The semester is winding down and teachers are starting to crack down on finalizing grades for fall classes. In addition, holidays are coming up and people have to worry about seeing distant family who always want to ask how school is going and say how much you have grown since they changed your diapers. With all these pressures that seem to be coming at us from every angle, burnout seems to prevail over our need to do well in school at much larger rates than ever experienced before.
College burnout is prevalent as it is, however, with the COVID-19 pandemic, student burnout has grown exponentially.
In August 2020, Ohio State University conducted a study that measured the amount of students that reported feelings of burnout during the last academic school year. The number jumped from 40% of students in the past year to 71%. The study additionally found that students experienced spikes in anxiety, depression and unhealthy coping mechanisms in response to what was happening around them. These unhealthy coping mechanisms include substance abuse and increased social isolation among others.
The effects of school, family and external pressures that make you feel burnt out are not the same for every college student. According to the previous study, Hispanic students experienced the highest levels of anxiety and depression, while Black students reported the second highest levels. With UTRGV being a predominantly Hispanic institution, more than 60% of these current students being first-generation college students, the stress to succeed is higher than ever.
To relieve some of that stress, it is important to remember how to ease current burnout and prevent experiencing it in the future. According to an article written by Harvard Business Review, there are a few ways you can combat these effects.
The first way is to find time in your schedule to participate in activities that will allow you to interact with others while doing something you love to do simultaneously.
Another way people have found to relieve burnout is to get the proper amount of sleep and outdoor activity. When you are stressed, you are more likely to fall into bad habits, such as forgetting to eat or sleeping less than the recommended amount of hours, however, small changes in your lifestyle and diet can go a very long way.
The National Sleep Foundation reports that adults need anywhere from seven to nine hours of sleep every night, as well as stating that proper exercise can aid in better sleep patterns and allow for an easier time falling asleep. Taking a small amount of time from your day to move around and go to sleep at a good time that would allow for the allotted amount of proper sleeping time, shows effects of an increase in energy, more positive moods and relieves feelings of stress and anger.
Lastly, even though we have been told this since we were children, time management is key to a stress-free life.
Knowing what you need to do and planning out time to do those things in a schedule that works for you is an important way to prevent stress and overplanning that can cause you to put stuff on your plate that you cannot get done.
In addition, it is important to do things ahead of time. For example, you have an essay due for your literature class in two weeks. It is tempting to say that you could finish the essay later, or keep putting it off and say to yourself “I can finish it quickly. I do not need to do it right now,” but we know that is not the case. That book that you need to read cannot be finished on Sunday, two hours before it is due. With proper time management, the stress that comes with finishing an assignment the day it is due is alleviated and is not necessary.
Even though the semester is wrapping up and the stress that comes with it is coming to an all-time high, it is never too late to begin breaking habits and forming new ones that will help you prevent this stress in the future.
Burnout does not need to be a feeling that you experience and can be prevented with only a few easy lifestyle changes.
