*By Carlo Versano*
A few weeks ago, a Buzzfeed [article](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work) that coined the term "millennial burnout" went viral, with readers taking to social media to discuss the very particular sense of exhaustion felt by this generation, and how it's different from the universal stresses of daily life.
As Joni Rayos-Samilin, a "transformational" coach, explained to Cheddar, the source of millennial burnout can be traced to ー what else? ー the internet.
"Everyone knows what everyone's doing," Rayos-Samilin said, and social media has amplified that familiar feeling of FOMO to make people, particularly millennials, question their own self-worth.
Is my job good enough? Is my relationship good enough? Am I traveling enough?
It's exhausting.
That 24/7 feeling of being connected extends to work, where employees feel like they're never "off the clock." Even if companies tell their workers they don't need to respond to emails and Slack messages at all hours of the day, many still do out of a sense of responsibility or fear that if they don't, someone else will.
Burnout, of course, is a universal problem that has been exacerbated by the digital age. But the millennial generation is the first to fully deal with it as adults. In order to cope, Rayos-Samilin said she recommends to her clients that they create boundaries and set priorities, like scheduling time for the "real world" things that they value: conversations with friends, exercise, and even limited amounts of social media.
"Do what you need to do for self care," she said. Otherwise, it becomes too easy to give into the outside pressures of the connected world.
Rayos-Samilin said she's already seeing a backlash against constant social media use in some of her millennial clients, and [anecdotal data](https://sciencetrends.com/much-of-generation-z-might-be-leaving-facebook-and-other-social-media-platforms-behind/) shows that has spread to the next generation, known as Gen Z.
If there's a single way to fight burnout it's this: stop comparing yourself to others. That's a skill that goes back to the Buddhists, who use mindfulness meditation techniques to remind themselves to stay grounded in the present moment. Most of what you see online is a construct anyway, Rayos-Samilin said. It takes time, patience, and energy to fight the desire to wonder whether what you're doing is good enough ー especially now that everyone has a constant reminder in their pocket that someone, somewhere, is doing it better.
Actors Courtney B. Vance and Tosin Cole joined Cheddar News’ senior reporter Michelle Castillo at South by Southwest to talk about their new series “61st Street” on AMC. The show takes a look at the harshness of Chicago’s criminal justice system. When asked what he hopes the audience takes away from this show, Tosin Cole said, "Just some empathy and just showing a different perspective."
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A new coalition called "Organizations For Pay Equity Now", or "OPEN" imperative, has launched with the goal of eliminating the gender pay gap among pre-IPO startups by 2027. More than 200 founders, CEOs and investors have already joined the coalition -- and it's only expected to grow. Emily Sweet, Lead of the OPEN imperative, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the new coalition and how it plans to achieve these ambitious goals.
Netflix launching a test to let primary account holders pay an extra fee for users outside their households. This comes as the streaming giant grapples with illicit password-sharing with over 30 percent of all Netflix users sharing their password with at least one person, according to research firm Magid.
Pedro Palandrani, Director of Research at GlobalX joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
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Amazon closed its deal to buy MGM's many content brands for $8.5 billion, and Michael Pachter, a managing director at Wedbush Securities, joined Cheddar News to discuss the e-commerce giant's second-largest acquisition to date and how he thinks it will all pay off. "To make a movie today, you just can't even think about it for less than 30 million bucks, so 4,000 movies, I mean that's several billion dollars worth of assets," he said, noting how it would also add to Amazon's little-known ad-supported IMDb TV service. "I don't know that the IMDb TV guys actually talk to the Amazon Prime Video guys, but a lot of content, it makes the value of a Prime subscription much, much greater, and people are far, far less likely to churn even if they're only buying one package every three months."
