Recharging your Batteries
How To Deal With Burnout
With spring break right around the corner, students are beginning to feel academic burnout. Many students take on multiple extracurriculars on top of their course loads. This causes feelings of exhaustion both mentally and physically. Some common signs indicating burnout are feeling disengaged, unmotivated, brain fog, and excessive sleep but still not feeling refreshed upon waking.
Monmouth College sophomore, Lauren Covington expresses that she often feels academic burnout. Covington is the philosophy director of her sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma, a tutor at the Jamieson Community Center, and takes on a full-time student course load. These factors contribute to her feeling exhausted and unmotivated, but there are ways that she approaches handling the burnout she faces.
“I deal with burnout in many ways. I like to separate my assignments, so I do not get overwhelmed all at once. I go to the gym to take a break, hang out with friends, and meditate,” said Covington. “Burnout happens and it can be very difficult, but finding ways to keep me motivated has allowed it to pass.”
Like Covington’s advice, a study from Connections Health Solutions provides tips to help deal with burnout; they offer various mental health resources on their site.
Six tips for managing burnout:
Talk to a mental health professional
Take breaks
Discuss your challenges with someone you trust
Create healthy habits
Set boundaries and maintain a routine
Make time for fun
Dealing with burnout is challenging, but there are ways to manage it before it gets worse. The sense of being overwhelmed is a signal, not a permanent state. By understanding the symptoms and implementing these tips, it is possible to recover. It is okay to reach out for help when needed.
Emilie Cain - News and Opinion Editor