How to Recognize Burnout and How I Overcame It
Throughout all of my schooling, I never really understood what people meant when they said they were “burnt out.” I did understand that it involved being tired and overworked, but I never really understood what the big deal was. If you are tired, why don’t you just take a break? Or manage your time better so you don’t get so overwhelmed with everything at once? Or so I thought until I experienced it myself. It was only then that I realized everything I originally thought about people who felt burnout was not fair, and that overcoming or preventing burnout is not that simple.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, five signs of burnout include fatigue, feeling negative about or dissatisfied with your work (even if it hasn’t decreased in quality), headaches, and changes in sleep and/or diet patterns. Of course these feelings or “symptoms” can creep up on any college student for a multitude of reasons. Working an extra shift that week, going from having no tests in a week to three, the dining hall closing early on Fridays, or missing Saturday brunch for a work shift. But these are all individual things. It is when all of this builds and compounds that you are at risk for burnout.
For me, it was too late when I finally realized I was experiencing burnout. Not too late in the sense that I couldn’t overcome it, but far too late to prevent it before it started affecting my day-to-day life. It all started with one crazy busy week in February. I was prepared for it. I knew it was going to be busy and I had scheduled my days to make sure everything could be accomplished. The issue came in the two weeks following, when I was equally, if not more, busy than I was in February, but this time I didn’t see it coming. I thought that the weeks would be easier and that is what I planned for. Being wrong about that sent my life into overdrive. Three weeks later and I was a completely different person. I was exhausted and not myself. The best way I could describe it is with the following quote from Dr. Adam Borland, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic:
“If you’re used to going 100 miles an hour, and then suddenly take your foot off the accelerator, you’re now still going at 85. However, you may feel that that’s somehow not good enough because you’re so used to going at 100 miles an hour. There will be times where you have to go a little faster, but we can’t sustain that 100 miles an hour all the time.”
I was getting more headaches. I wasn’t spending time with friends. I barely had time to eat because “I didn’t have time.” I was completely consumed with my schoolwork during every ounce of free time because so much of my day was taken up by class, work, volunteering, research, and anything else that I said yes to. I stayed up late and didn’t want to go to bed because I didn’t want the next day to start. I was tired just thinking about waking up. These feelings compounded because I did not recognize them fast enough. I felt exhausted with all of my responsibilities even though nothing changed between February and March besides my preparedness for the weeks that followed. I was burnt out for the first time.
I realized that you cannot simply manage your responsibilities better or take a break and get more sleep. Burnout is not that easy. In order to attack burnout, you need to be deliberate with your schedule and intentional when managing your work-life balance. Schedule time to exercise or stretch or draw or watch TV. Establish a new routine or work to return to what you had before burnout. It takes time and it is not easy. But the first step is recognizing it and learning how to reverse it. For me, I love going into nature. I feel more relaxed and I am able to detach from all of my responsibilities. So, I intentionally scheduled time to get outside and I treated it just as I would a class or meeting that was in my calendar. I had to do it. I recently took a trip to Georgia and it was one of the best things I could have done for myself. Eventually, with rest and recovery, even if I felt extremely guilty for doing it, I was able to feel more like myself again and get back on track.
