The realization
Growing up, I had always been the odd one out. I was made fun of for my love of reading, writing, and languages. From the time I could walk, I wandered the aisles of my local Chapters bookstore looking for as many books as my small hands could carry at a time. I often wrote suspenseful stories in red duotangs about fire breathing dragons eating my teachers, though I never finished them. I was also the kid whose parents believed the proper punishment wasn’t to send me to my room, but rather they would hold my Geronimo Stilton novels over the trash can, threatening to throw out my entire collection until I apologized profusely for my childish behaviour.
Due to my advanced abilities in reading and writing, my parents have always held a high standard for my grades, as well as my future. I don’t only blame my wonderful parents, however, I blame myself for the OCD and anxiety I face if I don’t do well enough in my everyday tasks. I was bound to be a journalist, I’d say, but that was before I knew the repercussions that followed.
Flash forward a few years; I was a desensitized teenager who never had to try to obtain high marks in high school, and graduated on the highest honour roll among other peers. I had always been warned that once in university, things would change. I knew I would have to change my study habits but I couldn’t imagine how much harder post-secondary would be, despite having heard it countless times before.
Today though, I am a typical university student, who is seen frequently clutching a venti black coffee with both hands as I walk to my third 6:00 p.m. class of the week. “There’s no way I can get through the pressure of school,” I often think to myself.
Being a full-time student with two part-time jobs and many extracurriculars, the word “free time” is not in my vocabulary. My lethargic 16-year-old self would have told me that I bit off more than I can chew. Perhaps that may be the case, but if I seem fine to the people around me, then no one will ever catch on, right?
Wrong. I hate to be the one to say it, but eventually, the feeling of chaos gets to be too much. The coffee shakes, the constant headaches, even the loss of confidence and motivation become overwhelming. As much as you might not want to admit it, you know this feeling all too well. Do you need to be reminded? It’s the feeling of all four walls caving in around you; the stress of school, work, and social life all colliding at once– the feeling of burnout.
Burnout versus stress
Burnout is defined as a popular medical term for emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from a combination of exposure to environmental and internal stressors and coping skills. This emotional, mental, and physical condition is prolonged and is typically a blurred line and “big brother” to symptoms of stress.
Stress refers to a mental or emotional state involving “too much,” and is often confused with burnout, though both coincide, and eat up students and adults left, right, and centre. According to a study done by Statistics Canada, 23 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older reported that their days were “stressful.” Daily stress rates were at their highest among individuals within the core working ages of 35 to 54 years of age. Needless to say, many people suffer from burnout for many different reasons.
You might experience the same feeling as myself, where you place yourself on a giant pillar and crave nothing but the notion of success. Believe me, I know just as well as anyone that there’s no better feeling than achieving something you had worked your ass off for, whether it be going to the gym for a whole week or getting an A in the class that you hated.
However, as important as it is to do your best (and I’m sure I don’t need to give you a lecture on that), it’s hard to do so when you’re lacking motivation. The feeling of burnout carries very heavy warning signs often overlooked by students. Some of these symptoms include: lashing out at others due to frustration, losing confidence in oneself, pain, overeating, undereating, and even a lack of productivity. If left untreated, burnout can become detrimental to one’s education and become a huge mental health problem.
I’m a journalist – what does this mean for me?
As a second-year journalism student at Ryerson University who deals with a high intensity workload and timely deadlines, I felt it almost imperative to make this article as relatable as possible. To tell you the truth, a lot of people don’t understand the work we have to do in order to have magazines run, to promote facts (CP-style, of course!), and to allow stories to be told, and voices to be heard. Journalists have an important job and are quite literally always on the clock. Now, don’t stop reading; this isn’t to say that there aren’t other programs that are tedious and irksome in their own ways, but simply this is a point in the article where I’m here to tell you that I understand exactly what you’re going through.
Personally, I’ve been suffering from burnout for a long time. In all honesty, I’ve met a lot of people with different values when it comes to school, work, and their social life. Over the past two years in journalism school, I was always faced with choices, but never did I try putting myself first.
My biggest flaw is my constant attempt to make people happy, bending over backwards for everyone but myself. “This girl is like superwoman, she does it all,” is something I’ve heard countless times before. Don’t be fooled because this overbearing pressure of being the best has resulted in terrible mental health and anxiety attacks that lasted a very long time behind closed doors.
