A two-mile morning run or half-mile swim session. Multiple hours of class and studying. Two hours practicing music. Two jobs. Internships. Lunch or coffee dates with friends. Writing weekly stories. This is what a typical day in my life and closely mirrors the life of many other college students. Living a life like this forced me to experience something more than once that I never want to endure again and aim to avoid as much as possible — burnout.
Businessdictionary.com defines burnout as a "feeling of physical and emotional exhaustion, due to stress from working with people under difficult or demanding conditions." In addition, people who are burned out often experience symptoms such as chronic fatigue, headaches, inability to focus, and loss of appetite.
I felt some of these physical symptoms, such as headaches, but burnout mainly left me exhausted and made even the simplest of tasks like sitting through lectures or reading a textbook difficult to accomplish.
Burnout is common among workaholics who constantly work around the clock and don't make room for rest. In addition, it is not uncommon for highly stressed students to suffer burnout due to mental and physical fatigue. However, it is crucial to avoid since it takes quite a while to recover from its effects. It will become evident when you're "burned out." One sign is losing passion for even the things you love the most.
When I became burned out last semester, I no longer looked forward to burying myself in black-and-white pages filled with musical melodies. Instead, I grudgingly dragged myself to the practice rooms at dawn or late at night to permanently drill difficult passages into my sore, tired fingers and weary mind.
Burn-out often causes dissatisfaction with personal achievements and abilities. I struggled to connect emotionally with the music I played, lost inspiration for my paintings, and disliked any piece I wrote for the campus newspaper. To sum it up, I felt like I was never working hard enough or living up to my true potential — I felt like a complete failure.
I even obsessively wrote and re-wrote papers for my classes but could not break the urge to complete every last assignment, big or small, to my best ability. Taking this extreme work ethic and applying it to six classes resulted in overexertion and discontent, despite the significant amount of time I spent on these assignments.
Another sign of burn-out is holing yourself up in a room or keeping yourself distracted with other things because you simply lack the strength necessary to hold even a simple conversation. Or perhaps you're so tired that you cannot bear to lie to your closest friends and pretend everything is okay.
I often distracted myself with reading my favorite magazines and books when I wasn't completing even more work and often turned down invitations to hang out with friends because I was so worn-out from working. In addition, I did not want to break down in tears if any of them found out I wasn't actually okay, even though I told them everything was fine.
A fully packed day often leaves no room for rest, especially if you have a personality type that cannot perform any task without investing the highest level of effort and quality possible. My hectic life made me feel like a zombie when I walked around campus or sat in class — limp and lifeless because I had no energy left to expend.
College forces students to become hard workers. American society tells us that hard work produces success, so we naturally gravitate toward investing unhealthy hours of work to build a strong foundation and land a great job after graduation that will eventually develop into a full-fledged career.
Hard work may pay off, but there comes a point in time where a line must be drawn. It is nearly impossible to become successful when all you can think about is the next moment you can close your eyes, lay your head on a feather-soft squishy pillow, and forget about the day's anxieties. Hard work takes energy and sometimes decent sleep will not suffice. In addition, stressing out about to-do lists can prevent quality sleep by fixating on these tasks all night.
I finally realized I was burnt-out when I could not bring myself to complete any work for my classes one day because I was so stressed I could not focus or think clearly and lost all motivation.
I had finally reached my breaking point, so I holed myself up in my room and cried. Instead of finishing assignments that day, I took an academic hiatus, read through some books I longed to read, spent some time playing piano, and did anything other than check items off my unending to-do list.
I felt less stressed out the next day and realized I not only felt more focused but was also less stressed out since I distracted myself from the day's anxieties. Although I had to play catch-up with my classes, completing my work came easier since my mind wasn't filled with a murky sea of stress.
Downtime is crucial for mental and physical rejuvenation, both essential components for success in any area. However, obsession with prosperity and productivity often causes people to disregard its benefits and simply see it as wasted time.
It may be difficult to set aside a period of relaxation amid a busy schedule, but rest is essential for physical and mental rejuvenation. Otherwise, you will not have the necessary strength to give your best effort at everything you do.
The key is balancing work and play. Work hard, but not too hard. Set a checklist of things you need to accomplish each day, but spread your various tasks out over a few days to avoid overexertion. Take that coffee or lunch break when you study. If you're a workaholic, fight the idea that breaks are not beneficial.
Yes, it is okay to read the latest book in your favorite series or watch an episode of The Office, but make sure you get things done and don't procrastinate or become lazy. One day of recess will not hinder you from achieving your dreams of becoming a CEO or a medical professional. Life is short so make sure you enjoy it and take care of yourself instead of working to death — literally.
