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How to Recover From Burnout

What to Do If You're Feeling Burned Out

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Delmaine Donson / Getty Images

What Does Burnout Feel Like?

Burnout is defined as a psychological response to prolonged interpersonal stressors. While it isn't recognized as a distinct mental health condition , it is viewed as an occupational hazard, particularly for those who work in people- and service-oriented fields, including health care, education, and human services.

Burnout happens when people become depleted, cynical, and unmotivated in response to ongoing work-related stress. It is a problem that may contribute to feelings of fatigue, depression, and anxiety.

The strain of constant stress can wear you down, and there is only so much that your mind and body can take before you reach your breaking point. Fortunately, there are strategies that you can use for burnout recovery and prevention that can minimize the detrimental impact that burnout can have on your well-being.

This article explores how to recognize the signs of burnout, steps you can take to prevent it, and tips for how to recover if you are starting to feel burned out.

Burnout is more than just feeling stressed or tired. It is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that can leave you feeling drained, hopeless, and unmotivated. The main signs and symptoms of burnout include:

• Feeling exhausted all the time
• Lack of motivation or interest in things that you used to enjoy
• Cynicism, apathy , and negativity
• Feeling like you are not making any progress
• Increased absenteeism or lateness
• Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
• Changes in appetite or sleep patterns
• Isolating yourself from others
• Experiencing physical health problems like headaches , tightness in the chest, neck pain, back pain, and nausea
• Increase alcohol and nicotine use
• Indifference, boredom , and restlessness

If you are experiencing any of these signs, it is vital to take action to address the problem before it gets worse.

If you are already feeling burned out, it is crucial to take action to address the problem. Effective burnout recovery strategies can help you figure out what is causing the problem, replenish your mental strength, and combat feelings of cynicism.

Identify the Cause

Spend some time assessing what it is about your job that contributes to burnout . Factors that often play a role include working too many hours , poor relationships with supervisors or co-workers, conflict in the workplace, poor support from management, and excessive workloads.

Once you are more aware of the cause, you can take steps to help mitigate it. Some of these might be more challenging to address, but you might start by talking to your employer about ways to help manage workplace stress and reduce interpersonal conflict.

Lightening your workload, delegating some tasks to others, changing your work location, or even switching to a partial-remote schedule might help alleviate some feelings of burnout.

Take a Break

It is also important to take time to relax and rejuvenate . This might include taking a vacation, getting a massage, or taking up a new hobby. While researchers are still exploring viable treatments for burnout to learn which are most effective, taking a break is often cited as one of the most-used approaches by people experiencing burnout symptoms.

Spend Some Time Alone

Burnout is often linked to high levels of prolonged interpersonal stress. It's why people who work in people-oriented jobs are often more likely to experience burnout.

If you've reached the point where you've developed a negative attitude about others and feel irritable and withdrawn, try to set aside some time for yourself. Spending time alone doing things you enjoy can be a great way to recharge, particularly if you tend to be more of an introvert .

Utilize Effective Coping Skills

You can't eliminate all stress, but you can develop more effective ways of coping with it. How you think about different situations can affect how you feel about them.

Cognitive reframing can be a helpful strategy that may help you change your perspective about the situations that are causing stress. For example, reframing a situation as a learning opportunity instead of a burden might help you approach challenges with less anxiety.

Get Support From Loved Ones

While a bit of solitude can be beneficial, that doesn't mean you should withdraw from loved ones. Negative social interactions often play a significant role in causing burnout, but positive and supportive social connections can be an essential buffer against it.

Leaning on your social support system can also relieve some of the pressure you are feeling. Talking to your friends and family about what you are going through can help you to feel less alone in your experience.

Care for Yourself

Taking care of yourself is essential for burnout prevention, but it can be even more vital once you've reached the point of burning out. Ensure that you are taking care of yourself physically and mentally.

This means eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly. Taking time for yourself, even when you have a lot of demands on your time, can also help you to recover from burnout.

Talk to a Professional

If you are struggling to manage burnout on your own, it is essential to seek out professional help . One study found that psychodynamic group therapy and cognitive group therapy were both effective in reducing symptoms of work-related depression. However, there are a number of additional effective type of psychotherapy which can also be very helpful.

A therapist can help you to identify the causes of your stress and develop a plan to address them. If you feel overwhelmed , don't hesitate to seek help.

Burnout is a serious problem that can significantly impact your health and well-being. However, there are things that you can do to prevent and recover from burnout. By taking care of yourself physically and mentally, setting boundaries, and practicing self-compassion, you can protect yourself from the effects of burnout.

How to Prevent Burnout

One of the best ways to deal with burnout is to try to stop it from happening in the first place. You can do several things to prevent burnout before it starts.

Take Care of Your Health

One of the most important things is to ensure that you are taking care of yourself physically and mentally. This means eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly. It is also essential to find ways to manage stress in your life in a healthy way. This might include yoga , meditation , or deep breathing exercises.

