The Exhaustion Index 🔥 May 19, 2025 (Edition #14)
A weekly report on burnout, overwork, and the quiet rebellion against productivity culture.
Welcome to The Exhaustion Index 🔥
If BURNT unpacks the roots of burnout, The Exhaustion Index tracks it in real time—because exhaustion isn’t just personal, it’s global. Each week, I break down the biggest conversations on work, rest, and productivity, so you don’t have to doomscroll your way to enlightenment.
Think of this as BURNT’s news section—minus the wellness clichés, plus some sharp, necessary critiques. Let’s get into it.
This week, we’re talking about:
📖 Gen Z isn’t lazy—they’re just done pretending the workplace makes sense
🎧 Why men are emotionally starving and how therapist Terry Real is dragging them (lovingly) into vulnerability
📊 73% of Americans are financially stressed—and tariff wars just joined the list of things wrecking your budget
🚩 Last-minute, agenda-less meetings aren’t spontaneous—they’re disrespectful
💬 Oscar Wilde said it best: most people exist. Few actually live.
📸 Liza Minnelli and Halston weren’t lovers. They were muses.
Let’s get into it.
📆 Week of May 19, 2025
1️⃣ Must-Read: The Article You Need This Week
📖 “Gen Z Doesn’t Drink the Kool-Aid” – by Kate Whalen
Kate Whalen and Ochuko Akpovbovbo ran a survey asking Gen Z how they really feel about work—and the results? A generational clapback. No, Gen Z isn’t lazy. They’re skeptical, boundary-holding, anti-exploitation, and clear on one thing: if you want them to stick around, pay them well and respect their lives.
What matters most? Work-life balance, meaningful work, and decent culture—not free LaCroix or being “like a family.” They want structure and freedom. Security and purpose. And honestly? Same.
This isn’t entitlement. It’s evolution. I fully agree with Gen Z on this—it is completely acceptable to want to get paid and have a life. Don’t let the Millennial hustle ghosts or Gen X “dues-paying” logic fool you. That narrative is tired. Gen Z is not.
This piece is smart, warm, and full of clarity. Employers, take notes.
2️⃣ Listen to This: A Podcast That Gets It
🎧 “Why Boys and Men Are Floundering” – Modern Love, Ep. 393
Terry Real, on Modern Love, doesn’t tiptoe. He’s a relationship therapist known for mirroring his clients’ emotions back at them—”sometimes yelling, sometimes swearing, always cutting to the truth.” In this episode, he takes on what he calls the emotional isolation of modern masculinity.
Real makes the case that boys are taught early to shut down vulnerability—and then punished in adulthood for not knowing how to access it. The result? Disconnection, resentment, and a quiet epidemic of men who are emotionally unskilled in the relationships they’re desperate to keep.
This is a conversation about intimacy, gender, emotional labor, and what Real calls the “adaptive child” we all carry into our partnerships. Inspired by The New York Times Magazine piece “How I Learned That the Problem in My Marriage Was Me,” this episode pulls no punches—but offers a path forward.
3️⃣ Stat of the Week: Did You Know?
📊 Majority Of Americans Are Financially Stressed From Tariff Turmoil
73% of Americans are financially stressed. Inflation is still the #1 reason—and now two-thirds say tariff wars are making it worse. (CNBC/SurveyMonkey, April 2025)
You’re not imagining it: everything costs more, and now global trade drama is crashing your budget, too. 66% of Americans say tariffs are likely to hurt their personal finances—and honestly, that tracks.
This isn’t just about cutting back. It’s about feeling like the economy is a group project where no one’s doing their part... and you’re footing the bill.
4️⃣ Productivity Myth to Unlearn
🚩 “We’ll just figure it out in the meeting.”
Translation: I didn’t prepare, so now we all suffer.
Last-minute meetings with no agenda are not spontaneous genius—they’re a control tactic disguised as collaboration. They hijack your focus, waste your time, and usually lead to a follow-up meeting that also... has no agenda.
If someone can’t tell you why you’re meeting, they shouldn’t be calling one. Full stop.
5️⃣ Quote of the Week: Something to Sit With
💬 “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
— Oscar Wilde
A reminder that numbing out, going through the motions, or endlessly deferring joy isn’t the point.
Existing is automatic. Living takes intention. Presence. Risk. And rest, deep rest
6️⃣ Something Beautiful Just Because
💛 Liza Minnelli & Halston’s Friendship
I randomly found myself watching the new Liza Minnelli documentary this week (so random, don’t ask)—and while the doc was...fine, what completely captivated me was her friendship with Halston.
I knew nothing about their relationship going in, but came out obsessed with how much they loved each other. Not romantically. Creatively. Spiritually. They were each other’s muses—two artists, both over the top in the best way, totally themselves, and utterly devoted.
He designed for her, she performed for him. They danced, partied, collapsed, and rose again—together. It was beautiful. Messy. Loyal. Intoxicating. The kind of chosen family that sees you before you even see yourself.
Not everything has to be a love story. Sometimes, it’s a muse story. And that’s just as sacred.
