Sitting in class with my eyes begging to close, yearning for just a minute to sleep, but I couldn’t because I still had work, homework, and the other five things on my plate. Each week is cyclical; there are too many things to do and not enough hours to rest. In all honesty, I don’t make time to rest. It’s only the fifth week of school, after a summer of working thirty hours a week, and I am already experiencing symptoms of Burnout. Some of the physical symptoms include change of appetite, headaches, and feeling drained all the time. I started eating way more than I usually do, my head was always in pain, and I never felt truly rested. I procrastinated my homework, started attending fewer events with my friends, and taking my frustrations out on my loved ones. I knew it wasn’t an emotional state I should stay in. So, this is how I have been dealing with burnout.
1. Resting instead of going out to do extravagant activities with friends
It may have sounded tempting to go dance with my friends in a crowded room or even go jump off some cliffs in Winslow, but I noticed that when I thought I was protecting my mental health by taking a break from homework to do something fun I was actually just pushing myself further into exhaustion. I know that it is also important not to isolate myself from my loved ones so I compromised with activities where I can do both.
2. Doing restful things with friends
Instead of going on a night hike after a long day of classes and work, I decided to stay in with friends and have a movie night. Burnout includes isolating yourself from others which can be a symptom of depression. Hanging out with others who boosted my confidence and valued my mental health as well made me feel more energized to go about the rest of the week.
3. Exercising outdoors
Making time to move my body and tell myself that I am more than my school work has helped me not feel the low self-esteem that I felt while experiencing burnout. Taking a hike in Sandy’s Canyon and smelling the pine trees of Flagstaff has helped me focus on the big picture; I am more than my school work, I was put on this earth for a purpose and if I have to take time for myself that I deserve then I will do that.
4. Allowing others to help me
We, as humans, cannot do everything by ourselves. We are not lone wolves for a reason and others around us are usually more than willing to help. During this time, I have definitely learned to allow others to help me. It can range from my roommates cooking and letting me steal some food from them to save myself the time of cooking to my boyfriend picking up another large task for me to let me know that he is here for me. This brings me to my last tip.
5. Surrounding myself with encouraging people
Having others uplift me and remind me that I am much more than the letter grade on my essay has definitely lifted the weight of needing to be perfect all the time off my shoulders. The need to be perfect in order to experience a large reward can cause burnout. Many people may also suffer from burnout because of the community they are in and simply changing this one aspect can make a huge difference.
I was lucky enough to recognize the burnout symptoms and work towards protecting my mental health. Others may not, so it is important to be that encouraging friend that helps them to soon get out of that mindset in order to better their mental state because the biggest thing that helped me was community.