Set and Maintain Boundaries

It is also crucial to set boundaries in your life. This means learning to say no when you are feeling overwhelmed and taking time for yourself even when many demands are competing for your time and attention. 

Creating boundaries means learning to say no to projects that aren't a top priority and communicating your needs clearly. It also means finding a work-life balance that works for you.

Look for ways to make clear divisions between your home and work life, such as having a daily relaxation ritual to help you transition into a more relaxed state after work each day.

Manage Your Stress

Stress is a significant contributor to burnout, so it is vital to find ways to manage it in your life. Helpful stress relief techniques might include yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises. 

Fast-acting stress relievers can be helpful when you are dealing with feelings of acute stress, but it is also important to rely on long-term strategies as well. Eating a healthy diet, practicing positive self-talk, and writing in a gratitude journal are a few strategies you might want to incorporate into your routine.

Treat Yourself Kindly

Feeling restored can often come from practicing a little self-compassion . Instead of pushing yourself past your limits, learn to spot signs of feeling overwhelmed.

If you feel overwhelmed or burned out, take a step back and assess what you can do to help yourself in the moment. This might include taking a break, talking to a friend, or reaching out for professional help.

Top Burnout Prevention Strategies

One study found that some of the most commonly used tactics for burnout recovery included:

• Taking care of one's physical well-being
• Support from colleagues
• Taking a transcendental perspective
• Talking to others
• Participating in hobbies
• Varying work duties
• Finding comfort in personal relationships
• Creating boundaries
• Taking time away from work
• Rediscovering passion and finding meaning in work
• Setting realistic expectations
• Using laughter and humor

A Word From Verywell

Burnout is associated with many adverse outcomes, including poor job satisfaction, high turnover, absenteeism, decreased productivity, and lower work quality. Finding ways to prevent burnout can help minimize the impact it might have on your career and mental well-being, but it is also essential to focus on effective burnout recovery strategies if you're already feeling burned out.

If self-help strategies are not providing adequate relief, talk to your doctor or mental health professional to devise a plan to address these feelings of burnout.

Maslach C, Leiter MP. Understanding the burnout experience: recent research and its implications for psychiatry . World Psychiatry . 2016;15(2):103-111. doi:10.1002/wps.20311

Hillert A, Albrecht A, Voderholzer U. The burnout phenomenon: A résumé after more than 15,000 scientific publications . Front Psychiatry . 2020;11:519237. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.519237

Dennis NM, Swartz MS. Emergency psychiatry experience, resident burnout, and future plans to treat publicly funded patients . Psychiatr Serv . 2015;66(8):892-895. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201400234

Hostinar CE, Gunnar MR. Social support can buffer against stress and shape brain activity . AJOB Neurosci . 2015;6(3):34-42. doi:10.1080/21507740.2015.1047054

Swetz KM, Harrington SE, Matsuyama RK, Shanafelt TD, Lyckholm LJ. Strategies for avoiding burnout in hospice and palliative medicine: peer advice for physicians on achieving longevity and fulfillment . J Palliat Med . 2009;12(9):773-777. doi:10.1089/jpm.2009.0050

Sandahl C, Lundberg U, Lindgren A, et al. Two forms of group therapy and individual treatment of work-related depression: a one-year follow-up study . Int J Group Psychother . 2011;61(4):539-555. doi:10.1521/ijgp.2011.61.4.538

Spence Laschinger HK, Wong CA, Grau AL. The influence of authentic leadership on newly graduated nurses' experiences of workplace bullying, burnout and retention outcomes: A cross-sectional study . Int J Nurs Stud . 2012;49(10):1266-1276. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.05.012

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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How Burnout Became Normal — and How to Push Back Against It

• Kandi Wiens

Seven strategies to get back to a healthy baseline.

Slowly but steadily, while we’ve been preoccupied with trying to meet demands that outstrip our resources, grappling with unfair treatment, or watching our working hours encroach upon our downtime, burnout has become the new baseline in many work environments. From the 40% of Gen Z workers who believe burnout is an inevitable part of success, to executives who believe high-pressure, “trial-by-fire” assignments are a required rite of passage, to toxic hustle culture that pushes busyness as a badge of honor, too many of us now expect to feel overwhelmed, over-stressed, and eventually burned out at work. When pressures are mounting and your work environment continues to be stressful, it’s all the more important to take proactive steps to return to your personal sweet spot of stress and remain there as long as you can. The author presents several strategies.

If we’re exposed to something repeatedly, it seems we can become desensitized to almost anything. An event that once evoked shock can come to seem routine; what once prompted alarm can eventually inspire no more than a shrug.

