We’ve all been there. You’ve been running on a mixture of caffeine and stress for the three or four days, and you still have two exams, an essay, countless meetings and pre-planned lunch/dinner dates with friends to attend to. You’re exhausted and you’re probably over-booking yourself (15 minutes isn’t enough time to get lunch with your friends on third floor Denaples at 12:15 before your meeting at 12:30!) The worst part? You’re already burned out and we’re barely a month into the semester.
I personally struggle with preventing burnout at the beginning of the semester as work piles up, and I try to budget my time to keep my grades up, get enough sleep, and have a social life. It’s incredibly difficult to get all of these perfect, especially without some trial and error. But, after a lot of personal experience with this, I came up with a few helpful tips to help prevent burning out before the first month of school is over.
1. Plan your day out in the morning
Busy day? Get out your planner and write out the timeline of your day. Include classes, meetings, and free time to do work. This helps you budget out your time properly, and it prevents you from forgetting anything important.
2. Take five minutes to collect yourself and organize your thoughts
Okay, so that whole planning out your day thing fell through when you woke up late and had to run to your 10am class. Now what? After class, take five minutes to yourself and get yourself in order. Your day will be a million times better because of it, and taking five minutes isn’t that much to ask, even with a busy schedule.
3. Be transparent with friends and family about your schedule for the week
It’s way easier to tell a friend that you’re really stressed about your exam tomorrow and can’t grab coffee with her, rather than show up to the coffee date miserable because of all the stress you’re under. Not only is that not fair to you, but it’s not fair to your friend, because they’re on the receiving end of your bad mood. Not to mention, you won’t be fully there mentally, because your mind will be on your impending exam. As for parents, I find it’s much better to tell them in advance that I have a busy week, so I don’t end up snapping at them when they call me while I’m in the middle of something because they didn’t know I had a lot going on.
4. Understand that you don’t need to do it all (and you probably shouldn’t)
Would it be great to watch a movie with friends and get all of your studying and homework done all in one night? Totally. But, you and I both know that doing homework during the movie is a no-go, and you definitely won’t be studying afterwards. Don’t feel like you’re missing out if you can’t make plans with friends on some days. It’s better for you to prioritize your work, because it leaves you way less stressed, and ultimately gives you more time in the future to spend with your friends if you stay on top of everything. Some days require you to be more focused on schoolwork than others, and it’s important to make that distinction.
5. Allow yourself some “me time”
After a busy week, or even in the middle of it, take the time you need to decompress. If it means separating yourself from the chaos for even an hour and watching Netflix alone, go for it. If it means doing a face mask or taking a 30-minute shower, you do you. For me, I’m sometimes able to decompress just by listening to my favorite song once or twice while I walk around campus. Not everything has to be a grand plan or a huge social gathering, and you can bring yourself back to center by making a little time for yourself.