There’s a statement that goes like this “Listen to your body because only you and your body know when you need rest.”
A lot of students would agree with that statement, as one whose ambitions and goals achieve good results through hard work and determination.
Most of the time, we tend to not listen to what our body needs, whether that may be mentally or physically.
At any educational level, students experience burnout at least once in their life, whether that may be in high school or in college.
What is Academic Burnout?
Burnout in general means, being in a state of chronic stress that makes a person unable to function effectively and properly. It simply means being too stressed.
Academic burnout does not just come all at once, it’s the result of piled up stress and neglect of oneself for a long time.
How do you recognize academic burnout?
Academic burnout can present itself in various ways such as in the physical and mental sense. The physical sense being fatigue, forgetfulness, insomnia, restlessness, poor academic performance e.t.c. The mental sense being negative thoughts, sadness, insecurity, feeling detached from reality and the likes.
How do you overcome academic burnout?
Luckily, a student’s academic burnout isn’t all that difficult to overcome if you know exactly how to do it. Here are 3 most effective ways to overcome academic burnout, the 3 Rs – Recognition, Reversal and Resilience.
- Recognition: Recognize the need to want to overcome the burnout phase. Whether you’re becoming irritated or deep into insomnia, it’s important to take note of the changes in your life, be it physical, mental and emotional as this makes it easier to cope with.
- Reversal: After recognizing the challenges and recent changes brought about by burnout, it’s time to reverse the damages brought with healthy strategies. Some of these strategies can be by seeking help, either from your parents, friends or mentor. Meditation also helps by calming your mind and reducing stress and anxiety. Take breaks from your daily schedule to help prevent burnouts and use that time to do a hobby you love.
- Resilience: Once the two steps are in place, you’ll need to build resilience. You can build resilience by expressing gratitude as this creates positive emotions. Socialising with friends and family can effectively help manage the feeling of being overwhelmed and can reduce stress. Setting specific times each day to record your daily wins can help boost your confidence and develop a good sense of self accomplishment.
Recovering from academic burnout won’t be overnight. You may need several weeks to de-stress and feel less overwhelmed.
Be sure to implement the tips in this post in order to help you. Once you begin to feel better, it’s a good idea to put a long term strategy in place to keep your stress levels down during your studies.