• Kandi Wiens , EdD, is a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and the author of the book Burnout Immunity : How Emotional Intelligence Can Help You Build Resilience and Heal Your Relationship with Work (HarperCollins, 2024). A nationally known researcher and speaker on burnout, emotional intelligence, and resilience, she developed the Burnout Quiz to help people understand if they’re at risk of burning out.

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Burned out in college? Here’s how you can recover

For a while, I wasn’t sure what was going on. I conceded that I might be depressed, and honestly, I might have been. But near the end of the semester, I realized what was really wrong: I was burned out.

This May,  the World Health Organization added burnout to the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases . They define burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” and leads to energy depletion, feeling detached from or excessively negative towards obligations and underperforming at work.

Other symptoms of burnout include  irritability, fatigue, depression, overwhelm, anxiety and avoiding work or social settings .

That’s exactly what I was experiencing, and it makes sense now that I think about it. I was balancing multiple jobs and a very heavy course load, and I hadn’t taken a break from the grind in as long as I could remember. I’ve had two internships each summer since I graduated high school and at least two classes on top of that since I started college. I take as many hours as I can every semester and at least one job, and I know I’m far from the only one with a schedule like that.

I’m also nowhere near alone in experiencing burnout. Millennials have been called  the “burnout generation”  because they report higher rates than anyone else due to heavy workloads, long hours and low wages.  The 8-hour workday has made exhaustion the “norm for nearly all workers,”  however. The American Institute of Stress in New York  estimates  that job stress costs the United States $300 billion in sick time, long-term disability and excessive job turnover: current data show that nearly 50% of burnt-out employees switch jobs.

Burnout specifically refers to stress in an occupational context, according to the WHO , but it could just as easily be applied to college.  More than half of college students reported that their level of stress negatively affected their college experience, and 85% said they felt overwhelmed .

Disagreements at work or in classes, long hours spent doing the same thing, extended periods of stress, feeling as though you’re the only one capable of fixing problems and spending time around folks who are also burned out can all exacerbate or contribute to burnout. The University of Virginia maintains that “college burnout” develops thanks to  high expectations, social isolation, sleep deprivation, the pressure to fit in and the transition from one period of life to another  — all common aspects of college life.

It’s not just an energy-sapping syndrome, either;  it has direct, harmful impacts on your brain and physical and mental health . Participants in burnout studies showed enlarged amygdalae and thinning of their frontal cortex, both of which happen naturally with age but faster in folks experiencing burnout than those who aren’t. Burnout also  contributes to insomnia, reduced cognitive function, blood disorders and even coronary heart disease , according to the American Psychological Association.

Arianna Huffington, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post reported collapsing from exhaustion after experiencing burnout in her role at work just a few years after launching the business.

“I hit my head on my desk, broke my cheekbone, got four stitches on my right eye,” Huffington said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. On her blog, she described waking up in a pool of blood and knowing she needed to make a change. “I was very lucky I didn’t lose my eye.”

Huffington left her namesake publication and started a new one, Thrive Global, focused on work-life balance. She has since become an advocate for putting health first in the workplace, especially for women and young people, who are  most likely of anyone to feel pressured into taking on extra work to impress their colleagues and bosses and prove their worth . Her advice? Setting boundaries, getting proper sleep and changing our relationship with technology.

Technology has helped increase unrealistic expectations of how productive a human can and should be at work. We’ve got a constant barrage of emails to answer, phone calls to make, papers to write, printers to finagle and assignments to turn in by 11:59 p.m. Since remote work is so easy now, there’s also an increased pressure to respond immediately and work from home on the weekends or after hours.

Something as simple as setting your phone to “Do Not Disturb” between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. will alleviate some of the stress associated with this pressure to work. Let your boss know that you have to take that step for your own sake; that’ll also help you get enough sleep.

You could also use your phone to help with your symptoms if you’re already burnt out. Apps like Calm can help you learn meditation strategies, and light yoga or physical activity apps like Daily Yoga, Pocket Yoga and 5 Minute Yoga can help, too.

Setting boundaries look different offline. If saying “no” is a problem for you in the workplace, consider rephrasing it: when you’re asked to pick up another project mid-work, say something like, “I’d be happy to, but I’m in the middle of this right now. I can do one today and one tomorrow; which one is the priority?” Just because you can do it all, doesn’t mean you should.

You may also need to have some hard conversations with folks who consistently take advantage of your time. An email letting them know you feel they’ve relied too heavily on your work ethic to a point that it’s affecting your mental health is sometimes all it takes. However, if that doesn’t seem to do the trick, you may need to be prepared to find another job if possible; it’s more important to search for a job that values you than to stick with one that drains you.

If your burnout is more due to college than to work, there’s not as much room to negotiate workload and deadlines. However, you can strive to balance your time in a way that honors you as an individual just as much, if not more, than it honors you as a student. Make sure you’re plugged into something outside of academia, like a student organization, creative pastime or cathartic physical outlet that inspires and grounds you.

