We are in the middle of a silent burnout epidemic.
_ 86% WFH employees experienced burnout
_ 80.3% in F&B/Hospitality suffer burnout (2019)
_ 70% + of young doctors in Hong Kong burnt out from work

Yet we don’t talk about it. We simply sweep it under the rug. Keep calm and carry on. Just a bit more, and a bit more, and more…

In his book ’The Burnout Society’ Byung-Chul Han, a German-Korean scholar and philosopher, argues that the 20th century was an era of Discipline with focus on nurturing Obedience. Whereas the 21st century is the era of “Entrepreneurs of The Self”, with a prevalent fixation on Achievement.

What both centuries have in common is the constant pressure to produce more. The difference is the change of language, one being that we ‘should’ do something versus that we ‘can’ do something.
’Can’ is more effective and positive and therefore a person focused on “can” and “achievement” is faster and more productive than a person made to be “obedient”. In our constant drive for achievement, we work manically to maximize and optimize output, leading to self exploitation and eventually burnout. We start fighting ourselves.

So how to stop, challenge ourselves to do nothing? To know when enough is enough? How to be satisfied with less?

Is it even possible?

Let’s discuss it over lunch during the virtual dialogue.