How To Deal With Burnout As A College Student

Burnout is work-related stress that can negatively affect your mental health, leaving you not wanting to do any work. I’ve been dealing with burnout for the past few weeks, especially with the Thanksgiving break approaching. As a student, this feeling makes me want to give up at times. But I have to push through, even if I experience a few mental breakdowns along the way.

Because of my experience, I’ve learned some coping mechanisms I want to share with you. So without further ado, here are five tips to help you deal with your burnout, from a fellow college student who is dealing with it as well.

1. Practice time management and organization

This is one of the first steps that I take to deal with my burnout: planning out my mind. As college students, we have busy schedules, a lot of classes, homework, exams, and obligations outside of school.

We are always on the go, which can lead to stress, so here is where time management and organization come in. Being able to see the things you have to do can prevent over planning and make you more efficient.

Managing your time can help avoid burnout because sometimes planning multiple events can affect us and make us feel more stressed. So, getting ahead of the problem and investing in a planner can be a great first step in avoiding burnout.

2. Set goals for yourself

Sometimes we set unreachable goals for ourselves, and when we don’t reach them, we become stressed. To avoid that, try setting small goals for your day or week. That way, you can manage your stress better.

Whether it’s cleaning your dorm room, studying for an hour, making sure you’re getting your homework done, or even hanging out with your friends, setting up these small goals and reaching them can be a great way to go about your stressful days.

3. Take a break from social media

Now, I know this one may sound extreme for some people, but taking a break from social media can be a good thing. These platforms can get very toxic at times, especially when people only post pictures from the perfect moments in their lives. That’s unrealistic and can make you feel stressed about your own life.

So, taking a break from seeing all the fake things on social media can help your mental health. Plus, sometimes it’s nice to stop staring at a phone screen and just look outdoors, even if it’s just for five minutes.

4. Don’t be afraid to get help

This doesn’t have to mean therapy — sometimes it just means reaching out to friends and seeing how they are feeling. Personally, reaching out to my classmates has helped me because I realized that I am not alone in my feelings of burnout from certain classes.

Just talking to your friends and family about the things that are bothering you and getting their advice on it can be incredibly beneficial. You can also always talk to your professor and communicate with them how your mental health is doing with all the classes. Doing so helps your professors understand your situation and hopefully help in any way that they can.

5. Don’t forget the end goal

As college students, we all have one goal in mind: graduating from college. But sometimes during the hectic moments, we forget about that. Because of that, we sometimes just need to remind ourselves that no matter how long it takes, we will get to graduate and walk across the stage.

These are just five tips on how you can deal with burnout. Depending on the cause, remember that sometimes it takes longer to resolve the feelings of burnout. So even though you follow this advice, you might still feel burnout. You just have to wait and trust the process.

Remember you aren’t alone in your feelings — someone right next to you in class could be feeling the same way. We just need to remember to treat ourselves with kindness, and we will get through these feelings.

Featured image via Ron Lach on Pexels