42: How to Cope With and Overcome Academic Burnout

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Hi everyone. Today's episode is going to be on how to cope with and overcome academic burnout. I decided to focus on this topic. It was a suggestion again on Instagram, and I was actually really surprised that I hadn't covered that topic because it comes up so often with my students. It's something that I personally have struggled with on and off in the past. It's just really important to talk about it. How do you know that you are dealing with burnout, and are not just stressed? What are the signs of it? Then if you do have it, or if you notice you're starting to kind of develop signs of burnout, what do you do? How do you cope with it? How do you overcome it?

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

I want to start with figuring out the signs of burnout. What are the physical, emotional, and/or behavioral signs that you are experiencing that sense of burnout? The first very apparent sign- although sometimes it's not apparent to you when you're experiencing it, but it's apparent to others who are noticing your behavior and your emotions- is this feeling of a lack of motivation. So you may have a long laundry list of things to do, and you don't feel like doing any of them. That's loss of motivation. Not having a reason really to want to get get those things done.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Another one is difficulty concentrating. So if you have some things to do, and no matter how hard you try, your mind just keeps going elsewhere. You can't really focus or concentrate. Then that can then lead to another form of behavior, which is you notice that you start to miss deadlines. This can be a big deal for those of us that are not accustomed to missing deadlines. All of a sudden, you miss one deadline. You realize that the world didn't end, and then you miss another deadline, and then another. Then you realize, okay, there's something going on here, because I no longer have that sense of urgency that I used to have before of, oh, my goodness. I need to get this done. Instead, I don't care as much and I'm letting those deadlines slide.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Another thing, this is behavioral, possibly physical but, having this sudden change in appetite. So all of a sudden, you're eating more or you're eating less than usual. Maybe you're isolating yourself, so you're not really making time to socialize, or interact with others. This one is a common one. I know that I dealt with this, was difficulty sleeping. You're burnt out, struggling to get work done. Because of that, you're concerned over the fact that you're not getting work done and so it's affecting your sleep. Maybe you're dealing with insomnia, and you just can't sleep, or you go to sleep and you wake up and you're having racing thoughts and again, you can't sleep. Another one is feeling fatigued, whether or not you're dealing with sleep issues. It's just having that constant feeling of not just being tired, but being completely fatigued, where you have very little to no energy.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

In terms of more emotional signs, you may be feeling irritable. You may be feeling hopeless. You may be experiencing anxiety or depression. You may be experiencing feelings of anger, like you could just snap at any moment. Any little thing makes you react in an angry way. For some, it can also lead to getting sick more often. You will notice that you're starting to get more colds easily and your immune system feels like it's low. Or even in some cases, you develop chronic health issues. Maybe you develop migraines, issues with your stomach, issues with your back. I know for my burnout, that's how I started to develop my chronic illness related to my stomach was because of that. It was my second year of graduate school, and I'll talk a little bit more about my experience with it a little later. Then of course, you may also encounter memory problems. All of a sudden you don't feel as sharp so you're not focused. You're not motivated. You don't feel sharp, you're forgetting things.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Those are all some common signs of burnout. Of course, there are more, but those are the ones that I can think of at this time. If you notice that you're experiencing some of these, then you may be dealing with some burnout. And I wouldn't be surprised if more of us are burnt out at this time because of the pandemic. The pandemic is making it so difficult for us to get work done, and getting work done is much more straining than it was before, that we may be more susceptible to experiencing burnout at this time.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

All right, maybe you have some but not all of the signs of burnout and you're thinking, how do I know that it's not just stress, that common stress that we all experience? What is the difference between stress and burnout? Okay, I'm not an expert, so don't quote me on this. But these are some of the things that I have, in my experience, noticed. When I am stressed, for instance, I tend to over engage in things. I tend to worry, and then I think, oh my gosh. What am I going to do to get this done? Because I'm stressed, because I don't have enough time. Whereas with burnout, I disengage. With burnout it's like, alright. It's coming up, the deadlines coming up, but I am so fatigued. I am so irritable. I feel like I have no time. I've got too much going on. I've been doing too much. You know what? I don't care, and I'm not going to do it. I'm just gonna let it go. I'm just gonna disengage, and pretend it's not there. It's over engagement versus disengagement.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

