This article is part of a running series with Rowan University’s Wellness Center. This collaboration aims to educate students about personal well-being options. For further updates, follow @rowanuwellness on social.
Have you ever felt a sense of overwhelming mental and physical exhaustion deep in your bones? Did lack of motivation and excitement permeate everything you have normally enjoyed? You may be experiencing a burn out, which can happen to anybody at any age. It can interfere with your academics, work, and even your beloved hobbies. When burn out gets in the way of doing what we love, we may feel lost at what to do. Activities that may have normally provided stress relief, may now feel stressful or be the source of stress itself. However, there are ways to combat this.
Recognize the signs. Early intervention is key to preventing exhaustion and burnout. Signs may look different from person to person, so understanding what your signs are is important. Common signs include lack of appetite, insomnia, depression, increased forgetfulness and lack of focus are just some to name a few.
Take a break when possible. It’s important to take care of your body if you want to improve how you feel. A break could be a restful sleep or nap, time away from the computer, taking a short walk or moving around. A break is whatever makes you feel better.
Separate your time and space. When work bleeds into our personal lives and vice versa, it may bring its stress and problems with it. Separating the two will provide you the time and space away from the things that stress you out, allowing you to recharge.
Establish boundaries. In order to better separate work and personal life, sometimes you need to establish boundaries and learn to say no.
Rediscover yourself. Life gets busy and sometimes we focus on the process so much that we lose sight of our goals. Retracing your steps may help you rediscover your passion and remind you what it is that makes you love what you do.
Change is okay. We all grow, mature, and change. Likewise our interest, taste, and views can change too. If we no longer find interest in our old passion, maybe it’s time to move on to newer, more exciting things in life. We do not have to limit ourselves with what we are familiar with.
The mission of the Wellness Center is to provide our students with high quality health care and education that enables students to be well physically, mentally, and emotionally. We strive to support students and the Rowan community on the journey to well-being.
Rowan University Wellness Center
The Rowan University Wellness Center at Winans Hall on the main campus in Glassboro is a fully integrated health and wellness facility for Rowan University students. The clinical services integrated within the Wellness Center include Student Health Services (SHS), Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS), Alcohol and Other Drugs Services (AOD) Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and the Shreiber Family Pet Therapy Program – all of which provide comprehensive health and wellness care, education, and programming to students.
Forbes – 9 ways to recover from burnout and love your job again
Creative burnout. Time to take a break? – MOO Blog
Written by: Suzie Tse, higher education graduate student
Edited by: Jordyn Dauter, junior dance & elementary education double major