Job Type: All the Time, a journal entry from January 2020

Dear JAMMers,

I broke my heel bone, so I can't really go anywhere. Because I am a type A over-achiever, I am trying to see this time at home as a gift to get my house in order. Cleaning out my desk resurfaced birthday cards, wedding receipts from 2022, and gift cards.

Hours of sorting later, I found folded-up paper inside of a book. It was an impromptu journal entry I wrote around January 2020.

I handwrote it on printer paper. That was my approach for two reasons.

One: Part of my therapy for anxiety taught me that handwriting or drawing what is stressing me out can help minimize the racing thoughts about it.

Two: I honestly knew I needed to capture this call to action for myself - in real time, with unfiltered emotions.

Take a look below and keep in mind - this was before the pandemic.

Do you know people who have been called, emailed or texted when THEY were in the hospital for a medical emergency about work? How about when they were accompanying a parent to a MAJOR heart or brain surgery?

I do.

Do you know of anyone in corporate America who can maintain a schedule with boundaries and reasonable expectations (i.e. not answering IMs or calls after 5PM) regularly?

I do not.

Do you find it acceptable to expect employees who are NOT eligible for overtime - and are NOT first responders saving lives - to be "always on."

I do not.

We are humans first. Employees second. These words describe how I feel but are the opposite of how corporate America functions.

To quote Drake, "I'm upset."

As a millennial woman, I recognize women have made tremendous strides in business, science, politics, and other fields. I am grateful for it.

I also recognize my privilege. I want to contribute in whatever small ways I can to a better tomorrow for everyone in the workplace.

I do not want to hear, "This is the job," or "This is the industry."

I am 30. I am single with no kids. I can barely keep my eyes open by Friday afternoon.

No, it is not because I am lazy.

No, I (luckily) don't have any physical illnesses I have to tend to often.

I am fucking burnt out.

The greatest generation birthed the largest generation who unknowingly created the burnout generation of millennials.

Staying offline on weekends? Sometimes.

Actually unplugging on PTO? Sometimes.

The realities of white-collar life.

If bias (whether conscious or unconscious), racism, misogyny, ageism, ableism, sexism, etc. birthed the glass ceiling...unreasonable expectations are the beams holding up the roof.

For example, how can a woman who recently gave birth maintain her own health, her child's health, and her family's well-being?

How can a person who is a primary caregiver to a sick or elderly relative find a flexible and lucrative career outside the home?

It feels impossible and the reality is at times illogical.

You cannot easily suppress your human needs and responsibilities for 10-13 hours daily.

It has been 5 years since I wrote that. 5 years later and oh boy, is Drake more upset now than ever.

No worries,

Jaclyn