All of a sudden it’s October. Midterm season is upon us and you’re up until 2:30 a.m. once again, preparing for your third midterm of the semester. Your brain can’t comprehend any more information and you’re basically running off caffeine and vibes.
You think to yourself, “I can’t wait for this to be over tomorrow” and you relax for a second, right before you remember you have an essay due in two days that you haven’t started yet. Then you break down because you realize you probably won’t have real rest until winter break, all the way in December. Trust me when I say you’re not alone.
We all come together and joke about it, convincing ourselves it’s all part of “adulting.”And honestly, the shared misery builds community, but it hides something deeper. We’ve normalized burnout like a rite of passage that everyone goes through. “It’s part of the experience.”
Burnout has been disguised as ambition, which is one of the reasons it feels so normal. Overworking is praised in our society; if you’re not worn out, people will conclude you’re not working hard enough. The “grind” mindset has spread through student life, turning ongoing stress into a source of pride. All of a sudden, being busy is an identity rather than just a schedule.
In addition, there’s pressure coming from every direction. Professors assign readings and homework as if we have no other classes. Employers want students with “experience,” which means juggling a full academic load with a job or internship. Peer competitiveness is another issue; everyone wants to appear as though they’re handling everything with ease, even if they’re actually collapsing on the inside.
In actuality, burnout doesn’t always manifest as chaos. It can be quiet at times. It’s waking up and already feeling exhausted before the day has even begun. It’s spending hours looking at your laptop because you can’t begin the assignment you’ve been worrying about all week. It’s missing lectures because your body and mind simply cannot handle another day of acting as though nothing is wrong—not because you don’t care.
Rather than pushing yourself to recover, consider relaxing into a state of peace. Feel free to take that nap. Take a walk without your phone. Listen to your favourite music as you make breakfast. Send a friend a quick text to discuss nothing important. Giving yourself permission to do less is the key to recovering from burnout, not doing more.
Just because the world moves fast, doesn’t mean you have to. Your productivity and ability to persevere despite fatigue are not factors that determine your value. You are allowed to take a breath.
So, think of this as a reminder to stop if you’ve been running on fumes. To extend. To chuckle. To keep in mind that you are a human, not a deadline-driven computer. Take care of yourself, one small step at a time; you don’t have to have everything together right now.