It’s a feeling we’ve all probably experienced at some point. Maybe it was in high school, or last semester, or freshman year, or even as you’re reading this article. According to Psychology Today, burnout is “a state of chronic stress” which leads to “physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism and detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment.”
Most of the time, those who experience burnout, don’t realize it because they are so focused on their tasks that they don’t know how much pressure they are putting on themselves. Some of the symptoms include lack of productivity, apathy and detachment, pessimism, loss of appetite, chronic fatigue, forgetfulness and other physical symptoms (Psychology Today article). Even though it might be hard to admit that everything you do is catching up to you, pinpointing what you’re feeling as burnout could be the step to making a change in your lifestyle, because no one should just go on dealing with it, and not making it better.
Recently, I’ve been thinking that I burned myself out a bit over the past few years. I realized this in the past week when I was eating all the time, even when I wasn’t hungry and didn’t like what I was eating. I don’t even like guac (I know, that’s really weird because who doesn’t like guac) and yet I ate guac and chips twice in one day. I basically went into a food frenzy, and that showed me how burned out I really was.
I spent a lot of time just looking at my homework and not knowing what I was supposed to do, or understanding it and was being frustrated. At the time it didn’t seem like anything in particular was the source of the issues. And yet, there are so many times I feel like I don’t do enough and need more extracurriculars, need to study harder, and just be more. It wasn’t until I began writing this article that I realized how accurate the term was to describe what I was experiencing.
So, if you think you’re dealing with burnout, what next? I think admitting that you might be burned out is a great first step, because if you don’t recognize a problem, you can’t do anything to change it. This HuffPost article indicates that emotional positivity is essential to beating burnout, because having a good attitude is key to having greater success with our goals. Some of the benefits of positivity include higher productivity, increased creativity, more engagement with your work, and fosters healthier relationships.
So, my advice is don’t despair. Even if you are experiencing burnout, it’s not the end of the world. Keep your chin up, and know that it can get better.