When it comes to studying, do something to break up the monotony; take your homework to a new location, switch up the times you work versus the time you socialize, reevaluate what you’re committed to and how much time they drain from you and don’t be afraid to reach out for help from friends, teachers or counselors. Anyone who can help you with time management will be a helpful resource for organizing your life and reclaiming your motivation.

For me, getting back on track after burning out involved seriously cutting down on my number of commitments. I left my sorority, quit one of my editing jobs and withdrew from a class that wasn’t critical for either of my majors. From there, I was able to restructure my week and build time for myself into my schedule. I’ve gotten back into journaling, spending time with friends off-campus, reading for pleasure and studying the tarot.

Burnout is real, and it can have serious consequences mentally, physically and emotionally. If you feel trapped in the cycle of demotivation, don’t give up — there are steps you can take to reset, refresh and find your joy again.

By Emily Rose Thorne. Original article found: HERE

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Burnout—What can I do about it?

Dear Alice,

I've never been very good at managing my time, getting homework done, or staying organized. Yet, I learned to work around this and get things done rather successfully. However, recently, I haven't been able to do ANYTHING. I can't get school work done. It's starting to impact my grades. I think this might be a result of a stressful junior year combined with a stressful summer job. I worked 50 hours a week at an understaffed Boys and Girls Club. There might be something about taking care of children — many with serious family/home issues — that really drained me. I only had about a week of summer vacation where I wasn't either working or at home with pneumonia. I went from a rough summer into a difficult senior year. Now, I feel like I need a break to collect myself, but I know I won't get that break until I graduate. What can I do? I don't think I need new organizational strategies, I've picked those up over the years, but then again if I knew what I needed I guess I wouldn't be asking!

Thanks, Burning out

Dear Burning out, 

Wow, you've had a busy year! It’s great that you’re paying attention to your body and how you feel. Recognizing that you may be on a path to burnout can help you prioritize your well-being and reduce its impacts. It can be tough to go so long without a break so incorporating some daily strategies to manage stress and take care of yourself may help you deal with the stressors you’re experiencing. 

The experience you describe in your question sounds similar to burnout, which occurs when a person experiences excessive amounts of stress over a long period of time. Rather than feeling overly stimulated, this stress can cause people to lose interest in their activities, feel as though they may not care as much about their work anymore, and feel hopeless about their circumstances changing. It may also include not feeling as accomplished or loss of personal identity.  

Burnout can happen gradually, so you may not notice it initially. However, when someone acknowledges that they may be on their way to burnout or that they’re currently burnt out, there are a number of ways they can reduce these feelings: 

• Seek out social support.  Making time to hang out with people who inspire positive feelings can help you fight those feelings of burnout. This social support can make handling other stressors in your life feel more manageable. If you'd rather do more structured activities, you may reap similar benefits from being involved in intramural sports, clubs, enjoyable jobs, or any activity in which you find meaning and interest.  
• Set some boundaries.  Taking some time to set some boundaries for yourself so you don’t feel as overwhelmed and finding time to relax can help. Setting aside these times can provide an opportunity to not only learn more about your true interests and goals, but also figure out what in your life is working for you and what isn’t working as well.  
• Focus on physical activity.  Even something as simple as taking a walk for ten minutes can help improve your mood. Additionally, focusing on what your body is doing during the activity, rather than your thoughts, can help increase those feelings of stress relief. 
• Eat a balanced diet.  The foods you consume can have an impact on how you feel during the day. Focusing on getting a wide variety of nutrients can help fuel you and keep your body running smoothly.   
• Get some zzzs.  Most adults function best when they get between seven to nine hours of sleep a night. More or less sleep may make people feel less alert and more irritable. Not getting enough sleep can also make burnout feel worse. Maintaining a routine sleep schedule (i.e., waking up and going to bed around the same times each day), reducing caffeine consumption, and limiting electronic use before sleep are just a few measures that could be helpful for improving sleep. 
• Take a break.  While you may not have any breaks in your semester planned, taking some time away from your electronics and your work for some time throughout the week can be helpful to prevent your thoughts from wandering to everything that's causing you to feel stressed and overwhelmed. Additionally, if able, taking a few days off may be a needed break to relieve some of those feelings of burnout. Taking a weekend away from work may prove to be a helpful respite. If taking a few days isn’t possible, setting aside even a day or even a few hours may offer a reprieve. 
• Try mindfulness.  Trying to incorporate some mindfulness into your routine may help fight those feelings of stress. By focusing on your breath and what you’re feeling in your body, you may be able to reduce some of the stress you’re experiencing. 

Although you may feel like you won’t get a break soon, building in time for yourself can help to reduce those feelings of burnout. By incorporating some of these techniques into your life, hopefully you’ll be able to feel motivated again. If you're still struggling to feel like yourself, you may want to see what types of support may be available on campus, be it support groups, time management resources, or a mental health professional among others, as they can provide additional information and resources to help you. 

