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What to Do About Burnout

I don’t know about you, but academic burnout always hits me really hard the week or two before finals week. It is ruthless, draining, and never fails to affect my mental health. 


But burnout doesn’t have to be the end of the world. There are ways to get through it. First, it is important to identify what burnout is. Student Wellness Coach Ecila Deransburg-Cook says that one way to identify burnout “would be [by] noticing a lack of interest or low energy level in someone who used to be more engaged, a change in emotional response, like maybe someone who was pretty steady emotionally; you might see crying a lot or expressing anger in situations.”


Burnout often brings along a lot of stress. But stress is a good thing in small doses. Stress is what motivates me to work on assignments, be on time for meetings, and do anything else that has a due date looming. 


“With burnout, the stress is chronic and long-term, and it is caused by too much of lots of different things, [like] being overcommitted, [and] assignment fatigue,” Deransburg-Cook says. “I mean, I don't know if [assignment fatigue is] a real term, but [it’s] having so many assignments that it's like, ‘Where do I start?’ ‘What do I do?’”


Assignment fatigue might not be a real term, but it is a very real feeling. Have you ever been sitting in class, one of the final weeks of class, with piles and piles of homework to get done, and then all of a sudden the teacher in front of you assigns a small yet time-consuming homework assignment? It’s one of the worst feelings in the world. When assignment fatigue hits, I know burnout is coming soon. 


Another huge cause for burnout is overcommitment. Overcommitment is something that Millikin students are very familiar with. “Make sure that you're not overcommitted,” Deransburg-Cook says. “There are a lot of things that you can do, and you want to do all of them, but can you really be successful academically and socially?” You can’t be successful if all of your batteries are drained and you have nothing else to give. But there is a way to avoid overcommitment. 


“Set realistic boundaries at the beginning of the school year,” Deransburg-Cook says. This is something that I completely disregarded at the beginning of the year. Doing everything that may be offered to you seems like the best idea. If you have the opportunity to get a lot of hands-on experience, you will more than likely immediately want to say yes. Before immediately saying yes, assess your bandwidth. You cannot do everything, so as Deransburg-Cook said, set boundaries and stick to them. 


So what happens when it’s the end of the semester, and you have found that you broke the boundaries you have set for yourself? “It is not too late to set boundaries,” Deransburg-Cook says. “Maybe step back, and take a look at your life as a student and maybe even put it all down on paper.” Once you have everything on paper, look at what you are doing and reconsider how you spend most of your time. If you can take the two hours you spend working in an executive position for an organization and cut it down to an hour by sacrificing 50% of the 150% of effort you put into your work, maybe try to make that sacrifice. 


If none of that works for you, or you just want to do smaller self-care acts for yourself, do not fear; there are things you can do. “[Build in] time to not only do those things that you have to do to take care of yourself, like shower and eat and sleep, but make time with intention for things that you enjoy doing, like fun stuff,” Deransburg-Cook says. “Bake if you like, spend time with friends, [do] jigsaw puzzles. Make time to do that. If exercise is your thing, make sure you are getting that in.” This may seem obvious, but doing those small, easily forgettable acts can help your mental health when burnt out. When I get busy, I neglect all of my hobbies because I don’t have time for them. Instead of thinking of those hobbies as a waste of your time, try to think of them as a way to recharge your battery. 


Another way you can aid burnout is by taking care of yourself. “Make sure you're hydrating properly with water and not [only] drinking caffeine and filling up with sugar,” Deransburg-Cook says. “[Eat] healthy meals that include fruits and vegetables, and not high-fat, high-processed, high-salt foods.” 


In addition to this, it is important to live in the moment and not get sidetracked by the homework. Sometimes my brain does not let me forget about the due dates on the horizon, so I cannot enjoy the fun activities I plan. I know it’s easier said than done, but you need to forget about that homework you have to do and live in the moment. 


If your mental health worsens, Millikin has some amazing resources. If you are a Millikin student, you have access to free therapy appointments. You can also go see Deransburg-Cook, a Student Wellness Coach. “[I] can help… [by] talking to you and figuring out what makes you you and who you are, and what you're interested in, what's important to you [and] what you're concerned about or afraid of,” Deransburg-Cook says. “And I don't mean spiders, but I mean, like seniors, and one that I hear a lot with seniors is 'I'm not ready to be out there. I'm scared.'” You can also go to the Student Success Center if you are having trouble with classes. They offer academic accommodations if needed and provide academic support. 


Burnout is hard, but Millikin provides many services to help you combat it. If needed, use the resources. They are there for a reason. 


Regardless of whether academic burnout is present for you this finals season or not, it is stressful, and it is important to know how to regulate that stress. So take Deransburg-Cook's advice. Eat, drink water (not just caffeine), find time to do things you like to do, and set boundaries. 


If you want more tips and tricks on how to get through burnout, you can contact Deransburg-Cook or the Wellness Peer Advocates. They might be able to give you some more personalized tactics to get through the end of the semester. 


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