Millennials Who Can't Work A Full Day With Any Sense Of Urgency Usually Have These 11 Reasons
Millennials don't want to take on added stress and anxiety for an employer that wouldn't do the same.
GaudiLab | Shutterstock Especially as many younger generations collectively grapple with the experience of being overworked and underpaid amid rising costs and economic turmoil, it's not surprising that many millennials are struggling with motivation to work. There are many reasons why millennials who can't work a full day with any sense of urgency usually have — they don't feel supported, financially or otherwise, to take care of themselves, so they're less inclined to take care of their bosses and employers by overworking themselves.
It's this experience that also fuels workplace trends like "quiet quitting" and "coffee badging" that have taken over the workforce and helped younger workers to simultaneously protect their well-being, and advocate for a more inclusive and supportive work environment.
Here are 11 reasons millennials who can't work a full day with any sense of urgency usually have
1. They have a micromanaging boss
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According to author and coach Victor Lipman, micromanagers don't just stifle productivity in the workplace, they also sabotage creativity and motivation. So, many millennial workers aren't just resentful of their bad bosses, they're also less productive and innovative with their time, making urgency a struggle they're not used to crafting in their daily routines.
Many micromanagers also weaponize a false sense of urgency amongst their employees, making everything seem like "a fire" or the most important task. Not only does this sabotage workers' healthy and productive time management skills, it also dampens trust in the workplace, where employees don't feel safe trusting their managers when something is truly important and timely.
2. They're being underpaid
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There's no ignoring the foundation behind many younger generations' lack of urgency in the workplace. They're just not incentivized to do anything more than the bare minimum. Considering almost the majority of millennials are still currently rent-burdened — paying more than 30% of their income on housing alone, because they're being grossly underpaid — it's clear they're not making enough in their jobs to sustain a comfortable life.
With rising costs and stagnant wages, they have much bigger things — financial stability, paying their bills, being there for their families, and protecting their own well-being — to worry about than overworking themselves for a pat on the back or some words of praise.
3. They're in an unhealthy work culture
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According to the American Psychological Association, toxic workplaces tend to leave employees feeling burnt out, overly stressed, and oftentimes physically unwell. It's one of the many reasons millennials who can't work a full day with any sense of urgency usually have, as they're too busy battling internal turmoil to overwork themselves within a toxic culture.
Especially in workplace cultures where mental health support is overlooked and bosses contribute to an unstable environment, employees can feel isolated from not just their work responsibilities, but their entire teams. How can you motivate yourself to work hard for an employer that is not just avoiding supporting you, but actively sabotaging your personal well-being?
4. They're held to unrealistic expectations
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According to executive coach Liz Kislik, many managers and bosses pull from previous experiences and workplace cultures to craft expectations for their teams, regardless of the new demands and support they need, crafting an environment that's often misguided and unrealistic for their current employees.
With unrealistic efficiency standards and lacking support to craft new ones, many employees struggle with building a sense of urgency when they're stuck in this cycle of disappointment. They're discouraged from not meeting unrealistic expectations and often punished by employers that never put the work in to learn their needs or support their productivity.
5. They prefer to worry about personal things
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According to expert in hybrid work, Paulyne Sombret, over 95% of millennials view work-life balance as a strong priority when making career decisions, with 80% contextualizing their current job stability and satisfaction by investigating how much of an impact it has on their daily lives.
Their generation is focused on finding balance between their professional and personal lives, with many even willing to give up added compensation for the sake of work-life balance. However, when they're not able to find balance in the workplace — with overbearing bosses, long hours, or unrealistic expectations for productivity — they struggle to find motivation and urgency to support their employers.
6. They refuse to make their job their entire identity
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Specifically for people in high-paying, prestigious, or overbearing positions, it's common for employees to do their jobs their entire life. Not only do they sacrifice personal free time for the sake of their job, they tend to enmesh their identity and personality with their work.
However, this tendency has adverse effects on personal well-being, sabotaging work-life balance and making work boundaries almost impossible to create. For some people, who find purpose, meaning, and joy in their jobs, this overstep doesn't mean all that much, as they're finding personal value in professional work. But for those who don't, or who don't feel supported personally in their jobs, it's harder to overwork themselves when they're battling turmoil.
One of the huge reasons millennials who can't work a full day with any sense of urgency usually have is that they've either burnt themselves out from making their job their identity, or they've been punished by a toxic workplace who expects it, fueling a cycle of pressure, expectations, resentment, and chronic stress.
7. They don't feel heard or appreciated
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In every relationship, even in the workplace between employers and teams, it's important for people to feel heard, valued, and understood, according to a PLOS One study. However, despite being of fundamental importance to us all, we tend to subconsciously overlook it, especially in the workplace where stress, anxiety, and even resentment tend to take over.
Millennials who struggle with urgency in their workplaces usually don't feel appreciated or valued enough by their employers to do anything but their basic tasks. They don't feel incentivized to give up their personal time or motivated to overwork themselves when they can hardly afford their rent or barely see their families already.
8. Their bosses make everything feel 'urgent'
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According to psychiatrist Dimitrios Tsatiris, MD, employees suffering from chronic stress or anxiety tend to work with employers who make everything "urgent" and "important," even when it doesn't need to be. They're always expecting their demands back "ASAP" or making employees drop everything to cater to their needs.
When things pile up and everything is "urgent," employees take on the burden of stress and anxiety around this workload. For some, the lack of urgency they ironically feel as a result of this stress and anxiety is the way they cope, procrastinating or avoiding any tasks to self-soothe.
9. They're burnt out
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While it might have been an unspoken job rule for older generations to hide their stress and conceal their burnout from their employers, millennials are much more conscious of the detriments of being burnt out on the clock. From battling resentment, to sabotaging their personal well-being, and even diminishing the work-life balance they tend to prioritize, the lack of urgency they experience as a result of being burnt out is often a coping mechanism for their stress.
Millennials will take the time they need to rest and recover, even if that means not being as productive or urgent with their workload. They're less likely to overexert themselves for the sake of a job or employer, especially if they've experienced a history of being overworked and underpaid.
10. They're battling chronic stress or anxiety
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Whether they're battling personal struggles or workplace burnout, millennial workers experiencing chronic stress and anxiety tend to be less productive, according to a study published in the Kansas Journal of Medicine.
They're too busy grappling with their internal emotional turmoil and stress to consider overworking themselves any further, especially in a toxic workplace environment where they already don't feel supported, heard, or appreciated.
11. They'd prefer to work from home
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Many millennials, who caught a glimpse at a remote work structure a few years ago, are yearning for the flexibility and work-life balance that it allowed, despite being forced to come back into the office. They're resentful — relying on workplace trends like "coffee badging" — to prove to their employers that it's possible for them to not only get their work done, but to be more productive, when they're working from their laptop at home.
They struggle with urgency at work because they're resentful. They know that they could do the same, if not more, work at home than in the office, but they're still forced to get ready, commute, and engage with co-workers for the sake of their employer's comfort of micromanaging.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
