There are a lot of pressures that we're all constantly put under. It doesn't matter if you're in high school, in college/grad school or if you're out in the work-force. Everyone is saddled with responsibilities that take up most of their time. With what little time is left, they're supposed to maintain a social life and good physical health. It can be a lot to try to process and handle. Everyone goes through times that are busier than others--that's life and it's completely normal. The problem arises, however, when those times drag on with no foreseeable end. That is when we start to run into the issue of emotional burnout.
There's physical burnout as well--if your mind can fool your body into thinking everything is fine you can push yourself physically. Once you get to the point of being emotionally burnt out, though, that's when things start fraying at the seams. That's the time when you need to step back and take a good look at your priorities.
That's where I've been lately. Things aren't terrible, and it's not like my world is shattering around me. There are just a lot of things that I have to do and I only have so many hours in a day to do them. Between college (which means attending classes, doing homework and dealing with the fact that it's midterm season), work (my editing job and my job as a trainer), friends, family and trying to tend to my own physical and mental health, there have just been a lot of things on my mind lately. Everything is going well, but the problem is that everything is happening all at once. I've been doing pretty well with keeping up with it, but the problem with burning the candle at both ends is that you burn through it pretty quickly.
We're only human and there's only so much that we can expect of ourselves. I've gotten to the point where I can't keep denying the fact that I'm running out of steam. Just because I say that something is the case doesn't mean that it actually is. I've backed out of too many social plans, skipped too many meals (and replaced them with caffeine), left too many texts unanswered and struggled with getting to my classes a little too often lately to keep telling myself that everything is under control.
There's no shame in admitting that you're burnt out. It might feel like it because I know that's where I've been for a while now. I know that I signed myself up for the responsibilities that I have and I know that life stops for no one, even if they're trying to slam the brakes. But, that doesn't mean that my stress isn't real and that my desire for a break is any less necessary.
The reason that emotional burnout gets so bad, and continues to go on for so long unchecked, is because no one wants to really admit that it's happening and take the steps to start getting things in order. When it gets to the point where you can't handle everything that you've taken on all at once, you need to start clearing some things off of your plate. That might mean you miss a couple club meetings for your extra-curriculars, that you don't make plans to go out for a little while, or (if you can afford it) picking up fewer hours at work. Sometimes things can't be helped and certain obligations will always be there. But we need to start being honest with ourselves about what we can and can't handle. There is always room for improvement and adjusting how much time we give to certain things. We might not like what that means for our social schedule, but we also need to think in terms of self-preservation.
It's not enough to stop denying the fact that we're overloaded with responsibilities. That's an important first step. But, we also need to admit to ourselves that on top of being burnt out, things aren't going to change unless we re-prioritize.
