Last year around this time, I was completely overwhelmed with my coursework and felt like school monopolized my life. Although I am very school-oriented, I quickly found myself experiencing academic burnout around November. This year, however, I can confidently say that I have implemented healthy boundaries surrounding my academics and personal life.
So, what changed? I started treating school like a day job. I used to find myself envious of the corporate lifestyle because even if employees were miserable, they always got to clock out and fully step away from the workplace. I felt like my schoolwork was always lingering. There was always something else to do which weighed heavily on my mind. As I continued to stress about assignments and exams, I developed a horrendous sleep schedule and found myself turning down social plans in order to catch up on school work. After realizing this wasn’t the college experience I wanted for myself, I decided that schoolwork was only for the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Regardless of what time I had class, I started waking up around 8 a.m. to start my day. I would get ready in my dorm just like I would for a job by getting dressed, eating breakfast, and planning out my day. Once the clock struck 9 a.m., I would open my laptop and begin my coursework for the day. In the beginning, I would work most of the day. However, after about a week, I found myself ahead in most of my courses and finishing my schoolwork before 2 p.m. This opened up my evenings and allowed me to get a full eight hours of sleep every night. This also completely opened up my availability for the weekends. Unless it was occasional studying, I rarely ever found myself stressing about school on the weekends.
Since implementing this lifestyle last semester, I feel like I have truly perfected it. I am completely used to the routine now and find myself resetting every Sunday to prepare for the academic week. When I wake up Monday morning, I know it’s time to grind academics and lock in for the next five days. Although it definitely gets harder throughout the week, I always push myself to finish my schoolwork because I know Friday at 5 p.m. I get to “clock out” for the week.
Through following this process, I have developed a newfound satisfaction in completing my to-do lists. Whether it’s checking the Canvas box or crossing something off in my planner, I love the feeling I get after finishing a task! It also brings me so much joy when I start working on an assignment early. Something about knowing that I’m using my time productively motivates me to keep working.
Treating school like a 9 to 5 has and continues to help me prevent academic burnout in so many ways. Being able to completely step away from schoolwork has made me more productive during weekdays while allowing me to maintain a social life. This concept of having a healthy balance between school and my personal life was completely unfathomable to me last year. I’m so happy to see how this strategy has improved my planning and time management skills, and I can’t wait to watch them continue to grow.
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