The other thing I noticed is, when I'm stressed, I do feel this strong sense of urgency of getting things done, so that I can make the stress go away. Whereas with burnout, I don't feel that sense of urgency. Instead, I feel helpless. I don't feel like I can even get out of the situation. It's like, oh, even if I do this one thing, I'm still gonna be burnt out. I'm still gonna have a million other things to do. What's the point? So feeling completely helpless is different from that sense of urgency of I'm going to get it done, and then I'm going to feel better. So with burnout, no matter what I did, I did not feel better. Then with stress, some of us will feel more anxious. We'll feel tired. But with burnout, it's a more intense experience. So rather than just feeling anxious and tired, maybe you are full blown dealing with depression, dealing with fatigue. Fatigue and being tired are two completely different things. Please look them up, because fatigue is just complete and utter exhaustion. Then, with burnout, there's just this feeling about whether or not things are even worth it. Like that sense of hopelessness is so strong, that a lot of times it's like, why even bother? Is this even worth it? What's the point? There's a lot of questioning going on. Whereas with stress, you don't really worry about that. You don't really think about that. You just know, I'm stressed because I have to get something done. I need to get it done, and how am I going to do that? Those are some of the differences, in my experience, between stress and burnout.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Now, I want to share things you can do to cope with and/or overcome academic burnout. I can't guarantee that if you do all of these things, you're going to be completely better, like you're going to eliminate burnout. But at least it'll help you cope, and hopefully over time, you will overcome it. First thing I want to tell you is think about your priorities. Think about your values. What is it that actually matters right now for you? And based on your priorities and values, think about everything that is in your life right now, everything that's on your plate. What do you want to keep? And what do you want to say no to? Because for me, burnout was caused because I was engaged in too many things. I was expected to do too much, and my body was giving up. I literally did not have enough time, did not have enough hours in the day to get everything done. So I had to think about what are my commitments? What can I say no to? And that was very, very hard for me at that time to say no, to disappoint others- or at least in my head, I personalized it and thought I was going to disappoint a lot of people. Some folks I did disappoint, and others were very understanding. But at the end of the day, you got to prioritize yourself and learn to say no and let go of some commitments.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Now related to this, I would say, set strict boundaries. Sometimes burnout happens because we don't know how to set boundaries, and all we're doing is people pleasing. All we're doing is saying yes to everything that comes up, because you feel like if I say no to this one opportunity, it's gonna make me look bad, or it's going to affect my career, etc, etc. But no, it's okay to say no to some things. Set strict boundaries around your work. It can be around when you work, how many hours you work, whatever works for you. Figure out what your limits are. What are your physical, emotional, spiritual limits? Then create your own internal policies of what you will and won't say yes to, or how much you will and won't do in any given day.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

For instance, when some people can reach out to me for service opportunities on certain days, and it's outside of my work hours, I say no, and I let them know that it's outside of my work hours. Because I mean, I don't work after five. If there's an event at 8pm, I'm not going to do it. That's just my policy. What's another limit? Sometimes, like for instance, when the pandemic got started, I was having six to ten Zoom meetings a day. Then I realized, oh, my gosh. This is not sustainable. I am going to burn out this way, if I'm having six to ten meetings a day. So I had to reduce, I shortened my office hours. I started being more strict about the number of meetings I allow myself to have per day. Now, the maximum number of meetings I'll have a day is four. So if I have four on my calendar, even if I have an hour that's free and someone wants to meet at the hour, I say no. I'm not available. Because it's not just about whether or not I'm busy, it's about my capacity. I'm not available, because my physical, emotional, spiritual capacity is full for that day. Figure that out. They don't have to know all the ins and outs of your schedule. If you're not free, you're not free, and they don't need to know. You are not responsible, you are not obligated to tell people why you can't do whatever it is that they want you to do. You just say, thank you so much for the opportunity. Unfortunately, I'm not available at that time. And that is what it is. So strict boundaries, so important.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Now another thing is prioritizing sleep. Rest is important. This is easier said than done. I'm saying that as someone who has suffered from sleep apnea, and I have- well, let's see. I had sleep apnea for many years, and then I had nose surgery in December 2019. That helped with my sleep apnea, and I started resting a lot better in 2020. And now I'm pregnant, or by the time you listen to this, I will probably be having my baby or have had my baby. I'm pre recording these episodes. Currently, as I'm speaking, it's still end of September when I'm pre recording these episodes, and because I'm pregnant, it's affecting my sleep. It's very uncomfortable and hard to sleep. But anyway, long story short, rest is important. Try to sleep, even if you have sleep issues. Find ways, whether it means going to bed early because you know you're not going to see very well at night, or seeing if there's any time for you to nap. Some people can nap, some people can't. I am not a napper, but I know for some of you that may work. Rest is important. But rest is not enough.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

On top of taking care of yourself, it's not like okay, you're going to rest and then you're going to feel better the next day and you're going to have all the energy in the world to take things on. Nope. Actually, resting will not fill your cup back unless you do things that nourish you. You do things that replenish your energy. Alongside resting and sleeping, and literally doing nothing -that's a kind of rest as well. You also want to engage in hobbies, activities, anything that is going to nourish and replenish to you. At this time, you may be so burnt out that you don't know what that thing is and that's okay. It's going to be your task to figure that out. So as you say no, and let go of other things, and maybe your schedule opens up a little bit more, make time to figure out what is the thing. Maybe something in the past that you used to try out, maybe you liked riding a bike in the past, maybe you liked coloring in the past, maybe you liked meditating in the past, or try something new and see how you feel. If it works, great. If it doesn't try something else, but you need to identify activities that are going to nourish you.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

All right, so you're saying no to things, you're resting, you're doing things that nourish you. Now, what do you do about the fact that there's still work to be done, and there's still work that's overwhelming you and that work is still making you feel burnt out? What do you do with then? You do have to get work done. When working, I recommend taking frequent breaks and setting timers too. Sometimes the hardest part is getting yourself to even get started, because you feel so helpless. Forcing yourself to get started, having a timer, doing short intervals of work, and then taking breaks, that will help.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

