One of the most complicated problems that humans in any stage of their life can go through is burn out. At this point in the year, many students and adults suffer from burn out, especially with the current atmosphere of the world. Everyone comes in extremely excited and motivated for the incoming year but as the months goes by, the stress of work and school tends to weight us down heavily. I know personally, medical school has continuously caused some sense of burn out after every unit so the tips I am sharing with you are some tips that I personally use.
WHO defines burn out as "Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
reduced professional efficacy."
If you have ever felt any of those emotions before, you might be suffering from burn out, which will really impact your school and work performance. But make sure to not take burned out as being depressed; they may happen together but are NOT the same thing. Being abnormally lazy and procrastinating maybe your sign of being burned out; everyone has different symptoms.
Here are some tips on how to prevent being burned out:
1) Acknowledge that you are burned out and need to change something in your daily schedule. Many times, we refuse to acknowledge the signs of being burned out for laziness or feel like we are too busy to take care of ourselves but we should never ignore what our body is trying to tell us. Acknowledgement of the problem is the first step.
2) Schedule free time in your schedule. We all have things that we like to do but may not get the time to do them. However, if you schedule free time into your schedule, you can escape the stressful world for a few hours and recharge.
3) Working out is known to reduce stress and increase focus. When you work out, you feel much healthier which can lead you to feel better about your life and the situation around you. Furthermore, working out releases hormones that may change your view on stressful situations. It doesn't have to be extensive, just take 30 minutes out of your day to walk around outside if that's what works for you.
4) Have a strong support system of friends and family. When you feel burned out, being able to go to someone and telling them how you feel is extremely important. If you ever feel like you're not able to tell your friends how you feel, then they might not be the friends for you. Not only will talking to someone else make you feel better but it will make deeper connections with the people around you.
5) Change things up. Some people say consistency is key but consistency can also easily lead to burned out as you lose that depersonalization between home and work life. Therefore, switch things up. Switch your desk or where you go for lunch or what coffee you normally have. I would highly recommend switching things up and try meditating with a youtube video or listening to music for a while (which sounds cheesy but actually helps). Switching things up keeps your life interesting and fun, which will help prevent being burned out.
6) Take a vacation/break. If none of the other tips above work for you, I highly suggest that you take some time and go somewhere away from home for a while to get a new scenery and to recharge your batteries. This might be costly but spending money on yourself and your mental health is never a bad idea.
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