Grad School Burnout

Here's a photo of my emotional support animal for getting through this article. PS contrary to this photo, he does actually like me!

Burnout is one of the most commonly not addressed problems for Grad students. When I first started the program, I did not think that it would happen to me. I am going to humbly think of myself as an academic for the purposes of this article. I adore learning and it is something that I do not think I would be able to live without. That being said, burnout is a condition that is not often acknowledged for students because of the stigma. We are expected to just continue on. I would like to offer my own experiences with it and how we can change the way we view it.

Burnout is categorized by physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion by overworking oneself. I personally did not see it coming but, when it hits, it does so like a ton of bricks. I did not allow myself to pay attention to my body or my mind and continued working when it told me to stop. This meant low grades, pain everywhere, and depression. I know that this is not a topic usually discussed on my blog but, I feel it is necessary to not only offer some consolation for those that go through similar situations but, to explain my absence for the last few weeks.

This does not give me an excuse to not be present because I would have liked nothing more than to sit down and write my tangled web of thoughts into a neat post. However, the point I hit in the last few weeks has made it to where I was at an emotional stand off between my heart and mind. Both of which told me to take a nap and do something fun and were promptly ignored.

Burnout leads to not caring about how one does on the homework but just that it gets in (sometimes not even on time). The most important thing is to listen to yourself and communicate between your head and body. My head told me to get it done my body said that after 10 hours of work and 4 hours driving, it probably wasn’t a good idea to sit down and write a paper for 5 hours and then do it all over again. It told me to have a snack. I didn’t listen.

When I spoke with my professors and my parents about it, I was told the same thing. “Just push through, you’ll be fine.” When did this become the mindset? If I had mono or anorexia, I wouldn’t be told to keep working and it’ll be alright. But these have the same symptoms as burnout. I frequently have to nap because my body can’t handle sleeping for 4-6 hours a night and I forget to eat more often than I actually eat. It should be taken seriously by everyone. If someone you are speaking with says they are burnout, take them literally and ask what you can do to help.

If you are burnt out on work, make a space where you do not take any work (or if needed leave your phone out of it). I did this through moving a fun sewing project to the basement where I only allow myself to work on that, listen to music, or cuddle my cat (and fight to keep him off the sewing). Remember that you are human. This happens to everyone and graduate students even more so. Our work load is to be done while working and it creates inhumanly possible amounts of things to do. My biggest advice is to talk to someone too. I spoke with my therapist and she was the only one who took me seriously. She gave me some of these tips and some are my own. Her best piece of wisdom so far has been that it isn’t going to get better right away. Just like you need a few months to recover from mono, you are going to need to allow yourself some kindness and love. Understand that you might not be able to charge headlong into things for awhile and make a plan. If your professors do not understand, go higher up. Someone will understand and will help! And as always, the only person you are obligated to be kind to is yourself because you have to live with you every day for the rest of time. Good Luck and I commend anyone who made it to the end of my rant! Go take some time to yourself! You deserve it!