How I regained my spark and reconnected with myself after feeling drained.
Burnout, as defined by the Cleveland Clinic, is a state of mental exhaustion marked by three key factors: reduced energy, negativity, and poor performance. It’s not an official medical diagnosis, but it’s very real—and many college students face it at some point. Between the hustle culture of “do it all” and the pressure to join every club, earn perfect grades, and “guarantee” your perfect future before your brain is fully developed, it’s no wonder we crash.
As someone who experienced burnout while transitioning from high school to college, I’ve spent the past month trying to regain my motivation. After a lot of trial and error (and a fair share of self-reflection), I’ve found a few ways to recover and reconnect with myself.
The steps I took to regain my Motivation
The first—and hardest—step is admitting you’re burned out. It’s uncomfortable to acknowledge you’re not at your best, especially when everyone around you seems to be thriving. But denying it only makes things worse. Hitting that low point forces you to pause; after hitting rock bottom, you have to look down at the ground and realize you can only go up.
Once I accepted how drained I was, I took a hard look at my workload. At first, I thought I had to do everything: find research opportunities immediately, volunteer weekly, make connections, and still manage five classes with labs. That plan didn’t last long. I was constantly tired and uninspired, using every free moment to scroll on my phone or sleep.
Eventually, I narrowed my commitments to three clubs—one related to my major, one for fun, and one for service. That simple decision changed everything. I started looking forward to meetings again because they were meaningful, not just something to add to an application. I was finally doing what I wanted to do instead of what I thought I should do.
The next step was reconnecting with my why. As someone who’s a neuroscience major on a premed track, I was constantly wondering if I was fully cut out for this. Were the goals I came in with still true to who I was becoming? I reached out to people in my field to ask questions and learn from their experiences. After a few failed attempts, I got lucky—the premed club I decided to stick with hosted a Q&A with an orthopedic surgeon. Hearing him talk about how his work changed lives reminded me why I chose this path in the first place. Later, I went down a YouTube rabbit hole of neuroscience videos and rediscovered how fascinating the brain really is. That curiosity—the spark that once drove me—started coming back.
Maintaining your Spark
Once your spark returns, the next step is to make it brighter. Lean on your support system—friends, family, roommates, or mentors. Talking with friends who felt the same way reminded me I wasn’t alone. We started texting each other our daily to-do lists for accountability, which helped us stay grounded and motivated.
And don’t forget self-love. I started leaving sticky notes with positive affirmations on my mirror. Waking up and seeing my reflection while reading “You’ve got this” before a long day might sound cliché, but it genuinely helped. I also set aside one hour a day for me—no phone, no laptop—just reading or crafting. That time became sacred, a reminder that I’m a person before I’m a student, I’m something other than the work I’ve been doing.
Most importantly, I learned that you don’t have to wait for Monday, a new semester, or a fresh planner page to start over. You can reset whenever you choose to. Burnout doesn’t mean you’ve failed—it just means you’ve been giving too much without giving enough back to being yourself.
So take a break. Breathe. Step away when you need to. Balance isn’t found all at once; it’s rebuilt slowly, every time you decide to care for yourself again.