It’s that time of year where students start to skip classes and slack on school work. The parking garages become easier to get a spot in and classes start shallowing out. All of these things happen because we as college students experience the same thing: burnout. While it may seem at times like this feeling of not being motivated will never pass, there are some ways to combat burnout.
Create Reasonable Goals
Taking on too much and setting unreasonable goals can cause stress. Making a busy schedule at the beginning of the semester might seem like a good idea but as the workload gets bigger, burnout starts to set in. To avoid feeling unmotivated, try creating reasonable goals. Make small little goals for each week instead of trying to get everything done at once.
Make Time for Fun
For me, one of the hardest parts of college is trying to find time for myself. With classes and clubs, it sometimes feels like I never have time to just chill or to hang out with friends. While school work and other obligations are important, you have to create a good work-life balance. If you’re constantly doing school work and never making time for anything else, you will get burnt out faster. Having that good work-life balance will help to benefit your wellbeing but should also make you feel more motivated.
Work a Little Every Day
I know the feeling of leaving a huge project to the last minute all too well. The anxiety from waiting so long and the exhaustion the next day from staying up late to finish it is not the best. These feelings often get so bad that I have no motivation to do the project at all.
Through changing my own habits I’ve learned the benefits of doing a little bit of work each day. Instead of waiting until the last minute on an assignment and rushing to get it done, by doing a little bit each day, you’re more focused and can go slower so you can do your best work.
Learn to Say No
In college, it feels like people are asking you for things all the time. Whether it be to cover a shift, to come to a meeting or to help them out with some other favor, but we are asked by people all the time to do things we may not necessarily want to do.
If you say yes to everything, it is easy to become overwhelmed with everything you have to do, but there is no shame in saying no. Sometimes you need that extra thirty minutes of sleep or you need the night to yourself to do work or focus on yourself instead of hanging out with a friend. There is nothing wrong with saying no.
Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help
When feeling overwhelmed and burnt out one of the simplest but probably hardest things to do is ask for help. Most college students know what burnout is like so reaching out to your friends can be a great first step in asking for help. There is also no shame in asking your professor for an extension on an assignment. Most professors only want the best for you and understand that things happen.
If burnout is overly affecting your life, another good step can be to check out the mental health resources that are available on campus and locally. Talking with someone about how you feel can make all the difference.
College students like to act like they have it together all the time but the truth is, we rarely do. With the amount of stress put on us in college we all at one time or another experience burnout. There is no shame in admitting that and there is especially nothing wrong with taking steps to avoid it and asking for help.
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