Surprise: Millennials Are SERIOUSLY Stressed, Says Science

Apologies in advance for delivering news that is both upsetting and entirely unsurprising (no, not the fact that people thought Trump had picked Rob Kardashian for Supreme Court justice, although that was indeed both of those things): A new survey shows that millennials are seriously stressed out at work. In fact, the survey, conducted by staffing firm Accountemps, shows that workers ages 34 and under are the most overtaxed group of all. 64% of millennials report feeling overwhelmed at work daily. Only 59% of workers ages 35-54 and 39% of those ages 55 and up feel the same way. This is somewhat surprising, given that we millennials likely experience less of certain stressors — kids, mortgages, aging parents — than our older coworkers. So why the millennial meltdown? For one thing, we already know that millennials make up a disproportionate percentage of "work martyrs" — those who willingly work almost 24/7 and are afraid to unplug, disconnect, or even take vacation. Plus, a study we conducted with Secret last year revealed that 74% of millennial women are stressed out by work. So this new survey confirms what we already know to be true: Young workers, especially women, are increasingly feeling the pressure to (over-)perform. The survey also pinpoints a few key areas that are giving stressed employees their biggest headaches: unreasonable workloads and deadlines (cited by 33% of employees), unrealistic managers (22%), and unattainable work-life balance (22%). If any of these office woes (and/or any of these signs of burnout) sound familiar, it may be time to take that proverbial chill pill — or better yet, take that unused vacation time. Until then, here are a few ideas for staying calm at work and rerouting yourself away from burnout. Because we shouldn't have to wait until we're 55 to learn the secrets of work-life balance.