Burnout Diaries

Behind the scenes of managing a mythical influencer without magical insurance. Read at your own risk. May contain keyboard smashing, existential dread, and unsolicited venting.

Illustration representing an AI planning a weekly schedule

I Let AI Plan My Entire Week. Here’s What It Got Right (And What It Completely Missed)

By Ken Hollow, the man who outsourced his executive function to a language model for seven days and has feelings about it It started as…

Illustration representing turning off phone notifications

The Day I Turned Off Notifications and Nothing Caught Fire

By Ken Hollow, the man who used to check his phone 80 times a day and considered this a personality trait rather than a problem…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Corporate Chat Tools Are Just Anxiety Generators

Corporate Chat Tools Are Just Anxiety Generators

By Ken Hollow, unwilling hostage of the green dot Slack. Teams. Discord. Whatever flavor of chat tool your company forces upon you, they’re all the…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Office Birthdays Are Just Cupcake-Based Hostage Situations

Office Birthdays Are Just Cupcake-Based Hostage Situations

By Ken Hollow, reluctant attendee of frosting purgatory There are few things more cursed in corporate life than the office birthday celebration. Not because anyone…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Performance Improvement Plans Are Just HR Fanfiction

Performance Improvement Plans Are Just HR Fanfiction

By Ken Hollow, reluctant protagonist in HR’s tragic novella Performance Improvement Plans — or PIPs, if you want to make them sound like a snack…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Project Deadlines Are Just Fictional Dates

Project Deadlines Are Just Fictional Dates

By Ken Hollow, unwilling time traveler through calendar chaos Project deadlines are fictional. They’re not based on reality, resources, or reason. They’re dates picked out…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Expense Reports Are Just Bureaucratic Fanfiction

Expense Reports Are Just Bureaucratic Fanfiction

By Ken Hollow, unwilling author of receipt novels Expense reports are the worst kind of creative writing: bureaucratic fanfiction. You take mundane events — a…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: KPIs for Life: How Management Wants to Quantify Your Soul

KPIs for Life: How Management Wants to Quantify Your Soul

By Ken Hollow, unwilling data point in HR’s experiment Corporate obsession with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) has reached a new low: they’re no longer content…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Return-to-Office Is Just Nostalgia for Micromanagement

Return-to-Office Is Just Nostalgia for Micromanagement

By Ken Hollow, reluctant commuter in pajama pants The great promise of remote work was freedom: no commute, no awkward breakroom small talk, no boss…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: OKRs Are Just New Year’s Resolutions With Graphs

OKRs Are Just New Year’s Resolutions With Graphs

By Ken Hollow, reluctant goal-setter and spreadsheet victim Every January, normal people lie to themselves with New Year’s resolutions: “I’ll run every day. I’ll stop…