Let's Talk Burnout

If you’ve met me or talked to me, you know I’m an open person. Not a person where all my dirty laundry is sitting on the floor or entirely spread across the internet, but if you ask me questions I, for the most part, won’t avoid my stories or answers. This topic, however, is something I hate that I go through, and no one really notices it ever. It’s something I pride myself on not having to deal with, but I do and it’s something we should all talk about, because it’s okay to have!

I’m talking about burnout the concept of not wanting to do anything you need to do, and nothing sounds fun or needed. I’m talking the thought of doing homework makes me want to cry but the thought of playing board games gets me so excited. Or the thoughts of studying for my exam next week puts me to sleep and gives me a headache (literally to both) but the thought of waking up at 5am to go to the gym for 2.5 hours is exhilarating.

So, let’s talk about it. Why do we experience burnout? I’m not a doctor or psychologists so I don’t know the answer to that, but here’s my opinion about it. I think we push ourselves too far for too long or do too much of something we don’t really want to do and one day we wake up and question the progress we made or the reason why we’re doing it. Honestly, I ask myself why I take 6 classes a semester and why I want to do the things I want to do all day every day. “Is this really worth it?” is the new question of the day. And at the end of it, I still drag my ass out of bed to go look at the 300 flashcards I wrote or write that 12-page assignment my professor assigned due tomorrow.

The real issue I’m facing: how to get out of this state of burnout. I don’t want to keep doing these things, putting the hours in, doing good for what? What is a 4.0 really going to prove? Asking myself these questions every day has only pulled me deeper into this burnout. So, it’s a mindset (clearly, duh). So, it’s time to change my mindset.

I’m currently writing this in a new building and place that I never sit at in school. Why? Change of scenery, people, and feelings. Next is my mindset, and that’s going to be the hardest part, because it always is.

I’m going to get up and focus on the things I love in the morning. The sunrise, the cool air blowing in my face on my walk to the gym, the best showers I take after the gym, reading a book, doing my skincare routine, finding the cute outfit I want to wear every morning. Why? Because these things are the things I like to do and the things that make me happy. Then…

I’m going to jump right into class and work. I’m going to take the notes I don’t want to so that I can get the grades I want. I’m going to memorize the flashcards for that exam, less because I have to and more because I “want” to. Fake it until you make it, right?

If I focus on the good and positives I feel and see everyday there shouldn’t be a reason for me to not want to continue doing what I’m doing. And every night before I’m going to write about how I feel and what I could change the next day.

It’s not going to happen overnight, but if I start putting in the work now, won’t I be a step ahead compared to yesterday? Until I get there, I will keep y’all updated, watch my instragram for those updates and I’ll see you soon! <3 Tori