7 Steps to Combatting Burnout

The last month of 2019 was so chaotic and so busy for me. My teachers were hurling assignments and exam dates at us from every direction. So, naturally, when the winter break finally came, I felt so drained and exhausted, I decided to do nothing. I did absolutely no work the first week of the break because I knew I deserved to relax. And then I was sick for most of the second week. So, I went back to school with absolutely no work done. I don’t regret it. I still stand by all of my time management tips. But this post is about how I combat burnout.

WHO defines burnout as chronic (workplace) stress that has not been successfully managed. In simple words, it means overworking yourself and not letting yourself replenish/rejuvenate. For me, burnout looks like lethargy, laziness, stress about unfinished work and, the most dreaded, procrastination. I’ve experienced burnout a few times before in my life, usually around exam season. I like to keep myself relaxed when I can, but in months like December, I have difficulty finding time for myself. And I really urge everyone reading this post to start prioritizing your health over everything else because you won’t be able to get anything done if you end up sick.

(Disclaimer: The queen, Miley Stewart, once said, “Nobody’s perfect.” If these steps don’t work for you, or you continue to feel burnt out, just give yourself time to heal. It can sometimes take me months to get back to my normal self, after feeling burnt out for a while. So Keep Calm and Relax.)

Finally getting to the point, here is how I try to prevent burnout and, if that fails, how I combat it:

1. Sleep: Sleep became my best friend the minute I started high school. It is such an important part of preventing/combatting burnout. Sleep is when your body can heal itself without any help from you. When I’m well-rested, everything seems 100x more wonderful. Nowadays, I take naps as often as I can. There is no point in trying to work when I am tired because that work won’t be productive. It’ll most likely be sloppy because I have sleep on my mind. This has definitely affected my sleep schedule, but I will keep it this way until after my semester 1 finals are over. Another advantage, in my opinion, is that because I usually sleep after school, I wake up in the middle of the night when it’s dead silent. And I get so much work done in that silence.

2. Drink Water: This post might seem like a generic post with basic things but drinking water helps so much. I wish I knew the whole science behind drinking water and being productive, but I know that on the days I forget to drink as much water, I am as slow as a slug. It probably helps with getting blood and, in turn, Oxygen to your brain. But whatever the reason is, 4-5 glasses of water help me sit through all of my work.

3. Avoid sugar: I have the sweetest tooth possible. I once finished a 10-pack of mini Hershey’s 2 hours after I bought it. I have no self-control when it comes to sugar. But, when I feel tired or lazy, or have to get a lot of work done, I try to stay away from sugar. The idea of the “sugar rush” is highly debated in the field of Psychology, but I still feel it, regardless of whether it’s real or not. And I definitely don’t want to feel the crash while I am trying to finish an essay. I don’t drink caffeinated drinks on a regular basis, so I can’t say if they have a rush and a crash, but if they do, maybe try avoiding those too.

4. Manage time properly: Time management is a real skill to master. Every time I think I’m close to successfully managing my time, I either end up procrastinating or getting more work than I can handle. But if you can learn how to distribute your work evenly throughout your schedule, in a way that you aren’t stuck working for 4 hours straight, you’ll be less inclined to feel stressed about unfinished work or have a growing pile of that unfinished work.

I feel like these steps have worked well for when I’m both preventing or combatting burnout. But once that stress hits me, drastic measures must be taken ( I don’t know if anyone got that reference. It was a popular meme format back in the 2010s on Tumblr (can’t find x? drastic measures must be taken)). So here is what I do to get rid of the burnout.

1. Do something better: I often feel stressed out about assignments if I don’t like them or if I don’t understand what I’m supposed to be doing. When that happens, I decide if I have time to push the assignment to a later time slot in my planner and take the time I have to do something better, something more interesting. It could even be something that doesn’t require as much of an energy-input as the task I postponed. I’m obviously referring to Netflix; though, only when I already know what I want to watch, because, otherwise, finding something to watch on Netflix is the most energy-consuming task ever. I usually write a blog post or read a short book. I’ve started reading non-fiction, sort of self-help books, and they can get boring but I read a little at a time so I don’t lose interest. I’m not sure if they’re much help yet, but I’ll let you about that later.

2. Meditate: I’ve tried meditating with my mom before. It helps calm me down when I’m anxious about not being able to finish my work. But sometimes, the way she does it doesn’t help me. So what I do instead is I close my eyes and imagine a happy moment or scenario. It doesn’t have to be something that has already happened. You can visualize something good you want in the future. I find that it helps me calm down even more, and it reminds me of what’s really important.

3. Make a list: I love making lists! They let me organize my anxious thoughts until I’m not anxious anymore. I see every source of stress in front of me and it becomes easier to come up with a game plan to finish all of it. Mind maps and to-do lists do the same, so if one doesn’t work for you, try the others.

I think that is about it. It seems like very few things and a major burnout definitely requires more effort than drinking a glass of water. But once you have a point to start from, more ideas come to you. Once you begin trying to help yourself, more help will come to you. I’m not sure if that makes any sense but it’s what helps me. I find that once I make an effort to fixing my problems, I find more ways to help myself.

I truly hope this helps you. If you have more tips on handling burnout, I would love to hear from you. Comment below or email me at rueshi25@gmail.com - Aarushi