Burnout. We’ve all been there before. A grueling week flooded with assessments, deadlines as far as the eye can see, pressure from family, friends and society. Sometimes daily life can have you feeling like a boat against a current, resulting in a total emotional breakdown. While these low points are necessary in our lives, it is helpful to have advice in tow to help you discourage the feeling of burnout and learn to work through it!
 
Keep a journal
Even though it may sound childish, keeping a journal is a super helpful way to keep your emotions in check. Reflection is a paramount part of our lives; by being able to take a step back and asses how you feel and why you feel that way is an important chance to express your emotions. When you can understand your feelings and express them in an effective way, you are far less likely to reach a complete breaking point.
 
Start small
 
When we set intentions for ourselves, it is easy to create big, lofty goals. We want to completely revolutionize our lives. Likewise, it is easy to search for large successes, milestones in our lives that contribute to our happiness. The truth of the matter is that sometimes these large accomplishments aren’t instantly attainable. That’s why when it comes to setting goals and judging our success, it’s good to start small. It’s okay to change “I want to get straight A’s the whole year” to “I want to get in A in Math class for the first marking period”. Specific small goals seem far less daunting and therefore can be more attainable.
 
When you look back at your day, month, or year you might feel like you haven’t accomplished anything. This however, is never true! An accomplishment of any size is still a worthy accomplishment, whether that be running a marathon or simply getting out of bed each day.
 
Prioritize
 
One of the biggest contributors to burn out is stress. Now more than ever, there is an immense amount of pressure on teens and young adults to do more and be more. This causes us to push ourselves in school and life in general. When you have more than a handful of tasks to accomplish, prioritizing is key. This is a pretty obvious idea, but when you are able to decide what things you must get done in order, you can allocate your time for them. In doing this, an unmanageable level of stress is avoidable.
 
Recognize the beauty in choice
 
Sometimes we feel stuck in the decisions that are made for us, or the path of our lives that may seem determined. When you live a life centered around the things that society expects you to do, you feel trapped. Even just the slightest reminder that you do have the power to make choices, can be comforting! More often than not you can have a choice over what you do, say, and how you act. Understandably, one can feel overwhelmed when you have too many choices as well. In these instances, it is important to relish in the freedom of having options.