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School Life Balance , Tips for Online Students , Tips for Students

What Is Academic Burnout?

Updated: December 14, 2023

Published: November 13, 2019

Feeling less motivated than usual? More exhausted and irritable? Less inspired and creative in your school work? You may have academic burnout, which is a very real condition that is both diagnosable and treatable with the right steps.

The first part of treating academic burnout is recognition and acknowledgement of the condition, followed by some serious commitment to change your current habits. You can overcome academic burnout, and prevent it from happening again! We’ll explain exactly how you can do so plus the best tips for avoiding burnout altogether.

Photo by Inzmam Khan  from  Pexels

Academic burnout can be defined as a negative emotional, physical and mental reaction to prolonged study that results in exhaustion, frustration, lack of motivation and reduced ability in school.

It is the culmination of many weeks or months studying the same material or working on the same project, or from continuous years of schooling. This is not to be confused with the occasional feeling of frustration when you have been studying for hours on end, or tiredness from pulling an all-nighter. It is rather more of a chronic condition from long-term study or school work.

Student Burnout Symptoms

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Academic burnout symptoms are manifested in much more than just tiredness and feeling like you can’t attend another class. Burnout can cause real, psychosomatic problems such as headaches, insomnia and depression, which is why it is important to start taking steps to reverse burnout as soon as you recognize the symptoms.

Some common ways you can know if you have academic burnout are:

• Feeling exhausted no matter how much sleep you get, resulting in fatigue and insomnia
• Lacking motivation to attend classes or start assignments
• Lashing out at others and increased irritability due to frustration
• Lacking inspiration and creativity to bring to projects and class discussions
• Loss of confidence in academic abilities
• Incapability to meet important deadlines
• Increased pain and tension in your body, which can be manifested as headaches, sore muscle aches, or jaw tension
• Higher frequency of illness due to stress and exhaustion
• Increase in bad habits such as overeating, staying up too late, nail biting, or any other habit you tend to acquire when you are stressed or not taking care of yourself
• Inability to concentrate on school work or lectures
• Feeling bored or uninterested in aspects of school or areas of leisure that you used to enjoy
• Feelings of anxiety or depression

How to Prevent Burnout in School

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If you start recognizing some of the symptoms above in yourself, it’s time to make changes before you experience full-blown academic burnout. Also, if you have a heavy semester or degree coming up, you may be worried about getting burnt out and looking to prevent it from the start. Good for you! There are many easy ways you can change your habits and lifestyle to prevent burnout in school.

Enjoy Your Vacations: Take a real break from work and school on the weekends if possible. Try to rearrange your schedule to give yourself at least a day off every week. During school breaks, try to take vacations or staycations, where you truly give your mind time to rest.

1. Make Time for Enjoyable Activities:

And not just on the weekend! Sprinkle your calendar with things you love to do throughout the week, and you’ll feel start to feel more motivated to start your school days.

2. Get Plenty of Physical Exercise:

Try to exercise at least three times a week, stay hydrated and eat healthy to keep your mind and body active and healthy.

3. Get Outside:

Studies have shown that time spent in nature can reduce stress levels so spend some of your free time in some greenery!

4. Make Time for Social Activities:

Not only do friends and family provide you with a positive support system, but time spent in fun social environments will make you happier and give your mind a break.

5. Develop Good Relationships with Professors:

(and classmates!) This will make it so that you don’t feel like going to class or study hall is a chore.

6. Set Reasonable Goals:

And stick to them — use a calendar and daily reminders to stay motivated to achieve deadlines.

7. Avoid Procrastination:

When you are feeling stressed, putting off assignments and projects is tempting, but ultimately this will lead to sleep deprivation, frustration and end in more stress.

8. Get Better at Time Management:

This is a key factor in making sure you stay on track with deadlines, avoid procrastination and end up with a more positive relationship with your studies. Check out our tips on improving your time management skills here .

9. Take a Step Back:

Look at your school situation as a whole. Ask yourself, have you chosen the correct field, school or program? Is there another direction you need to take to make this better align with your career path or interests? At University of the People , degrees are entirely online and flexible meaning schoolwork is easier to fit in with your current lifestyle. Plus, you’ll reduce your stress knowing your accredited degree is tuition-free!

10. Work-Life Balance:

Work-life balance is just as important for students as it is for workers. Set up your schedule for equal parts school and fun or social activities. And don’t forget to make time for just YOU.

How to Recover From School Burnout

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After reading this guide, you may believe that you have academic burnout and are ready to make the move to recovery. Here are the ways you can overcome your academic burnout.

1. Seek Help:

You may need the help of a professional. Speak to a guidance counselor, mental health counselor, school counselor or other professional to help you overcome school burnout. You may also enlist the help of friends, family and teachers.

