Academic burnout is at an all-time high. In fact, according to recent research, over 70% of university students are trying to overcome burnout and anxiety.
Additional stressors are further causing college and university students to turn to bad habits as a coping mechanism. Thus as a student, regardless of the academic level, you have to arm yourself with techniques or methods that will help you to overcome burnout. This post will discuss the different ways a college student can deal with burnout and prevent it before it causes adverse health effects.
Achieve a Healthy School-Life Balance
College is a crucial time for a student. Apart from imparting the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in a particular career, the decisions you make will profoundly impact your personal life. Furthermore, college is a stressful time. There are different classes to attend, various extracurricular activities, exams, studying, and more. Without an optimal school-life balance, you will end up overstretched and burned out.
Don’t Wait to Get Help
If you feel a mental block so severe that you don’t feel like going to class, studying, or doing an activity that you once found fun, you might have burnout. Detachment, feelings of hopelessness, reduced productivity, excess fatigue, a sense of self-doubt, and lack of sleep are signs of burnout.
Without the correct solution, burnout can cause severe negative effects that spill into every area of your life and cause long-term changes to your body. Therefore, it’s essential to deal with burnout as soon as you notice a few symptoms.
For example, if burnout stems from having too many academic responsibilities that you can’t handle, consider seeking assistance from an essay writing service. If you try to do too much work on your own on a tight deadline, you will not only have to sacrifice some aspects of your life, but eventually, you will have burnout.
When you assign some tasks to a professional, you get more free time and avoid missing deadlines. Besides, since the assignments are tackled by a professional, reading them helps you understand the topic better and gain knowledge that can come in handy during exams.
Say No to Academic Pressure
Most college students are expected to set higher goals, achieve more in school and get good grades in all subjects. All these put a lot of pressure on a person and result in burnout, especially if they take on a lot of activities just to please friends or loved ones. Academic stress can quickly become counterintuitive and negatively impact your grades, confidence, and overall we-being.
Pressure isn’t just from external factors; if you frequently push yourself, you can place a lot of pressure on yourself. Self-imposed academic pressure comes from wanting to excel in exams and college assignments at all times. Furthermore, some courses are more demanding, increasing the odds of getting more stressed.
While good grades and academic excellence is important, you will enjoy your educational journey more if you focus on becoming an all-rounded individual. Additionally, while in college, find ways to incorporate fun activities that help you unwind and take a break from your studies while reducing pressure and stress.
Take Regular Breaks
Studying requires students to spend several hours reading from a laptop or textbooks. This can quickly drain energy and leave less time for me-time. The Pomodoro and the 20-20-20 techniques enhance learning as the midway break gives students time to reflect on the material.
The 20-20-20 rule allows you to pause and think about how the new information relates to what was previously learned. The Pomodoro technique will enable you to give a task your undivided attention for a specific time.
Tackling large tasks can be daunting. Using the Pomodoro method, you will be motivated to start, and once you see the goals achieved for that day, you will be encouraged to keep going. Working in small sessions under mild time pressure while taking regular breaks keeps your energy levels high and provides opportunities to refresh.
Set Better Goals
One goal-setting mistake that students make is to let their imagination run wild, which results in setting unrealistic goals. Often the goal is achievable but becomes much harder to do so when you have a busy schedule such that you can’t attain it within the time frame you have set. Goals that are not practical add unnecessary pressure and can result in burnout. So always assume your goal is likely to take a bit longer. That way, you don’t get discouraged when things take longer and decide to cut corners just to achieve the goal on time.
