Put Yourself First This Lockdown 🥇

This blog has been written by Vivi Friedgut, Founder & CEO of Blackbullion.

Are you feeling less motivated and inspired than usual? More exhausted and irritable? You may be feeling burnout! The good news is that there are easy ways to stop you feeling like this and prevent you from feeling burned out again.

First things first; what is burnout?

Burnout can be defined as a negative physical, emotional and mental reaction to prolonged stress that results in frustration, exhaustion, lack of motivation and reduced ability in studies and lectures.

Why’s burnout on the rise?

Since the start of the pandemic, students have still been expected to be hardworking and keep up with all their responsibilities like rent and bills – despite having maybe lost their income and all the uncertainty in the world right now. It’s up to students to set their own boundaries to ensure that they are not becoming overwhelmed with these pressures.

While burnout is an ever-present challenge, it has certainly been exacerbated by pandemic-related stressors and the need to juggle conflicting home/work responsibilities.

Early signs

To tackle burnout (and mitigate it), we need to be able to spot it. Spotting burnout isn’t always easy though.

Some of the key signs of burnout include:

• Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
• Feeling bored or uninterested in aspects of school or areas of leisure that you used to enjoy
• Reduced personal and academic efficiency or productivity
• Lashing out at others and increased irritability due to frustration
• Increased tension or pain in your body, such as headaches,  jaw tension or sore muscle aches.

Combating burnout

Burnout isn’t an event, it’s a process. And the earlier it’s spotted, the easier it will be to combat. So if you begin to recognize some of the symptoms in yourself, it’s time to make some changes to your habits and lifestyle to prevent burnout.

We put together some wellbeing suggestions; something to pop on the fridge and dip into when we are feeling low. We thought you might like a copy too – download the PDF version here.

It’s an uncertain and hectic time for everyone at the moment, but together we can take steps to look out for ourselves and one another and try to avoid burning out. 

Remember to recognize the symptoms, don’t ignore them and seek help if you need it. If you have any questions or comments, you can contact us or tweet Vivi directly.