As finals week looms, many of us are cramming and at the end of our energy as we finish up the semester. A 2021 study estimated that 55.4% of university students struggle with emotional exhaustion. The same study said that general distress and poor educational performance often come from these feelings.
Dr. Carole Sebenick has been a licensed clinical psychologist for more than 20 years and also teaches psychology classes at the University of Maryland. She said that burnout can lead to physical illness, high levels of stress hormones, extreme isolation or extraversion and irritability.
However, there are many things that we as college students can do to try to mitigate the effects of our busy schedules. A book that I have found really helpful in learning how to manage stress is Atomic Habits by James Clear. This book focuses on ways to improve your life one tiny habit at a time. Each day, I try to focus on being 1% better than the last rather than setting the bar way too high and in turn setting myself up for failure.
Here are Sebenick’s suggestions and a few of my favorite self-care and stress management tactics.
- Prioritizing physical health and self-care
I know that quite possibly the worst thing to hear when you’re stressed out is: Why don’t you go to the gym? How about you eat something healthy?
However, going to spin classes and eating good meals that help fuel my body are some of the best ways to help myself feel better in those low moments. My workaholic tendencies can sometimes let these healthy hobbies be the first to slide during my busiest times, but even though it’s hard to get started I always feel amazing once I’m on the bike.
Sebenick said that moving your body and eating foods that are going to fuel you are really important tactics in avoiding burnout. When it comes to her favorite self-care activity, she has a massage therapist that she sees regularly.
“I think self-care is really just a state of mind of looking at how you’re balancing your life and how you’re optimizing the experiences that you’re engaging in,” Sebenick said.
Whatever self-care and physical health means for you, make sure there is a spot for that somewhere in your routine. One of the smallest ways I do this is going on walks even if it’s just around my house during colder months.
- NO MULTITASKING! Chunking your work and tackling tasks one at a time
A strategy that has helped me get through harder days is writing down every task stressing me out and putting them in priority order. Then, I go down that list and accomplish things one by one.
Sebenick said that modern society can be overwhelming in that there is so much going on at all times. However, focusing on one thing at a time and giving yourself breaks is a great thing to do to avoid becoming burned out and overwhelmed.
She said that giving your body an opportunity to do something different in those breaks is what can help avoid the burnout of feeling like you’re doing the same thing over and over again.
- Daily mini journaling and affirmations
One of my favorite parts of my mornings is opening my Google Doc dedicated to journaling and affirmations. Each day I take five minutes to answer these journaling questions from @thecolbykultgen:
- What am I grateful for?
- What is my most important task today?
- What story-worthy moment happened yesterday?
- How am I feeling today?
- What’s working right now?
- What could be better?
After writing my answers to these questions, I write down a one-sentence affirmation. Often when I’m overwhelmed with a lot of tasks, this helps me stay present and mindful. When I’m beating myself up about performance, productivity or whatever it is that day, this forces me to keep being nice to myself and remember all of my successes.
- Setting time aside for family and friends
One of Sebenick’s biggest pieces of advice was to set aside time for friends and family. She emphasized that logging off from electronics and having face to face social time is a great way to take a break from work.
Scheduling phone calls with family and making sure to have plans with friends is important during busy times. Having someone to vent to about whatever you’re dealing with is so helpful and underrated.