Burnt

Dear Student
How are you doing? Are you busy? Are you tired?

There are two types of tired. One is slept away with one good night in the sheets. The other exhaustion is much deeper. This one feels worse in the morning.

It is like the difference between a sprinter and a marathon runner. The sprinter after 100 meters may be temporarily winded but ready to go again that same day. The marathon runner is inconsolably shattered and done competing for the rest of the week. College life is much like the marathon.

Let us be honest with ourselves. College can be a thankless black hole that you put life energy into. Yes, it is important valid work, but it requires self-induced balance. No one is going to give us a medal for burning out.

You might know the feeling. You have not “sprang” out of bed in months. Standing in front of the mirror at the start of the day you feel like it should be the end of the day. Nothing of great consequence is on the agenda, and yet there is a quiet nagging dread. Hiding somewhere in the layers of your psyche is a rogue emotion that just wants a good irrational crying session. I know because I have been there.

I should have known better. A new baby, a thesis deadline, and a waiting list of serious student issues required twenty all-nighters on semester. When my eye started twitching, it should have been a warning sign. But there was so much “good” stuff that needed doing. It is a long familiar story, but two years later I am still trying to bring recovery to the frazzled neurons in my brain.

Sports Psychology reveals that high level performance can only be maintained temporarily. To continue to perform optimally, we must rest optimally. I wish someone would have told the twitchy-eyed-all-nighter-idiot two years ago. If we want to do well we must rest. So that begs this question; How are you going to spend your Christmas Vacation?

Here are three pointers learned from the recovery side of burn out.

1) Be a good animal: Sleep lots, eat well, exercise, breath deeply and make love to your spouse (if appropriate). Do not believe that the mind and body are separate. What is good for the heart is good for the brain.

2) Swing left or right: Most of our daily activities polarized into either right or left brain thinking. When you take a break to rest, do something from the other hemisphere. If you read technical books, read poetry in your break. If you concentrate for hours in meetings, loose yourself for hours hiking with the dog. Paint a picture, read an adventure novel or do a puzzle. Getting caught up on your office work will not get you caught you up on rest.

3) Meditate: Learn the skill of relaxing and focusing. This not only brings the health benefits of the relaxation response, but it also re-programs your instinctual behaviours because the process is very similar to hypnosis. Truth within scripture will only set you free if it is internalized and owned.

May you have a rest filled holiday.