Enough with the pity because there is a way out of this as long as you acknowledge your own feelings. Here are some things you can do to prevent burnout as a university student:
Time management
It may often feel like 24 hours is not enough time in a day to get everything done that you need to accomplish. Effective time management of deadlines while avoiding procrastination is an easy way to prevent burnout and lack of motivation.
“I always give myself a time limit [to shut down], because at that point I know my quality of work is no longer going to be exceptional as I get more tired,” says Kirsty Dawson, a first-year sociology major. “If you stay up all night studying you’re less likely to do well on your tests and more likely to burn yourself out.”
Say no
This tip goes hand in hand with time management. Often times, students feel compelled to say yes to every request. You can’t deny that our fear of disappointment is stronger than our urge to take care of ourselves, which is a problem. By taking on more work than you can handle, you will have less time to reflect and grow, as well as less time to work on other important and pressing assignments that had previously been assigned. Stick to what you can handle, as hard as it may be.
“At a young age, I had to learn to work harder than everyone else because of certain circumstances. In third grade I was diagnosed with a learning disability. I knew right away that having [a learning disability] would force me to work harder than everyone around me,” says Ian Dawson, a first year justice studies student.
“Now. I’m 18 years old and having gone through that–staying in on weekends, getting up at seven in the morning to study every day for years and saying no to extra work hours helped me in the biggest way possible,” he says. “Putting school before everything else is the only way I will succeed. My friends don’t understand why I would rather study for a test that’s two weeks away than go to a party, but that’s who I am. I need to prioritize school and shut out everything around me, which means saying no.”
Maintaining a healthy diet and getting sleep
As obvious as this tip may seem, it’s still an important part to eliminating your feeling of burnout. Staying hydrated, along with habits of healthy eating, working out, and enough sleep (for the most part!) will definitely act as a benefit. Yes, I know as a student that’s practically impossible, so try getting a salad at Panera for lunch or substituting that tenth coffee with a bottle of cold water to stay hydrated!
“I’ve struggled with having low energy for most of my teens/early 20’s and I decided to treat my body better this semester by eating healthy and going to the gym,” says Alex Clelland, a second-year journalism student. “After just a week of cutting out junk I’ve noticed a huge difference in my productivity levels. Treating my body better was a step in the right direction.”
Social media shutdown
Social media has provided our generation with an overstimulation, doing nothing but overwhelming us. As much as we all may not like to admit it, we’d probably be more productive and better off without aimlessly scrolling through Instagram and Twitter during three hour lectures. Turning off and tuning out will not only help you escape the burnout, but will refresh you and give you some time to reflect on your day and plan ahead.
“I believe that social media represents a falseness for students; it acts as a form to display all the positives of others lives, making students in turn question their own abilities,” says Isabella Francella, a second-year new media student. “A few days social-media free will help you refocus, feeling happier and healthier. I’m sure of it.”
Ask for help
Often times, students embark on different paths once they get to university. In doing so, university could feel like a “solitary pursuit”. This is why it’s important to be reassured that you are not alone. Reaching out for help to family and friends that can provide you with some validation and insight is certainly a step in the right direction.
Takeaway
I understand that we as students have so much on our plates that sometimes it’s impossible to put self-care first. I know from first-hand experiences how much harder it is to feel motivated off of three hours of sleep or even how hard it can be to balance everything at once. It may feel like your head is exploding and I’ve been there. The only thing you can do is your very best at identifying the warning signs of burnout, treating it as soon as you can. If you need to take a day to call in sick from work, do it. If you need to take a nap as soon as you get home from class, do it. We’re all human and as bad as you might be willing to succeed, the world isn’t going to stop if you take a twenty minute break every once in a while, especially if it’s for your mental health. If you follow the steps to take care of yourself, I promise the hollow feelings of underappreciation should soon slowly start to fade away into nothingness. It’s not easy and it does take time, but it’s worth it to look after yourself. After all, we only have one life. No one said it was easy, no one said it was perfect but it can and will be exactly what you want it to be. So say goodbye to burnout, because tomorrow is a new day and another one will follow, and you will be okay.
“So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s a great balancing act. And will you succeed? Yes, you will indeed. 98 and ¾ percent guaranteed!”
– Dr. Seuss