Not to brag, but I keep pretty impressive company. Some of my closest friends include a self-sufficient single woman on track to be chief learning officer at her company who ran 30 marathons and became a homeowner before turning 30; a self-motivated overachiever who is breaking barriers in the tech industry advocating for diversity and women's inclusion with some of the most powerful figures in Silicon Valley by her side; and a sustainability and social responsibility guru who, at 30, is already a step away from VP at her high-profile advertising agency.
These women are kicking butts and taking names, doing work they're passionate about, and, honestly, changing the world at the same time. So why did I get this early-morning text from one of my girlfriends this week:
"This podcast on burning out made me ugly cry on my way to work this morning — where I opened my bag to realize I left my computer at home after working late (again and again)."
The episode she sent, from Real Simple's Adulthood Made Easy podcast, is titled "Why Are We Getting Burnt Out at Work?," and it addresses this Fast Company article that has since spawned a number of stories on how millennial women are burning out at their jobs by their early 30s and even late 20s. As someone who can relate (sort of, I'll get to that in bit), here's what I think the 30-something burnout boils down to.
So how can you keep this from happening to you? Both the podcast and the Fast Company article come to a similar conclusion that if you find your dream job, you won't get burned out because you'll love what you do. I don't necessarily think it's as simple as that, but I agree on some level — I LOVE my job so much that I've been with POPSUGAR for six years, which in millennial years is practically a lifetime. That said, do I get stressed out and, at times, have I felt close to burning out over the years? Yes, absolutely.
I'm a firm believer that you make your own destiny, and the grass might just continue to be greener at another job unless you do something about it. So before you up and change careers — which you might need to do, and that's OK! — I suggest trying these tips first.
— Additional reporting by Mandy Harris and Annie Gabillet