Perhaps Franz Kafka could not have written it better. During her studies, Anna-Marie started working in the communication department of a state office. At first she was excited and bursting with ideas. But she soon found out that there was no interest in her enthusiasm, because there was nothing to do in the position. From time to time she performed some pointless actions and was bored. This led to her developing depression and burnout. She shared her experience in the podcast Co z tebe bude?
The work that Anna-Marie did was not much and certainly cannot be considered stimulating. Originally, she was in the position of filming videos for social networks and communicating with the media, but over time her duties changed: “When, for example, one of the secretaries did not know how to scan documents, it came in handy in our department, there were maybe two thousand of them,” she recalls today on what tasks she received at work.
If there happened to be any interesting activities, it was usually taken by her superior. “You know you have what it takes, that you want to learn it, but you don’t get the chance,” he describes his feelings of frustration at the time. Anna-Marie’s original enthusiasm began to turn into more and more apathy. After a few months, she was no longer able to carry out even the minimum of the simple agenda she was in charge of.
As a result of job dissatisfaction, she also developed depression. While in the office she had trouble carrying out the simplest tasks, at home she sometimes couldn’t even do the laundry or tidy up. “I came home from work, lay down and cuddled the cat. When a person feels inferior and incapable at work, they look for reassurance that they are not completely incapable of everything. I couldn’t wash myself, sometimes I didn’t even know if I had clean underwear “, he recalls.
For a long time, Anna-Marie did not realize what the problem was, she felt that she herself was to blame for the paralysis and that she had to recover. Before she saw that she was probably going through burnout, she blamed herself. “I felt worthless, I felt like I couldn’t function in the job market, even though I knew from my previous job that wasn’t true,” she says.
She decided to leave the office after about a year, and a rather bizarre incident that happened as part of her work duties also contributed to it. During a tour of the office’s properties, she encountered an aggressive attitude, but her superiors reacted laxly to the dangerous incident. She found a new place in about a week. The symptoms of depression and burnout disappeared immediately. During the interview for a new job, she paid particular attention to whether young people have the opportunity to move somewhere in their position and how much employee turnover there is. He adds that he definitely does not want to deepen stereotypes about the state administration with his story, emphasizing that it was more of a problem of bad management. You can find the interview with Anna-Maria in all podcast applications: Soundcloud, Spreaker, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Photo author: Tomáš Vocelka
What will become of you?!
A podcast about the internal problems of young people in a rapidly changing world. It deals, among other things, with gender identity, the relationship to one’s own body and professional crisis. Individual episodes are moderated by Tomáš Maca and Clara Zanga. Episode 1 of the podcast introduces Yuki and his convoluted journey to non-binary. The 2nd part is dedicated to Matěj, who rejects the boyish idea of manhood with a humorous perspective. She washes, irons, doesn’t drive a car and takes care of her daughter. The 3rd part in Anna’s story reveals what problems a beautiful and intelligent woman faces in a man’s world. (March 19) Episode 4 shows that you can be a handsome young man and still hate your body. Jirka is an artist and a model, but he can’t look at himself in the mirror. (March 26) The 5th episode offers the perspective of Míša, a Czecho-Vietnamese woman who copes with stereotypes in the country where she was born, as well as in her parents’ homeland. (April 2) The 6th episode is about Adéla, who gained weight during the pandemic and the people around her show it inappropriately at meetings. (April 9) The 7th episode is about Nicol, who is almost enslaved by the operation of the theater cafe. After complete burnout, she found surprising relief in corporate. (April 16) Episode 8 of the podcast, on the other hand, shows the other side of the corporation. Sabina gained 25 kilos in a toxic company and developed anxiety, for which she is still being treated today. (April 23) The 9th episode of the podcast is about sickness from inactivity. People usually burn out from overwork, but Anna-Marie fell into depression due to boredom at work (April 30)
