Welcome to Money As If, the Patagonia jacket your company gives everyone at the end of its annual retreat. This week’s team-building exercises:

— Jeanine

P.S. Liking Money As If? Share that referral link below!

A problem after my own heart since I've never been any good at managing burnout, a state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by chronic (usually work-related) stress.

I'd say that has something to do with starting my work-life in restaurant management, where you're expected to work weekends, holidays, late nights, or early mornings, and only call out if you're on your deathbed, but that might be a "more of a symptom, less of the disease" type thing.

I did eventually catch on, much, much later in life, that one of the reasons high-stress corporate jobs pay a decent salary is so you can literally fly yourself off the grid every six months or so, as a means of self-preservation, but my new life as a hustler contractor in our weirdo job market has me revisiting old wounds, so to speak.

And I doubt that I'm alone. In fact, recent studies find that burnout — surprise, surprise! — is at an all-time high.

Burnout is, of course, bad for you. It can lead to a host of mental and physical health conditions, including anxiety, depression, headaches, fatigue, and weakened immune systems. Plus, it actually ups the odds that you'll screw up or blow up at work.

But it's hard to manage, given that U.S. work culture tends to reward overworking, affords employees very little federally mandated vacation or sick days, and ties your job directly to your ability to find affordable health insurance.

And it's exceptionally hard to manage in a job market that's shaky at best. The general consensus is that we're in a "low-hire, low-fire" environment, with many Americans facing unemployment of 6 months or longer between gigs.

"Burnout in an uncertain job market isn’t just about workload," says Rema Lolas, founder of Grozaic, a team performance diagnostic tool. "It’s about constant pressure to prove you’re valuable enough to keep. That creates a different kind of exhaustion. People aren’t just tired from work, they’re tired from feeling like they can’t afford to slow down.”

Keep working! I'm 99.9% joking here, while also acknowledging that, in this job market, companies, unfortunately, hold more power. You probably won't get approved for an extended sabbatical or earn much goodwill by declaring you won't ever work past 5 p.m.

Still, experts tell me, there are steps you can take to make workplace or job search stress more manageable.

Instead of drawing firm lines, pick a few small ways to protect your mental health.

"Maybe it's one actual lunch away from your screen, or no email after 8 p.m. two nights a week, or ten minutes in the morning before you open Slack,” says Dr. Caitlin Stamatis, a clinical psychologist and research lead at Slingshot AI. "The specifics matter less than the fact that you have something."

In the same vein, if you can’t take a vacation RIGHT NOW, focus on effectively managing your work schedule.

"For example, after every two to three hours of work, take a 15-min coffee break," says Susan Snipes, Head of People at Remote People. "Or just step away from the desk for a few minutes to breathe in fresh air. Little things like these make a huge difference."

Alleviate (some) stress by remembering you might not have to be everything, everywhere, all at once, to survive layoffs.

"In my experience, the people who get protected in hard moments are usually known for doing one or two things well, not for replying fastest," Stamatis says. "Being strategically visible is more sustainable than being performatively available, and it tends to be what decision-makers actually remember."

Especially if you'd prefer to quit but can't or shouldn't due to financial constraints.

“Quitting is not the only intervention," says Caitlin Blair, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Tiny Cottage Therapy in California. "That feels really important to emphasize right now when it may not be financially feasible or healthy to leave. Burnout prevention can happen within your current situation."

For instance, you can tap practical strategies, like nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and grief-naming, to reduce stress while working in a less-than-ideal environment.

"It can also be helpful to find safe people to talk to work about, especially finding an outlet outside of your partner or roommate and ensuring you have positive social time that's not related to work," Blair says.

It can benefit from some boundaries, too.

“Protect your mornings or evenings as no-search windows, and keep at least one thing in your life that has nothing to do with being employable," Stamatis says. “And reach out to people, even when shame is telling you not to. Isolation makes long searches so much worse, and most people who've been through one want to help."

On 55,000+ screens in the US, a new AI platform is modernizing guest experiences across industries. And the company behind it, Edison Interactive, is inviting investors to join before they scale this footprint 7X+, across 400,000+ screens. This Deloitte Fast 500 honoree has already earned $60M in revenue to date. With partners like Verizon, Paramount, DISH, and more, Edison’s story is just getting started.

Invest in Edison Interactive Today

_{This is a paid advertisement for Edison Interactive Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.edisoninteractive.com/}

Nowadays, most financial takes are boilerplate. These aren't.

And, finally, today, in things I would buy if, you know, I could just buy things …

I'm not a Devil Wears Prada fashion-type, but, boy, do I thirst every time Zendaya’s "method dresses" for one of her movies.

“It's giving Comme des Garçons circa Rei Kawakubo’s anti-form period" means absolutely nothing to me, but MJ wearing spider-webs to promote Spider-Man, I just get, you know?

Zendaya's latest look — a "Something Blue" Schiaparelli gown, capping off a bridal-themed press tour for her wedding-centric genre mash-up The Drama — is really something else, made from over 65,000 kingfisher feathers, sculpted over "roughly" 8,000 hours.

Fashion so couture, the retail price isn't publicly disclosed, but estimated to be at least six figures.

Got questions, comments, receipts, tips, thirst traps, etc. you’d like to share? Send them to [email protected].

_{This article is for educational purposes only. We don’t recommend or advise individuals to buy, not buy, sell, or not sell particular investments or other assets, as everyone’s circumstances are different. Also, it’s your money and ultimately up to you to decide the best use for it.}