The other thing is, for some folks, they get so caught up with their work. Because maybe they're perfectionists, or you think that you're expected to do a certain kind of work that's on par with other people in, let's say, in academia, like in your undergrad program, or in your grad program. But I would say, and this is a learning lesson that I got from being a mom, and I wish I would have learned this before becoming a mom, I wish I would have learned to be okay with doing work that is good enough. Not expecting myself and my work to be perfect, and learning to just let things go. Okay, what are they asking me to do? Okay, what is the bare minimum that I need to do to be able to complete this task and send it out and move on to the next thing? So doing work that's good enough, and then sending it and then letting it go? I know. For some of you, hearing this might make you cringe, because you're like, oh. How can I send my writing the way it is, without proofreading it two, three times and revising it? I'm so ashamed of my writing. Do what you need to do. Yes, obviously, you don't want to send something that's completely unacceptable, that's not legible. But figure out what is good enough in your field, what is good enough in whatever setting that you're doing work for, and then send things out. Let them go.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

In a similar vein, I want to say that it's okay to make mistakes. If you're an undergrad, if you're a grad student, you're there for a reason. You're there to learn. If you knew everything, you wouldn't be needing to get a graduate degree, an undergrad degree. It's okay to make mistakes, so allow yourself to make mistakes. Obviously, you want to learn from them. You don't want to make the same mistake over and over and over again, but don't tear yourself apart if you make a mistake.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

And again, if you notice you're struggling, it's okay to ask for help. Sometimes we don't ask for help, especially if we're first gen, because we're again ashamed, embarrassed, of seeming like we don't know what we're doing. Seeming like we're fraud, seeming like people are gonna be like, oh. I changed my mind about admitting you into this program. But no, you need to ask for help. Even if it seems like it's asking help on the basics of the program, better to ask for help now than to wait until it gets really bad and you're on the verge of leaving your program. In line with asking for help, you also want to identify support systems and support systems come in a number of different ways. Sometimes one part of your support system is your advisor, or your faculty mentor, or a staff member or a therapist, or a writing group, or friends, or family. Having multiple support systems is better than having just one and relying on that one person for everything, so identify support systems to get you through.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

I think the last thing I want to say about burnout is in some cases- I actually don't really do this often. But I have had some cases where I have agreed with a student who has told me that they needed to take time off. By time off, I mean actual time, like taking a quarter or a semester or a year off from school. Taking time off is great. It doesn't have to be that long. I actually do often recommend- well, I recommend everybody take a weekend off. I know a lot of y'all work on weekends. I'm a fan of working on weekends, and I don't do it. I know sometimes I get emails from people on the weekend. Unless it's an emergency, I don't respond. So taking a weekend off, taking a vacation, maybe it's one or two weeks. And in some cases, if you're really, really struggling, and you really need to prioritize your physical and mental health, I would say, it's okay to take a leave of absence. You can come back stronger from that.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Now just to share a little bit more about my experience with burnout. I think I experienced burnout, on and off throughout undergrad, but it wasn't so apparent to me as it was when I was in graduate school. My second year in graduate school, it was really noticeable that I was struggling with burnout. At the time, if I remember correctly, I was in my second year of coursework, so I was taking a full load of classes. On top of that I was working part time as a graduate mentor at a research center. On top of that I was a TA for a class and working halftime, 20 hours a week, facilitating discussion groups, and reviewing homework assignments, meeting with students for office hours. So I had two jobs, I had my coursework, and then I was actively involved in multiple student groups. I remember I was organizing conferences, and I was still trying to apply to present my research, and I was trying to publish. There's just so much that I had going on, that I didn't have time. I didn't have time to sleep, I didn't have time to eat, I didn't have time to socialize. I literally would wake up, and I'd be doing work. And I'd go to sleep doing work. I didn't even get to engage with my partner. And I started developing health issues. I started having a lot of stomach issues. I started having not only stomach issues, but a lot of the symptoms of depression and anxiety. So of course, I reached out and with the support of a therapist, with the support of friends and colleagues, I started saying no to things. I let go of some of my extracurriculars. By my third year, when I was studying for qualifying exams, I took a break from my part time job. What else did I do? I started to learn to say no to things. That was really, really hard. Then I had my son in grad school, and that completely forced me to set very hard limits and boundaries. I still wasn't very good with self care. I think I've gotten better throughout the years. I didn't do as great of a job with that. But I think even just learning to say no, letting go off commitments, having more time, prioritizing my family. That helped a lot.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

It's taken me many years to work on it. I hope it doesn't take you as long as it took me. But now I'm in a much better spot. I'm no longer burnt out. I'm no longer depressed. I'm no longer anxious. I do get stressed, but it's manageable and I know what to do to counteract it. I know what to do to cope with it. I hope that you find this helpful. If you're dealing with burnout, please seek help. It can get better. All right, thanks for listening.