Battling Holiday Season Burnout

Happy November! As it is the beginning of the month, going into the holiday season, I wanted to talk about burnout. We all struggle with productivity burnout, whether it be academic or in our motivation to work. For me, this typically grows worse come the holidays.

If you are unfamiliar with the term burnout, the American Psychological Association defines it as “physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance, and negative attitudes toward oneself and others.” In other words, it is existing under high levels of stress, and it is taking its toll. For many, burnout happens due to an overbearing workload.

Today I heard an apt analogy for burnout. Imagine you have two cups in front of you. They are labelled work and life, though I could substitute those for expectations and rest, and you are pouring water into the cups as you prioritise those two things. Often during the weeks leading up to holidays, we as human beings prioritize getting work done and finishing school. This is because we want to have the holidays be as stress-free as possible. Unfortunately, it ends with our rest cup being empty and the work cup overflowing. I’d argue we even add a third cup during these months specifically for caring for our loved ones. In that case, our rest/self-care cup is dried up.

I know it’s not the best explanation, but the point is, it’s important to think about yourself during the holidays, too. It’s okay to decide not to pick up an extra shift, or to take a few hours break from studying. When we don’t do something to fill back up our rest cups, the holidays aren’t relaxing at all. So this week, I put together a list of things that I’ve been making myself do to even out what I’m pouring into my work/life balance.

• ​Yoga/Stretching: I don’t enjoy doing yoga, but my body has been screaming from being on my feet all day. I’ve been making myself do stretches for five minutes at least each night for my own well-being.

• Reading light-hearted books: Sometimes, the best thing we can do for ourselves is allow something silly and fun to be prioritized. I love reading, but sometimes I don’t want to sit down and read a fantastic piece of literature. Sometimes I reignite my love for stories with a poorly edited romance novel.

• Puzzles: Jigsaw puzzles are great for the mind and also provide the reward of seeing something come together that humans usually seek out in work. I also love word puzzles and sudoku’s which I can do on my phone.

I’ll leave you with this. This is an important time of year to frequently remind yourself that overworking can be detrimental to your mental and physical health. Prioritize yourself along with all the things you usually put first.

I’d love to hear what you do to decompress in the comments below.