November 17
What is Burnout?
Academic burnout is characterized by feelings of exhaustion, frustration, and/or stress after prolonged study without breaks. This can cause negative emotional or physical response to studying more or working on school in general. Signs of academic burnout include:
loss in confidence in academic abilities
loss in motivation to complete school tasks
inability to concentrate in class
increased irritability
Not to worry if these sound familiar. There are ways that you can prevent and overcome academic burnout. Life balance is important to maintain. Today’s page aims to help regain a sense of balance and work out prevention techniques for burnout.
Here are your check in questions:
1. If you experience the signs mentioned above, what is your way to destress? How does this make you feel?
2. Is anything worrying you right now? If so, take three breaths (inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4).
3. What is something that you are struggling with right now? Who is one person you could talk this out with>
ways to overcome burnout
1. Make time for enjoyable activities
In 4 studies of 1399 participants, the researchers found that the participants experienced less stress, better physical health, better quality sleep, and improved work performance. While work may not apply to young students, a better school performance may be a good reason for engaging in hobbies.
As Tara Parker-Pope from the New York Times writes, “[m]ost of us have free time, we just don’t spend it wisely”. A trick to find those hours to engage in a hobby is to think in weeks, not days. If you go this website, you can calculate your free time.
If scheduling isn’t your strength, try anchor events. These are major activities that you can plan your day around. For example, if you like to bike, you can plan to bike in the morning and plan the rest of the day going from there.
2. Facetime a Friend to take a break
3. Set Reasonable Goals - break down big tasks into smaller ones
4. Find an activity that does not involve screens
Don’t let endless scrolling through social media be the way you spend your free time. This can reduce quality of sleep and it prevents us from spending time engaging with friends or loved ones. You can ask yourself:
When you were younger, what did you like to do?
Conduct a self evaluation of how you spend your free time currently.
What is one thing that you’ve always wanted to try? Try making this an anchor event for this upcoming Thanksgiving Break!
