<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/67518e45-4db4-49a2-b993-50b1c1778e30/752c707a-fa3f-4b35-93a2-fab68008c08d/memo_1f4dd.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/67518e45-4db4-49a2-b993-50b1c1778e30/752c707a-fa3f-4b35-93a2-fab68008c08d/memo_1f4dd.png" width="40px" /> Exercise 1: Match highlighted words with their synonyms from the right column. You will notice these words & expressions in the article below.

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  1. You look exhausted. You need to stop overworking.
  2. She’s been working long hours at the office recently.
  3. He’s always boasting about ****how much money he earns.
  4. A company car is not the only benefit that comes with the job.
  5. Some people commit themselves fully to their work.
  6. When you suffer from chronic stress, you’re on a fast path to burnout.
  7. Overwork can harm your mental and physical health.
  8. Nowadays we often hear that we should work harder.

a) to brag -

b) to devote -

c) to hustle -

d) to put in -

e) take a toll on -

f) track -

g) perk -

h) work yourself ragged -

Overwork culture is thriving; we think of long hours and constant exhaustion as a marker of success. Given what we know about burnout, why do we do give in?

Although many of us associate overly ambitious workaholism with the 1980s and the finance industry, the tendency to devote ourselves to work and glamorize long-hours culture remains as pervasive as ever. In fact, it is expanding into more sectors and professions, in slightly different packaging. We understand far more about the consequences of overwork, and the toll burnout can take on our mental and physical health. Given how entrenched our admiration for high-stress work culture is, however, halting our overwork obsession will require cultural change. Could the post-pandemic world be our chance to try?

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to thrive= процветать

burnout= выгорание

to grind |ɡraɪnd|= to hustle (усердно работать)

to dissolve= растворяться

Millions of us work ourselves ragged because somehow we think it’s exciting – a status symbol that puts us on the path to success, whether we define that by wealth or an Instagram post that makes it seem like we're living a dream life with a dream job. Romanticization of work seems to be an especially common practice among "knowledge workers" in the middle and upper classes. Co-working spaces are filled with posters urging us to "rise and grind" or "hustle harder". (See the difference between grind & hustle here) Billionaire tech entrepreneurs advocate sacrificing sleep so that people can "change the world". And since the pandemic hit, our work weeks have gotten longer; we send emails at midnight as boundaries between our personal and professional lives dissolve. In 2014, the New Yorker called this devotion to overwork "a cult".

These days, many people put in long hours to pay off debt, to simply keep their jobs or to make that crucial next step up the ladder (and in many cases, companies expect employees to work long hours and be constantly available). But for those who embrace the overwork culture, there’s also a performative element, whether that manifests as a new car to show off, a ‘dream career’ doing something meaningful or even exhaustion that can be displayed like a bizarre kind of trophy.

"We glorify the lifestyle, and the lifestyle is: you breathe something, you sleep with something, you wake up and work on it all day long, then you go to sleep," says Anat Lechner, clinical associate professor of management at New York University. "Again and again and again."

Yet even though we’re working harder than ever, and young workers are faced with a potentially toxic combination of greater financial pressures (student debt, combined with lower salaries and higher house prices), pressure to find ‘their passion’ and pressure to find a stable job in an increasingly insecure job market, there may be some small signs of change. Even on TikTok, Gen Z users have been open about mental health struggles, and built communities discussing depression, panic attacks and burnout openly. "The pandemic has been powerful not only in making salient many of the things that matter most – health, family, relationships – and in disrupting some of the routines and systems that were keeping people on the treadmill," says Maitlis.

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to pay off debt= выплатить долг

to show off= выпендриваться

salient= заметный

to disrupt= нарушать

robust= здоровый, крепкий

In response, some companies have begun talking about offering more robust mental-health programs for workers, including perks like complimentary therapy sessions or free access to wellness apps. Yet, experts think it is highly unlikely that we’re entering a new era that prioritizes wellbeing over overwork.

Exercises:

<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/67518e45-4db4-49a2-b993-50b1c1778e30/2ebf056c-e23b-443a-a5b2-20d79e8e0840/memo_1f4dd.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/67518e45-4db4-49a2-b993-50b1c1778e30/2ebf056c-e23b-443a-a5b2-20d79e8e0840/memo_1f4dd.png" width="40px" /> Exercise 2: Watch the video below and match the vocabulary from the video with the definitions on the right.

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https://youtu.be/jjRWaMCWs44

  1. to derail

  2. to be devoted

  3. to pull an all-nighter

  4. repercussion

  5. to fulfill