Semester 2 is here and everyone is ready to jump straight back into college life full steam ahead. A lot of students have new year’s goals to finally get themselves sorted with regards to college work or are committed to getting more involved with societies.
If you’re the kind of student who deals with a demanding and ambitious schedule you may experience feelings of burnout. With pressure of assignment deadlines and exams students can get overwhelmed. After these assignments are handed up and exams are over, you could feel a little worse for wear if you’re not careful. You have worked yourself into the ground for the last few months and are physically and emotionally drained.
Burnout is characterised as near constant exhaustion, a lack of motivation, frustration and that’s only a few symptoms. It can happen when you’re dealing with a large amount of stress over a long period of time which is common in students. Students can be working part-time, trying to pay university fees and living costs, on top of dealing with a hectic college schedule and this can eventually takes its toll.
There are a few things you can do to avoid burnout and keep yourself motivated.
1. Get more sleep – Yes, this seems like an obvious suggestion but getting enough sleep should be a priority. Instead of scrolling mindlessly on your social media feeds when you should be sleeping, place your phone on the opposite side of the room. Record the TV program you wanted to watch and save the Netflix binge for the weekend. Sleep needs to be a priority to be motivated and productive the next day.
2. Don’t bite off more than you can chew– In other words, don’t take on everything and be good at nothing. Only say yes to a project if it suits your schedule and you can dedicate time to it, otherwise give it a miss. You don’t need to be adding stress to your already hectic timetable if it won’t benefit you in the long run. You’re always better doing less tasks to the best of your ability then half doing everything.
3. Meet up with friends– Sometimes we get so busy we forget that we have friends to talk to about how were feeling and to have the craic with. The best stress reliever is laughter, so why not plan a day out with your closest friends and chill out for a while.
4. Last but not least, have a ‘Me’ day– Relax, plan a day where you can watch the show you wanted to watch for months now, cook your favourite food and just be with yourself. Take some time to reflect on why you’re feeling so burned out and what needs to change. Take this day to plan and remind yourself of what you want. It’s so important to take time for yourself to reflect so you can refresh and motivate yourself the rest of the time. Access your life and see where you are and where you want to go.
Lorna Lawless