2. Recognize Symptoms:

Get to know the symptoms of student burnout and don’t ignore your mind and body. If you know you have the symptoms, it’s time to make changes.

3. Don’t Ignore:

Academic burnout will only get worse if you just keep pushing yourself forward and don’t get help.

4. Manage Stress:

Manage your stress levels and make big changes to reverse the burn out. Set aside time for yourself to decompress and reduce stress.

5. Make Important Changes:

Practice mindful breathing, eating, socializing. Try mediation breaks throughout the day as well. Rearrange your schedule for a better work-life balance. Remember, it took you months or years to develop academic burnout and recovery will take time and commitment. Follow the above steps consistently and don’t give up and you’ll be on your way to a full recovery from student burnout.

10 Ways to Avoid Burnout

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Once you feel like you’ve recovered from academic burnout, it is imperative that you take steps to avoid falling into the same habits again. Here are 10 ways to avoid burnout for students so that you never have to worry about it again.

• Create reasonable goals
• Stick to deadlines, avoid procrastination
• Sleep 7-9 hours per night
• Eat healthy and drink water
• Make friends with school colleagues so that school is also fun
• Take plenty of breaks throughout the day
• Set aside time for enjoyable activities throughout the week
• Take a vacation or staycation every once in a while
• Take walks and get outside when you can
• Choose a flexible degree program such as UoPeople, where you can study whenever, wherever!

Academic burnout is a very real condition that is possible to self-treat by taking the right measures. Try to take a step back and look at everything in your life and your academic work that might be contributing to your academic burnout and make the necessary changes. Don’t feel shy to ask the help of friends, teachers, family and peers to get you out of your rut, and always seek professional help if you feel you can’t kick the burnout on your own.

Related Articles

Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in.

It's no secret that kids hate homework. And as students grapple with an ongoing pandemic that has had a wide range of mental health impacts, is it time schools start listening to their pleas about workloads?

Some teachers are turning to social media to take a stand against homework. 

Tiktok user @misguided.teacher says he doesn't assign it because the "whole premise of homework is flawed."

For starters, he says, he can't grade work on "even playing fields" when students' home environments can be vastly different.

"Even students who go home to a peaceful house, do they really want to spend their time on busy work? Because typically that's what a lot of homework is, it's busy work," he says in the video that has garnered 1.6 million likes. "You only get one year to be 7, you only got one year to be 10, you only get one year to be 16, 18."

Mental health experts agree heavy workloads have the potential do more harm than good for students, especially when taking into account the impacts of the pandemic. But they also say the answer may not be to eliminate homework altogether.

Emmy Kang, mental health counselor at Humantold , says studies have shown heavy workloads can be "detrimental" for students and cause a "big impact on their mental, physical and emotional health."

"More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies," she says, adding that staying up late to finish assignments also leads to disrupted sleep and exhaustion.

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace , says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression. 

And for all the distress homework  can cause, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist and CEO of Omega Recovery treatment center.

"The research shows that there's really limited benefit of homework for elementary age students, that really the school work should be contained in the classroom," he says.

For older students, Kang says, homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night. 

"Most students, especially at these high achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's taking away time from their friends, from their families, their extracurricular activities. And these are all very important things for a person's mental and emotional health."

Catchings, who also taught third to 12th graders for 12 years, says she's seen the positive effects of a no-homework policy while working with students abroad.

"Not having homework was something that I always admired from the French students (and) the French schools, because that was helping the students to really have the time off and really disconnect from school," she says.

The answer may not be to eliminate homework completely but to be more mindful of the type of work students take home, suggests Kang, who was a high school teacher for 10 years.

"I don't think (we) should scrap homework; I think we should scrap meaningless, purposeless busy work-type homework. That's something that needs to be scrapped entirely," she says, encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and consider the amount of time it would take for students to complete assignments.

The pandemic made the conversation around homework more crucial 

Mindfulness surrounding homework is especially important in the context of the past two years. Many students will be struggling with mental health issues that were brought on or worsened by the pandemic , making heavy workloads even harder to balance.

"COVID was just a disaster in terms of the lack of structure. Everything just deteriorated," Kardaras says, pointing to an increase in cognitive issues and decrease in attention spans among students. "School acts as an anchor for a lot of children, as a stabilizing force, and that disappeared."

But even if students transition back to the structure of in-person classes, Kardaras suspects students may still struggle after two school years of shifted schedules and disrupted sleeping habits.

"We've seen adults struggling to go back to in-person work environments from remote work environments. That effect is amplified with children because children have less resources to be able to cope with those transitions than adults do," he explains.

'Get organized' ahead of back-to-school

In order to make the transition back to in-person school easier, Kang encourages students to "get good sleep, exercise regularly (and) eat a healthy diet."

