Now that we are officially past the halfway point in the semester, it’s about time for the burnout to set in. I’m sure most of us are tired, stressed, overwhelmed, and ready to call it quits. As a result, we lose the motivation to study and stay on top of our responsibilities. This can have unfortunate consequences on our grades as well as our mental health and wellbeing. Today, I’m here to give you some tips on how to avoid burnout so you can finish the year strong.
- Change up your routine.
Once we get used to our routines, it’s easy to become bored. As soon as your routine loses its novelty, it’s no longer as stimulating, and eventually, you stop caring at all. Attending class seems more difficult, as does completing assignments, studying for exams, going to meetings, making it to the gym, and so on. Instead of trying to overcome this boredom, we instead often choose to look forward to the next break in routine, clinging to the very idea: “summer is just around the corner – I just need to make it until then.” It’s good to have something to look forward to, but there is no incentive for change with this mindset, it only fosters impatience and makes it even harder to keep up with our current responsibilities.
What’s the easiest way to prevent this? Change up your routine and make things more interesting for yourself! Obviously, you can’t change every aspect of your schedule, like classes, practices, or meetings, but you can change your habits around, and this can definitely help you feel like you’re getting a fresh start. Go somewhere new to study, ask a stranger to get lunch, wear something different. By introducing variety and spontaneity into your plans, you keep your days feeling new.
- Make short-term goals.
This might seem self-explanatory, but giving yourself goals to motivate yourself throughout your day is a great way to keep yourself invested. We tend to imagine goals to be long-term, occurring over long periods of time. However, goals can certainly be short-term, and these goals often require more discipline. Long-term goals can be put off for later and forgotten, but short-term goals need to be completed in a small time frame and thus tend to stay on the mind. Simple goals relating to simple tasks can encourage us to utilize self-control while also making self-improvements.
I’ve found it personally very useful to plan monthly, weekly, and daily goals. I incentivize myself with small rewards – something like, if I go to the gym five times this week, I will let myself order something I want online. Even something small, like telling myself, “if I finish this assignment in the next hour, I will reward myself with a piece of chocolate”, can help keep me motivated.
- Practice mindfulness and self-care.
Oftentimes, we experience burnout as a result of boredom or a lack of motivation, but it can also be a result of a detrimental mindset. If you find yourself hindered by negativity, anxiety, or generally feeling not present in your daily life, you might benefit from practicing mindfulness and self-care. Some people might benefit from meditation or yoga as methods of clearing the mind and increasing focus. Others might benefit from journaling or attending counseling sessions to help organize their thoughts and gain self-awareness. Self-care can manifest through anything that increases your quality of life and makes your day more enjoyable. Having fun hobbies, exercising regularly, cooking nutritious meals, going out with your friends, these can all be vital to our wellbeing.
How you implement mindfulness and self-care really depends on you and your mind. I was recently advised to not use my phone for the first hour of the day I am awake, and I’ve tried to implement it into my life in the last few weeks. I also am trying to journal at least once a week as a method of recording my thoughts and feelings, as well as important events in my life. These changes have greatly improved my mindfulness and have allowed me to enjoy my days more.
Whether you choose to use these tips or not, I wish you all luck for the remainder of the semester!