Dealing with burnout: how to finish this term before it finishes you

As the Easter break quickly approaches, so too have those end-of-term exams and assignments managed to creep up on us. If you’re anything like me, the motivation that you started this term with has all but evaporated, and not even the emerging spring sunshine can make doing that pile of work seem appealing; I’m more than tired, I’m simply burnt out. Being burnt out is something that all university students will experience at some point during their degree course, and you’ve most likely heard your peers talk about it, or you’re going through it yourself. So, what exactly does it mean to be burnt out, and how can we best deal with it?

Denying yourself sleep to lock in and study may seem like a smart choice in the moment, but it will be detrimental to your physical and mental health

Dr Gareth Furber, in an article for Times Higher Education, defined burnout as: “a combination of constant stress and exhaustion…more than feeling tired out, burnout describes the psychological result of working beyond your means for an extensive period of time.” You may recognise the feeling of being trapped in a never-ending cycle: too tired to do any meaningful work, but having too much work to stop and get some meaningful rest. So, you then end up giving in to the urge to procrastinate via doom scrolling, which leaves you feeling even worse.

In his article, Dr Furber lists some suggestions to help deal with burnout and prevent burnout in the future. He begins by explaining that it is important to stick to a healthy and consistent sleep schedule, as burnout leaves us feeling so fatigued because our nervous system is working overtime. An unhealthy sleep cycle only serves to worsen this, which is why it is very important to listen to our body’s cues. Denying yourself sleep to lock in and study may seem like a smart choice in the moment, but it will be detrimental to your physical and mental health, and probably your grades too, in the long term.

Sometimes, especially when burnout is impending, the most productive thing you can do is to make an active choice to step away from your work

Of course, resting to help with burnout does not always have to look like sleeping. It is important that we do what we can to rest productively, as although taking a couple of minutes (or hours) to scroll on our phones might seem like a break, it can be counter-productive. Consuming entertaining content on our phones may feel better than consuming academic content on our laptops, but it is still consuming content. In order to feel rested and recharged, we have to give our brains a break from the constant stimulation. Being buried under university work and then further burying yourself under the burdens of social media discourses and brain-rot content is not only a recipe for burnout but also disastrous mental health. Do some mindfulness meditation, some stretches or exercise, or simply go outside – feel that spring sunshine on your face and notice the flowers that have popped up, for a natural hit of serotonin.  As superficial as this sort of advice may sound, getting some fresh air can work wonders – it won’t fix your problems, but it can certainly provide a starting point by making climbing out of that rut feel less impossible.

Sometimes, especially when burnout is impending, the most productive thing you can do is to make an active choice to step away from your work. Try setting a timer for 15 minutes and tell yourself to focus just for those 15 minutes. After those are up, you might feel back in the zone, and like you can get more work done, but if not, close your laptop and choose to actively rest instead. This way, you might feel recharged and ready to try again in an hour. Of course, as we are university students, ultimately, we have to find a way to power through and get those assignments done – sometimes it can be as simple as setting a small timer or changing your environment to get in the zone. But other times may call for more drastic measures, like speaking to your tutors for additional support and extensions.

Dr Furber also makes an interesting point when he suggests that we consider whether our own mindsets and the pressure we put on ourselves may be making us more prone to burnout. The University of Warwick is full of high achievers, and many of us have thrived off of academic validation since the first ‘Star of the Week’ certificate we received in primary school. However, if the toll this takes on us is consistently detrimental to our mental and physical wellbeing, it may be time we start working on easing the pressure we are putting on ourselves.