To help manage workloads, she suggests students "get organized."

"There's so much mental clutter up there when you're disorganized. ... Sitting down and planning out their study schedules can really help manage their time," she says.

Breaking up assignments can also make things easier to tackle.

"I know that heavy workloads can be stressful, but if you sit down and you break down that studying into smaller chunks, they're much more manageable."

If workloads are still too much, Kang encourages students to advocate for themselves.

"They should tell their teachers when a homework assignment just took too much time or if it was too difficult for them to do on their own," she says. "It's good to speak up and ask those questions. Respectfully, of course, because these are your teachers. But still, I think sometimes teachers themselves need this feedback from their students."

More: Some teachers let their students sleep in class. Here's what mental health experts say.

More: Some parents are slipping young kids in for the COVID-19 vaccine, but doctors discourage the move as 'risky'

Three Signs You’re Burnt Out From Studying and What to Do About It

Your mental health comes first.

Exam season can be a long slog.

There may come a certain point when you’re feeling a bit worse for wear and the day-to-day grind has become a monotonous chore.

It’s normal to be stressed and tired after an intense period of studying. But there are warning signs that you’re actually experiencing burn out—a state of prolonged mental and physical exhaustion.

We’ve identified these signs for you and provided some tips to help you cope. Check in with yourself and take care!

1. You suddenly have zero motivation to study or even do things that you enjoy.

It’s always difficult to get started, but if you’re genuinely struggling to even open your laptop lid—and this is a recurring event—you might be burnt out.

It’s a misconception that this is due to over-working; quite often, burn out can occur because of the guilt which builds up due to procrastinating tasks.

How to cope: set reasonable goals.

Burn out will only get worse if you look at a to-do list overflowing with tasks in an impossible period of time.

So be kind on yourself, and only set goals for what you know is realistically achievable.

This might mean breaking down a larger task like 'revise module 1 of History notes' into 'create flashcards for key terms in module 1 of History notes'.

Less brain-intensive tasks, like writing out flashcards, can be great for getting into the groove of things again.

2. You are constantly exhausted, even if you’re getting enough sleep.

This can be due to many factors. Your sleeping schedule could be out of whack because you’re staying up later to study, or you might even be over­ -sleeping because you don’t have any commitments other than study.

It can be very degrading on your quality of life to constantly be yawning and un-energetic. Go to your GP if you are really concerned about your energy levels, as they may be related to health issues.

In relation to studying, exhaustion can be a case of concentrating for long periods of time on intensive tasks, and not getting enough variation in your day-to-day activities.

How to cope: fit energising activities into your day.

You might challenge yourself to go for a run every morning before getting into your books.

Or a simple dance break in your room to your fave new album could suffice.

Spend time with your pets, take time to properly do chores around the house (cooking, cleaning, laundry) and set reminders to stand up at least once every hour.

3. You notice a decline in your mental health and a lack of confidence in your abilities.

The constant pressure of getting good grades and performing at your best will inevitably put some kind of strain on your mental health.

It can be a toxic cycle of procrastinating, feeling guilty because you’re procrastinating, and being a perfectionist when it comes to actually doing the work.

How to cope: communicate with friends and family.

Set frequent check-ins with the people around you. They’ll be among the first to realise that something might be off.

The most important thing to do when you’re feeling down is to not isolate yourself , even though that can feel so tempting.

Simply talking with others can give you a sense of connection to life in a broader sense; you’ll get perspective on your studies and pull yourself out of a rut of over-thinking and doubt.

Remember that while you have might have set grand expectations for yourself and the results of your hard study, you and your mental health come first .

So if you need to have a jiggy in your undies for your 1am study break, so be it.

Header image: Tara Winstead via Pexels.

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Why You Are Burned Out at Work and What to Do About It

We must look at the workplace-individual mismatches that are turning us so sour..

Posted November 15, 2022 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

• What Is Burnout?
• Find counselling near me
• The workplace environment plays a central role in employee burnout, yet too often the focus is on the individual.
• A mismatch between the workplace and the individual, such as lack of appreciation, can contribute to burnout.
• Burnout is an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.

As an ACT therapist, I love metaphors, and one of my favorite metaphors describing burnout comes from Dr. Christina Maslach , a pioneer in burnout research: "A pickle doesn't start out being a pickle. It starts out being a cucumber, and it's only because it's in an environment of brine that it becomes something else."

The workplace environment plays a central role in employee burnout, yet too often we focus on the individual. I find myself asking burned-out clients, “How can we get you better quality sleep?” or “Where can you fit some meditation or fun into your day?” and “What about taking a few days off of work?” Coping strategies and individual self-care are important, but they won’t solve the burnout problem. Moreover, if your only solution to burnout is to take a break from work, doesn’t that say something about your workplace?

You have to look at the brine you are soaking in.

