How to beat the Millennial Burnout!

As a Marketing Recruitment Manager, Megan talks to candidates and clients on a personal level day-to-day, constantly hearing about the struggles of trying to manage a jam-packed schedule of work and socialising. From what she has learned from others as well as her own personal experiences she has put together five tips for combatting the 'millennial burnout'.

In our rapidly advancing times of digital technology and accessibility, Millennial Burnout is something we’re hearing more and more about. We now live in a society where we have access to the lives of the majority of the population; celebrities, influencers, friends, people we went to school with 10 years ago and are still for some reason connected to. It’s hard not to be constantly comparing and trying to live up to the false reality and romanticised view of people’s lives we’re faced with every day. However, it’s not just our access to other people’s lives that’s running us down, but their access to ours! We’re so used to a world in which any question we have can be answered by a quick Google search or click of a button. So, whilst we’re trying to maintain our relationships, see friends, do well at work, pay rent and save for ‘that holiday’, it’s no wonder that as a society, we’ve seen a significant increase in anxiety, depression and other mental conditions. With this in mind, it’s never been more important to take a step back and have some time out for ourselves.

Over the past few months I’ve got really into wellbeing podcasts, some of my favourites are; Fearne Cotton – Happy Place and Elizabeth Day- How to Fail. From these and my own experiences, I’ve put together 5 points to help keep on top of life when everything feels like it’s getting a bit too much!

1. It’s okay to say no

Before committing to anything, it’s always important to check in with yourself and ask if it’s really what you want to do. If you’re a sociable person, who loves surrounding yourself with likeminded sociable people, it can be a recurring theme to go for ‘a’ drink after work (that’s never just one), have various different dinner plans, birthdays and other arrangements. Before you know it, you’re exhausted, you’re behind on washing and you’ve got a massive dent in your bank account. When you feel like this remember it’s always okay to say no. There are lots of reasons you might not want to say no, like fear of missing out or simply letting people down, but remember that sometimes you need to put yourself first. 80% of the time you’ll find out you never missed anything or the person you’ve cancelled on is fine with it and may even be feeling the same way themselves! Just always remember to be honest about why you’re cancelling, don’t make up a transparent excuse. If friends are really friends, they’ll be okay with you saying you’re really not feeling up to it.

2. Create yourself a wind-down routine

I live in a hectic household so it’s been a struggle, but one thing I’ve found to be an absolute saviour is having a wind-down routine. Every night before I go to sleep, I give myself an hour to; sort out what I need for the next day, do a 10-minute meditation and read. I struggle massively with going to sleep, a lot of people do and everyone’s routine will vary depending on what works for them but having at least 20 mins reading (away from your phone/ screen) before you go to sleep makes a world of difference!

3. Keep active

You can always make excuses for why you don’t ‘need’ to go to the gym or a class you’ve booked but it’s so important. Over the years I always seem to be guilty of sacking it off to go to the pub with my mates, or just because I can’t be bothered but as soon as you get into the routine of it you can see why everyone raves about it. I’ve learned that booking myself into a ‘burn it’ class will never work, simply because I cannot stand being shouted at by a PT, however, I know a lot of people that really enjoy that! Everyone will have something that works for them it's just a case of finding it. For me, it’s yoga that’ll genuinely give me the motivation to go. I now go 3 times a week and love it and I can really feel the difference when I’ve not been. Again, everyone is different but as soon as you find what’s right for you, it makes the world of difference!

4. Think about what you view as success

It’s so easy to get yourself wrapped up in other people’s opinions and what they determine as ‘success’. The thing that everyone seems to get caught up on is looking at the next step rather than what’s happening here and now. Quite often you’ll find yourself thinking “as soon as I have ‘X’ I’ll be happy”. Just because you’ve got a promotion or a new house, it doesn’t necessarily equate to success. I think people forget that what people really mean by term success is being in a situation which makes you happy. It’s much easier to blame external factors for why you’re not quite ‘successful enough’ yet, but once you strip that away it can change your whole outlook, and you might even find you’re exactly where you need to be!

5. Remember what you see isn’t real

Social media is such a focal point of our lives. It’s a major factor in work, our social lives, and day-to-day habits. The sad thing is we naturally compare ourselves to what we’re seeing on a friend/ celebrity/ random blogger (which you don’t actually have a clue who they are) accounts. If you look at your own profile and what you’ve posted, you can fill in all the parts in-between where you’ll have been at work/ not on holiday/ cleaning your kitchen. So why do we think anyone else’s lives are any different? Just because someone seems to be smiling or having a great time in every one of their posts, doesn’t mean that’s what’s happening in their lives 24/7. Everyone’s human and has problems, the person you’re looking at with 50k followers isn’t any different.

There will always be times when you feel like everyday life is getting on top of you, but the most important thing to remember is to take a step back and breathe. When you take that little bit of time out for yourself, it can change your whole outlook and your reaction to a certain problem or situation could be completely different. A lot of the time you’ll find there was never anything to worry about in the first place!

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