These past two weeks, I experienced burnout for the first time in my entire life. My review? It was terrible. However, it forced me to find ways back to being myself. For those who don’t know me personally, here is a quick debrief: I am usually incredibly active at St. John’s and love surrounding myself with people. So, reaching a point where I didn’t want to get out of bed or even talk to my best friend was quite a change. Two weeks later, I am finally feeling myself again. And can live to tell you the tales of how I got back.
First and foremost: cleaning. I know this may be a niche, but I am a huge neat freak. If I walk into my room and see clutter, I am immediately stressed. On the first day of Easter break, I did nothing but deep clean my entire room. Every drawer, my closet, the floors, the sheets, no surface remained untouched by my cleaning. For three hours, I was able to block everything out and concentrate on the single task from start to finish. When I was done, the mental clarity was refreshing.
While I cleaned, I did the thing that is a staple to my every moment: listened to music. One of the clearest signs that I’m not feeling like myself is when I stop listening to music entirely. Maybe it sounds strange, but when I’m overwhelmed, even the task of picking a song feels like a chore. Returning to my favorite album in the entire world, “Solar Power” by Lorde, felt like grounding myself back in reality.
I am someone who needs a project to feel productive. For me, this often means baking or cooking. My grandmother (shoutout Mimi) taught me from a young age that food is a love language. It’s my default setting, I clear my mind through the process and then share the results to make others feel good. I’m lucky to have a boyfriend who will eat anything I make (shoutout Samet), so he reaps all the reward of my stress baking.
My last bit of advice is to talk to the people you hold closest. My burnout was fueled by overworking myself right up until break, and even once I got home, the anxiety followed me. By taking a minute for myself, I narrowed down what was actually wrong. Then, I talked it out with some of my closest friends (Shout out Nate, Nelson, and Mary – my hearts). They just listened. Nobody knows me better than my friends. Those who love you take the time to learn your moods, and they know exactly when you’re off. Without them, I would have gone insane.
We are so close to the end of this monster of a semester. Please remind yourself that the sun will still shine tomorrow, even if you get a bad grade on an exam., I promise you, no one in your future career is going to ask you what you got on your Orgo Chem final sophomore year. You are so much bigger than your stress, don’t let it take over.