Bouncing Back from Long-Term Burnout
A little background: Around a year and a half ago, I entered my junior year feeling de-motivated and overworked after my hell of a sophomore year schedule. I definitely overloaded myself that year, and while I didn’t realize it at the time, it was slowly burning me out. I didn’t start feeling re-motivated until about a month ago, and even now I’m not back at 100%.
To anyone who’s lacking that spark to study, I hope this helps. These are the things that helped me feel better and eventually recover. If you’re struggling with burnout, please please message me. My inbox is always open <3
Keep up/at least do the bare minimum
While you’re not going to want to study or do extra work, try your best to stay on top of all your assignments
Failing a class because you didn’t bother to turn in just a few assignments stings a lot more than putting in the effort and failing
Use the Pomodoro technique! Personally I find the promise of a break a great motivator to do homework...however counterintuitive that sounds (the Tide app is my favorite Pomodoro timer currently–Apple, Google)
Don’t slack on hygiene
Make sure you get enough sleep, drink enough water, eat and exercise, etc.
Taking care of yourself is always good, especially when going through burnout. It does wonders for your self-esteem, too
Focus on your support system
Build those relationships! Because you don’t feel like studying or doing school-related things, this is a good time to strengthen and give back to your support system
Spend some time with that one friend you love but haven’t had a lot of time to spend with
Think of nice things you can do for the people you care about, and who care about you. These can be gifts, budget allowing, or non-monetary things like letters or favors
In addition to making someone else happier, this is a great way to feel a little more productive than just watching the same YouTube videos/TV shows/movies on a loop
Follow your interests
The word “project” is probably the last one you want to hear right now, but hear me out
This can be as simple as just Googling stuff. Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn a little more about coffee, or maybe you want to own a cat in the future and want to know more about how to take care of them. Wikipedia spiral to your heart’s desires and just throw it into a document
Or maybe you have a writing/art/music/performing arts piece you’ve put on hold for your studies. Pull it out, dust it off, see what you have, and play with it a little bit
The idea here is to find the nice balance between mind-numbing media and challenging academic pursuits
Be kind to yourself (yes this is cheesy but it’s important)
For me, burnout was rough on my self-esteem. Why couldn’t I just care again about what I’m studying? I have career in mind and goals, right?So why didn’t I feel that fire under my ass like I used to?
But getting re-motivated can take time. It took me about a year and a half, and I’m still working on getting back to where I used to be a couple years ago
Remember you’re much more than your studies (this goes double for studyblrs!!). The energy you put into the world, for one. The care you put into your own body. Your opinions, your values, your personality. If you’re feeling demotivated academically, there are so many other areas of yourself you can work on that are equally (if not more) important.
Again, if you’re struggling with burnout (or if you have questions about anything, really) feel free to message me!
