We’re almost in the midterm period, and I already feel overwhelmed. While I normally deal with burnout some time towards the end of the year, I’ve weirdly never had it this early before.

According to Psychology Today, burnout is “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.” I was shocked to find that I’m stressed this early on and wanted to know if others felt this too.

I expressed these emotions to classmates and surprisingly heard similar responses. Somehow, people feel more stressed about this semester much earlier than other years, saying that they’re “overwhelmed” or “drained.”

I thought this was extremely interesting, as it helped me feel comforted that I’m not that different. But it just led me to another question — what can we do to help this get better?

I started looking into research on burnout to try findings some tips and tricks. I’ve been recently trying a few of them and while some helped and others didn’t, I do feel like I gained a better idea of the enemy I’m up against.

One of the tips that I got from Cleveland Clinic is to try finding the things that make you happy. The things that make life more enjoyable. It gave examples of reading a good book, hanging out with friends, or cooking a nice meal. Try to do things that can get you closer to yourself.

This was one of the things I did that I felt worked for me. Personally, I began realizing during this exercise that I don’t have a good balance of work-life duties— I had a lot of things on my plate that, when on combined with my academics, just created a bad situation.

But once I started putting up boundaries with my responsibilities and allowed myself the ability to enjoy life— like we’re designed to do— everything else became easier to deal with. The burnout wasn’t as difficult to deal with anymore.

Another tip I found can’t currently help me now, but it certainly did help me in the past. This is from Healthline, and they recommend reevaluating your priorities to promote better health. For me, this has come in the form of deciding to withdraw from a class. There have been semesters where my burnout left me nearly depressed. I would be taking more classes than I was capable of, and the stress was eating at me. I didn’t want to drop a class, but after a few more weeks, I saw it was my only option.

For my remaining classes, I was able to actually pass, instead of not dropping and failing every single one. I’ve now learned when to take just what I can handle, and to work with my limits, not against them.

This example is a bit more specific, but my burnout dramatically decreased once I prioritized my health over school. I’m now about to graduate in May, and this path was definitely the best for me, even though it isn’t the most conventional.

There are so many more tips and tricks that I’ve come across throughout my academic career, such as going outside, talking to a therapist, or even just taking a break if you’re capable of doing so. The possibilities are endless, which allows us to find something that perfectly aligns with our abilities and values.

Fighting burnout is not an easy and quick process, and its effects can feel like they’re eternal. But it’s possible, and not to mention necessary. We need to take care of ourselves, as well as each other. Listen to your friends and find ways to help them, hopefully just like they would help you.

We all experience moments of stress and frustration, and this is our fuel for empathy and understanding. We can do a lot more together than we can alone, so please approach burnout with more of a community mindset rather than an individual one.

We can all fight these feelings, and I wish us all luck in the weeks to come. Spring break is right around the corner and spring is finally on its way. Don’t stop now, we got this!