Anne Helen Petersen Books

To understand millennial burnout, we must begin before millennials existed. The postwar era promised an attainable version of the American Dream: stable jobs, pensions, affordable homes, and education within reach. Productivity was celebrated but achievable through a clear path—graduate, get a job, ...

From Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

Many millennials grew up in households that embraced ambition as a moral good. Parents who had experienced postwar prosperity internalized the idea that education and effort ensured stability, so they raised children to be exceptional. Afternoons were filled with sports, music lessons, volunteer wor...

From Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

To understand why remote work feels so radical, we have to remember how the office became the symbolic heart of modern labor. Throughout the 20th century, the corporate office was built not merely as a physical space but as a cultural ideal. The rise of managerial professionalism, the open-plan revo...

From Out Of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home

One theme we return to repeatedly is how deeply modern society confuses productivity with purpose. For decades, companies have rewarded visibility—those who arrive early, stay late, and flood inboxes most vigorously. Remote work disrupted this illusion. Suddenly, there were no check-ins at cubicles ...

From Out Of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home