Published on February 12, 2022

Have you ever played the game of Jenga? For those of you who haven’t let me break it down for you. Jenga is essentially a game of skill and balance where there is a tower of 3 colours of blocks and in each turn you must pull out one block from the tower without making it fall. Balancing our high school life is almost the same as that. If you remove too many blocks the tower is bound to break and the remaining pieces will become unstable and maybe even fall down completely. Similarly if we use up every single block of our energy we begin to get overwhelmed, stressed and essentially burnt out !

Famous author Vanessa Autrey in her book on burnout says “We’re totally guilty of doing too much at once, all while trying to manage the noise in our heads that says we’re not doing enough.”

As a student, juggling between academic requirements, entrance exams, extracurriculars and  applications is not an easy process. We tend to get tangled in our own web of fulfilling responsibilities. Meanwhile we neglect the stress and are unable to cope with it while simultaneously maintaining our schedules. This vicious cycle is what causes us to burnout at one of the most crucial stages;  high school life. Burnout during this stage only creates a lack of motivation and puts us at a risk for complete exhaustion and hence an inability to work. One must try their best to break and avoid this cycle right from the start.

Owing to the pandemic, burnout got a makeover and is now called the inevitable “Zoom Fatigue.” Sitting in front of the laptop screen for hours at a stretch doesn’t just give you a sore neck but also a sore mind. The impersonal and one sided zoom lectures are a complete bore and the will to learn and focus begins to fade. We stop sitting for the clases, with cameras off even our mind is turned off and we only feel the strain when exams come and we realise there’s a lot to catch up on.

There are many simple ways to avoid or even combat this feeling of burnout. Read on to pick some easy methods on how to bring balance out of your daily schedule.

Practice Prioritizing Tasks :

There are endless tasks we have to complete every single day, but we only have 24 hours, so start by setting weekly goals instead of daily ones and order them in priority of completion. Now if I have 2 assignments, 1 quiz, a club event and a practice test to do this week it would make sense to tackle one task at a time. Trying to squeeze 4 different things into a single day whilst balancing a social life and school hours is nearly impossible. So instead pause, and introspect and delegate your time wisely.

Unwind  And Unplug :

With hustle culture becoming more and more prominent people forget to just stop, and take care of themselves. After a long day of studying it becomes important to keep aside some time just to relax and rejuvenate. Allotting hours in the week completely devoted to relaxation can really help alleviate the stress and cope with workloads better. This relaxation could be anything right from watching an episode of your favorite Netflix show , going for a walk , listening to music or even just lying down. Find your self care mantra and make sure you follow it.

Find Your Stress Buster :

Every one of us has that one thing which acts like a complete stress buster, it could be painting, running, dancing, baking the options are endless. Use these activities as outlets of pent up stress, frustration and even as a way to just refresh oneself. Break the monotonous routine of online classes and commitments and indulge. Creative expression is known to boost people’s mood, and serve as an effective way to deal with anxiety. Similarly exercise of any form is an immediate dopamine kick and is scientifically proven to increase productivity.

Put Off Procrastination :

When workloads are high and exhaustion is seeping in it becomes easy to delay work. More than often if an assignment is not due for 2 weeks we tend to leave it for the last minute and most of it is written under pressure. Endless procrastination is only going to build piles and piles of work which is left pending and we are bound to drown in it. So instead break your work into smaller chunks and finish a little bit everyday instead of leaving it all for the end. Procrastination only hinders productivity so be consistent and regular with work instead of giving into the temptation of delaying it.

Look At The Bigger Picture :

A lot of times we tend to take on tasks which don’t align with our future goals but are just added work. While it may seem like unless you do everything you are not doing enough, our body and mind cannot keep up with so much. So work backwards from your ultimate goal, your dream college or career and choose to spend your time accordingly. Now, if you are  aiming to become a financial analyst it’s not necessary for you to take extra classes in design and history. While doing things out of interest and for leisure are important we must consider time commitments. Cut down on things which are not of prime importance and focus your energy on what is best for you and is a clear stepping stone to your goal.

At the end of the day your future is in your hands. If you aren’t okay all the hard work you have been putting in all these years will be fruitless. So let’s break the pattern from just ‘eat sleep study repeat’ to ‘eat sleep study relax repeat!’

Each one of us has our own unique way of dealing with stress, we would love to hear that one thing which refreshes you on a tiring day.