What are my Tips to avoid Law School Burnout?
Attending online classes the whole day and you feel like collapsing on the bed? Maybe you feel a strong feeling of fatigue or maybe you feel physical and mental exhaustion. Maybe you feel like giving up while doing even the simplest of tasks.
Maybe you have been facing a burnout. So what does it mean?
The actual psychological and medical definition of a burnout can be found here. But what I can tell you, is that it is not a good sign.
Teenagers and Young Adults today face a lot of burnout in the current time and it is highly advised that we take a break.
Burnouts are harsh on our body and they make us weak.
Law school in itself has been known to have amongst the most stressed-out students of about 96% as compared to Med School of 70%. Don't believe me? Click this to know more.
But we are not here to talk about percentages. We are here to talk about how YOU, yes YOU yourself can avoid such burnouts!
Let's have a look at some of the tips that I have been following for quite some time and would definitely recommend you all!
Plan Plan Plan and yes, Plan.
No, I won't actually say that you need to write everything down, but you do have to write everything down.
Plan everything that you would do in a day. If you are someone who likes to "live in the moment" and not plan out things, you would realise that "living in the moment" actually cause burnouts. You tend to do things unplanned and therefore, you tend to be so spontaneous that things actually start to take a toll on you.
Don't ask me how I know this, because I'm just like you all. For me, planning was never actually something that I would indulge myself in. I was *ahem* blessed with *ahem* a (well kind of) good memory and it would be very rare that I would forget something.
However, memory is not really something that you can rely on, especially in law school. There are tons of things that you need to take into consideration while doing your tasks at law school, and eventually my memory left me alone in a space where I kind of found it hard to remember every single thing.
So to prevent myself from succumbing to the depths of my subconscious mind where I would suddenly remember my embarrassing memories, I decided to start planning.
The beginning is generally hard, because you are very new to all of this, but the key is to remain determined. There may be days where you do not feel like getting up and planning your day or nights where you are just so tired that you want to cuddle into your blanket.
But do it.
Plan your day before, and plan your day after. Plan your outings, your meetings, plan your study routine in a manner that's feasible to you, plan everything. You will soon be able to assign tasks to yourself on a fixed time and realise that you actually do have quite a bit of time to do your work.
This does not mean that you should have unrealistic goals or plans! It should be achievable and self-introspection will help you achieve that!
You could try different methods of planning- be it planning daily, weekly or monthly! You could spice things up with digital/ notebook planners as well.
See what suits you the best and stick to it after experimenting with different styles.
You will feel less overwhelmed.
Inculcate Self-Care
What is self-care? Self-care is something that you do for yourself to take care of yourself.
Self-care activities could include making your bed each morning, having a skin-care routine, listening to music every morning/night, reading a book.
Whatever makes you happy, and helps your body heal is self-care.
Spend Alone time with Yourself.
This may seem obvious now, because we are with ourselves the whole time and locked in our homes, but even so, remember to detach yourself from everything/ everyone at least once a day and think what suits best for yourself.
Remember to take yourself out on dates (0f course not now, due to COVID-19). When things start to normalise, take yourself out to your favourite restaurant. Observe things around yourself and appreciate it.
When I used to be on-campus of my University, I would take myself out at least once a week to my favourite restaurant on campus. I would sit there and do nothing. Just eat, observe and stay silent. It was something that helped me stay sane in the otherwise "glamourous" world of my University.
It was a moment, where I could think of many things for myself without being interrupted by any company!
Always make time for fun
Now, now, do not quote me on this. I have only asked you to "make time" for fun. Which means you need to stay productive but not turn into a robot. Which also means, that you should not keep having fun at all times.
Be serious about your goals, but realise that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. You may be really focused but remember to always take breaks.
Your body cannot function 24 hours straight up without taking breaks. So go give yourself some fun time!
The way you recharge your mobile phone and get paranoid at 1% battery is the same way you should take care of yourself.
Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I loved writing about it.
Until next time!
HAPPY READING!
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