting to live a fulfilling life and choosing to survive instead, because with the current scenario that’s all we can afford.
Emotions: the spice of life
And how can we ever forget about how these generations are f***d when it comes to emotions? We are confused about whether to let them show or to not let them show, to be stoic or not to be stoic. Is emotion a weakness or is it not? Our generations are confused, about whether we should become an alpha male or a human full of flaws in need of a hug every now and then. It's confused whether to be a feminine woman in her feminine energy or to be whatever the hell her personality is.
These generations search for true love while hooking up with whoever possible. It ghosts people and then zombies, benches them instead of cuffing and then it wonders why Pride and Prejudice hasn’t translated into real life. These generations are illusioned with the idea of someone better out there, which, though good in most cases, also leads us to harm our existing relationships, be it friends, partners or even parents. There is always a better version of them out there and it is so stress-inducing, because you are left thinking if my partner/friend/parent is the best or am I the best for them, will they leave me, or should I leave them?
These questions we answer from frivolous Instagram reels, because we refuse to let our minds wander, and all this increases our feelings of loneliness, helplessness, emptiness, defeat and demotivation.
...........
These generations are tired and exhausted much more than their parents ever were. Not our fault, not theirs. Because for us, tiredness is in our minds, not our bodies. And honestly, when the main organ stops working effectively, others hardly can. We are tired. Tired of nothing while being tired of everything. We crawl into our beds but are unable to sleep. We are tired of trying, tired of putting up a fight, tired of being the strong one, tired of having to do everything right. As they say, we might not physically be tired, but our souls are.
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Hey, by the way what is your coping mechanism for this exhaustion and tiredness?
…..
Cause
….
Honestly,
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I think it might be another reason why we are constantly tired. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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