A Work In Progress: A Message for Those Feeling Burnt Out

Where has the time gone? It’s been quite a while since I’ve given attention to my dear blog that I spent such a long time crafting to become my own creative space. I’ve been dealing with a lot and I’m sure that you have too. Between a pandemic, political unrest, wars, serious issues with gun control in US school systems, the Olympics, and an upcoming election, it doesn’t come as a surprise that for many people, myself included, their new normal has shifted. And these are just the larger issues happening in the world- not including the smaller to larger difficulties of our everyday lives.

I left my first job in 2023, causing me to wade through the increasingly challenging job market. I did some extensive soul-searching, switched career paths, moved apartments and neighborhoods in Paris, and moved in with my partner. Despite many of the positive changes in my life, it still feels like I’m just catching my breath.

Although many have deemed 2024 as one of the first years COVID-19 appears to be in the rearview mirror, its impact is still reverberating for the majority of us. Don’t worry, I won’t be droning on about the statistics of Covid numbers or its spread, but rather the impact of what feels like lost time or simply a fast-forward in many of our lives similar to the movie Click.

Because of the economic impacts of Covid, many industries have completely restructured their hierarchies and business models, eradicating some jobs, combining other job functions for new roles, and creating completely new jobs in other cases. We have now gone from the Great Resignation to the Great Reshuffling. Many of us have been forced to adapt quickly. 20% of Americans have changed careers since the pandemic. For some workers who were forced to pivot quickly due to industry shifts, layoffs, or life changes, there can be a sense of dysphoria after a career move where one wonders Am I truly better off? or, How Did I Get Here?, in relation to their life goals, passions and where they might have seen themselves in the future- myself included!

And it’s only that much harder for twentysomethings in our current climate. Gen Z’s unemployment rate is rising, with a decrease in employment by 408,000 recorded in May 2024. Researchers anticipate AI job disruption to displace as many as 12 million workers within the decade, with medium-skilled workers being the greatest target. The job market is increasingly competitive, as it’s waned since its high levels in 2021 and 2022, with 10-20% more applicants for job listings and the hiring rate falling below pre-pandemic levels.

This career dysphoria has led many young people to gravitate towards side hustles, creating online niches. It’s difficult to go on TikTok or Instagram without the feeling that nearly everyone on your For You or Explore Page is an influencer. It’s seldom that an account with more than 5,000-10,000 followers doesn’t advertise or at least mention products, companies, or services. And this is not an illusion.

UGC (User Generated Content) has surged by 145% in the last year. We’re certainly far from the Facebook or early Instagram days where posts were dedicated to snapping pics with friends and family, our adventures, or what we ate that day, but with the new social media normal, where people are churning out content, for some of us, it can feel like when did we get left behind?

This post wasn’t written to make readers feel more hopeless about the world we live in, but rather to say that if you’re feeling despondent, like I have been for the past few weeks, it’s not without reason. In a challenging world, it’s easy to get burnt out. With uncertainty in my own life and career path, I found myself struggling to find the inspiration to produce anything creative, especially in a society where it feels like you need to be either constantly consuming or producing.

What’s the solution? Well, I’m not sure. For me, a huge help has been identifying these feelings and the main factors of the stress in my life. Sometimes, just the recognition alone helps you target what you may need to change. Try to get back in touch with whatever fascinates or drives you, whether it be in a passive or active way. The idea of sitting in front of my computer and writing an entire post felt near impossible so I devoured plenty of books and articles until I felt like I could draw some inspiration from the words I read.

If I can impart one message it would be that you are not alone in this feeling of unrest, and if you need to hit a momentary pause in your life, do it! But think about how your pause will allow you to press play in the near future.