As the second semester takes off, students are feeling groggy and stressed. Sage Lee and Olivia Nitz answer 10 anonymously-submitted questions from students about burnout and stress.
Sage
“How does burnout feel in different grades? I’m only a sophomore and I get scared that junior or senior year will be super bad. Right now, I only have a few after-school activities, but I know in the future I’ll have more studying and a job, which means things might get harder. I’d like to hear perspectives about the differences in material or AP classes as well.”
Sophomore year is one of the hardest, actually. While juniors and seniors have different stress hanging over them, the “sophomore slump” is real. According to Harvard, the second year of school is awkward. People often feel exhausted after the adjustments in freshman year. If you can push through sophomore year, you can finish the rest of school. There are better days ahead. As you grow older, you will learn more about your habits and passions, which will make it easier to handle stress. Yes, classes become harder, but you become smarter. Think of it like a video game: the more you level up, the more difficult the game. If the challenge stayed the same, you would become very bored, so embrace the difficulty.
Olivia
“What factors can play into how often one gets burnout?”
I believe that many things can play a role in burnout. For me, things such as overloads of stress, disorganization, conflicts with peers, lack of motivation, poor sleep schedule, poor eating habits and really anything significant in my life that keeps my mind occupied play a role in my burnout. Even little things can greatly affect how I function in a day. Sometimes I’m worried my struggles aren’t valid. I find myself constantly comparing my problems to my peers, which makes me feel like I’m overreacting. It makes me feel like I’m unworthy of being upset, which ultimately makes me feel worse. When I feel this way, I like to remind myself of this: anything, big or small, that is altering me enough to affect my performance is valid to be upset about. It doesn’t make my problems any less justifiable if they aren’t completely life-altering. If it affects me, it affects me. Remember that, then figure out a way to work around your obstacles.
Sage
“At what point does just ‘tired’ officially become burnout? How should I deal with it to have more energy at school?”
According to TIME, tiredness is a temporary form of fatigue, while a lack of motivation and emotional availability characterizes burnout. If your exhaustion is getting in the way of more enjoyable aspects of your life, you may be burnt out. When I consistently feel tired, I try to adjust my sleep schedule by putting my phone away at night and waking up earlier — you may want to see if that helps. If it doesn’t, you could try implementing new habits, such as studying at a café rather than your living room. Changing your scenery may motivate you to work more effectively, which will alleviate future stress.
Olivia
“How do you help motivate yourself?”
Motivation is my biggest struggle when it comes to burnout. To help myself stay motivated throughout the day, I make handwritten lists of everything I want to do and then take my time to execute each task. One of the biggest causes of burnout for me is feeling overwhelmed with assignments. Sorting everything out on paper makes my life feel organized and in order, which drastically helps me stay motivated. If writing isn’t your thing, I’ve also found it beneficial to set rewards off to the side and then make myself work for them. For example, I’ll tell myself I can’t relax and play games until I finish my list, or until I get to a certain stopping point. It takes self-discipline, but that is great practice. To give yourself a little push, think about how destressed and comfortable you’ll feel once you’re finished with your work.
Sage
“Why do I feel good one day, then the next day I feel sad?”
Emotions are fluid and they’re rarely the same on a day-to-day basis. Allowing yourself to feel your emotions unapologetically is the best way to release pent-up emotions. According to Psychology Today, unreleased emotions can carry over into your relationships and work, which isn’t healthy. When I am unsure of how to alleviate my feelings, I talk to Ms. Catherine, the school psychologist. If you feel comfortable, you can also talk to a friend or try journaling, which may help more than expected.
Olivia
“I want to know how people deal with stress and how people overcome it.”
Stress isn’t necessarily an objective problem that can just be ‘overcome.’ There are ways you can reduce daily stress, but it isn’t something you can guarantee the permanent absence of. To help reduce my stress, I like to handwrite everything down in my journal. If something is bothering me, I write it down. I usually will take a period to write down everything on my mind, and top it off by creating a list of everything I want to get done. Just looking at a list makes me feel a little better. I like to keep everything in my head organized, so knowing that I have a detailed list of everything I want to do gives me some room to breathe and time to destress. I take some time to estimate how long each task will take, and then I star all the priorities on the list. Additionally, sometimes I just write about things in my life that are going well. It gives me a moment to regroup, and it makes me happy to think about. I like to be sure my list is aesthetically pleasing and as organized as possible, too, because if it doesn’t look good, it doesn’t feel as important. Decorating the paper also just makes the list-making process more enjoyable. I love to have music on in the background while I write. I set the music mood with different genres and sounds depending on what I am writing about and the pace at which I am writing.
Sage
“What activities counteract burnout?”
When I’m burnt out, I often feel stuck in a routine of school and work. The easiest way to break the cycle is to try new things. You could make a new friend, try a new hobby or you could spend an afternoon downtown. Switching up the flow of your day could remind your brain that you are, in fact, alive and not a robot programmed to work all day. According to Help Guide, you can also reassess your values. By setting boundaries around work and technology, you may see big differences in your attitude. If you limit the time you spend sitting at a computer at home, and instead read outside or play a card game, your brain will readjust to the change and therefore break the routine.
Olivia
“What do you do about being tired?”
I have struggled with feeling tired every single day on top of hyperactivity from ADHD. These feelings confused and frustrated me until I started putting in effort to change my habits. I started taking vitamins, exercising more, eating healthier and sometimes going to bed earlier. Applying these habits has benefited me a lot more than I thought it would. My family was advising me to do those things for years, but I didn’t listen because I didn’t believe I was being affected that much by my habits. I would highly recommend figuring out ways to implement similar changes into your life if you find yourself struggling with exhaustion, even if you think it won’t benefit you. The thing is, you have to want to change your habits. You will have to put in effort, and if you do not wrap your head around that, nothing will change. I wish somebody dug that into my head sooner. If you do not want to put in the work to change, you will find yourself feeling very unmotivated. Learn self-discipline and push yourself. Things will get better if you want them to.
Sage
“How are some people able to perfectly deal with burnout? What are some tips to balance your life in times when you’re being overworked with no way out?”
No one perfectly deals with burnout. Some people know what works for their brains better than others, but there is no foolproof method to resolve burnout. For me, the best way I’ve learned to handle burnout is to understand the science behind it. Hunter-gatherer humans evolved stress as a signal to the brain that they were in danger so that they would act accordingly, hence fight or flight. When you are stressed in school, though, you aren’t fighting or running away from anything, so your brain doesn’t get the signal that danger is gone, according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When you don’t relieve stress, you use so much emotional energy that you become burntout. The easiest way to tell your brain to turn off the stress is to exercise. This signals to your brain that you’ve “gotten away” from the danger, which allows your nervous system to regulate, helping with stress and burnout.
Olivia
“Any advice for practicing self-discipline when you are experiencing burnout?”
Start small. Set an achievable, reasonable goal when you’re first establishing new habits, and slowly add more to your list of things to do. You should also create a daily task routine. List a few things that you want to get done every single day and always complete them with little to no exceptions. When I do this, it helps me set standards for myself and gives me a little push to continue working. It also gives me a sense of accomplishment. I personally tell myself I’m going to make my bed every single morning and keep my room tidy, no matter what. Not only does it keep me motivated, but it also creates a great working environment and makes me feel less stressed. When I am in work mode, I take distractions out of the picture. I close any tabs that may tempt me and I set my phone to do-not-disturb. My rewards are replying to people, playing games and resting during any work breaks I give myself.
