The following piece is an opinion and does not reflect the views of The Eagle and its staff. All opinions are edited for grammar, style and argument structure and fact-checked, but the opinions are the writer’s own.
Burnout, or the feeling of being so overworked that you cannot continue, is common among college students. During the undergraduate experience, 4 in 5 college seniors experience burnout. At a certain point, it almost feels inevitable, and even if you do everything you can to avoid it, burnout can often sneak up on you. I have experienced this battle to an extreme –– managing internships, clubs, school and friends has pushed me to the edge. Trying to avoid dealing with burnout traps you in these overwhelming feelings, however. If burnout is nearly inevitable, why not learn to persevere and cope with it?
My sophomore friends and I have talked about how this year feels so utterly different from freshman year. Regarding workload, our classes have ramped up speed before our eyes. Even though the semester has just begun, I feel like I have been on the edge of burnout. Juggling internships, homework, school, friends and overall well-being, can often feel like too much.
In the past, I have looked at different resources to avoid burnout, but even the Harvard Review would just tell me to lessen my stressors. These articles oftentimes provide no help on how to cope with my regular schedule. I kept reading more and more about how I should create more time for myself. However, with my current schedule, that idea felt impossible and rendered the articles utterly useless.
As I lived with burnout, I worked to change my frustrated mindset. Yes, I felt highly stressed with all the things I had been working on; however, that was okay because everyone felt that way at some point. I grew to realize that I needed to figure out how to use my stress to my advantage.
One way I have worked with it is by making a weekly to-do list. The list includes items from my personal life, school work and internship. Sometimes, it feels so ridiculous to see everything all written down; however, once you have taken a moment and a deep breath (and relize you may have over-signed yourself up), I start to divide the list. I determine when the tasks need to be done date-wise, and then I assign it an alternative date or a Ritika due date. I then create a weekly task list, breaking down the days and the tasks.
Burnout can take a lot out of a person, so much so, that doing simple tasks becomes hard. But, what often helps me is understanding that if I do not create an actionable change, it is only going to get worse, and that is where steps like creating a to-list can be extraordinarily helpful.
When I feel burned out, it feels like I don’t have time to see my friends or do something as silly as watching my favorite show. That feeling can be extremely overwhelming and borderline isolating. I have been guilty of thinking I can do everything by myself and be okay if I never see my friends, which is false; humans are naturally social creatures. But doing something as simple as grabbing a 15-minute coffee with a friend between classes. Eating lunch together with friends. Or even going off campus to sit in silence to finish your work (even though my friends and I can get yapping and do no work). That time can be critical to your mental health and make you feel better about the work you have left. For me, I have also found that completing mini-tasks that sometimes aren’t related to schoolwork helps my overall productivity. Going off campus to a fun coffee shop and setting up can be considered a mini-task and is a great mood booster to fully lock into a daily tasks list.
Burnout is not a switch we can flip on and off as we’d like, but often, it can hit at any time and take you out for the day. What is more important, is figuring out how to deal with your burnout and having steps to help you when it hits. Sometimes, personal trial and error are more helpful than re-reading scholarly articles on burnout and the stress that comes with it.
Ritika Shroff is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and a columnist for The Eagle.
This article was edited by Alana Parker, Rebeca Samano Arellano and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Charlie Mennuti and Nicole Kariuki.