Burnout Defined

I’ve been burned out at least three times in my life: graduate school, new motherhood, and the summer of 2020. When I’m burned out, my morning run slows to a crawl, I wake up with dread instead of hope, and I start wondering if I am cut out for my job. What’s worse, I start fantasizing about getting pinkeye or maybe a mild case of the flu so I can crawl back into bed.

When I interviewed Maslach—author of the measure that is used in pretty much every study on burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory —she defined burnout in more scientific terms. Burnout is an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Burnout is characterized by three categories of symptoms:

• Energy depletion or exhaustion: “I feel like I can’t turn my engine on.”
• Detachment, negativism, or cynicism : “You can take this job and shove it.”
• Perceived or real reduced professional efficacy: “I’m not cut out for this work.”

Although the pandemic made burnout a lot worse for certain professions (over 60 percent of physicians reported at least one symptom of burnout), according to Maslach, burnout did not begin with the pandemic and it will not end with it. Instead, we must look at the workplace-individual mismatches that are turning us so sour.

6 Burnout Mismatches

In her new book, The Burnout Challenge , Maslach points to six workplace mismatches or matches that contribute to burnout. Go down the list and see which ones are going well for you. Which ones need some tweaking?

• Workload : Do you have enough resources to meet your workload? Do you have more demands on your time, work intensity, or job complexity than you can handle? Do you feel overwhelmed?
• Autonomy : Do you have flexibility at work? Do you have control over what you do and when you do it? Can you let limits? Are you encouraged to solve problems creatively?
• Reward : Do you feel appreciated for what you do? Are you compensated for your hard work? Do you feel rewarded with work security, recognition, benefits, income, and intrinsic satisfaction?
• Community : Do you have a feeling of trust, belonging, and community at your workplace? Is your work fun? Do you feel mutual respect at work?
• Fairness : Does your workplace allow everyone to grow, advance, and be acknowledged?
• Values : Do you feel aligned with the work you do? Do you have a sense of purpose at work? Can you wholeheartedly stand behind what you do for a living?

Burnout Revival Skills

Once you identify your burnout mismatches, you can begin to address burnout at an individual and organizational level. Remember, it’s the pickle and the brine.

At the individual level, burnout revival requires addressing the biopsychosocial factors that impact chronic stress.

• Healthy Deviance . When you are burned out, your body has been facing a high frequency of stressors for a long time. Simply put, your body needs rest and care. Caring for your body in this way may go against workplace norms. You are likely going to have to become what Pilar Gerasimo calls a “healthy deviant" to prioritize your sleep, nutrition , and natural movement needs.
• Avoidance Patterns . Avoiding stress, anxiety , and overwhelm can make it worse. You may find yourself procrastinating, letting work pile up, or using substances or other distractions to avoid stress. Learn more about your avoidance behaviors, and look at short and long-term consequences. Try practicing compassion when you feel crummy instead.
• Community . Isolation is a common response to burnout. We want to hide and might fear sharing our vulnerability in the workplace. However, isolation breeds more burnout. Look for at least one person to confide in about how you are feeling—a therapist, friend, or safe colleague.
• Values . One of the best ways to stay motivated when it comes to work is to find purpose in what you do. When your work feels connected to something bigger than day-to-day tasks, you can focus on this and let it fuel you when you feel run down and burned out.

At the systemic level, burnout revival will require leadership , grassroots banding together, and organizational change.

• Flexibility . According to Maslach, workplaces need to offer a buffet of options for the diversity of employee experiences. Some employees need time in the afternoon to care for family, others would benefit from working from home. When employees feel they have autonomy over their work, it benefits productivity , strengthens community, and promotes diversity and inclusion.
• Appreciation . People work harder when they feel appreciated. Leaders and organizations need to pay as much attention to acknowledging their employees' contributions as they do to giving feedback and critique. It’s also important for organizations to pay attention to process and acknowledge effort even when outcomes aren’t reached.
• Inclusivity and belonging . When people feel excluded it impacts their cognitive performance , health behaviors , sense of purpose , and prosocial behavior . Leaders and organizations need to focus on creating environments where employees feel valued and connected.

As individuals and organizations, we need to take a closer look at how burnout is not a “me problem” but a “we problem.” Together we can create healthier workspaces that fit the needs of the individual while benefiting the whole.

Diana Hill, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, co-author of ACT Daily Journal , and the host of the podcast Your Life in Process.

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How To Avoid Homework Burnout

Why you might feel stressed out right now (and what you can do about it).

Starting as early as elementary school, students begin to participate in a large-scale competition against one another. This competition is intense, draining, and receiving a gold medal is always just out of reach -- there, in view, calling to those who seek it, but not obtainable. This competition is called the “Busy Olympics.”

In this competition, students attempt to be busier than their peers, taking on more responsibilities and enrolling in more difficult classes simply to prove themselves capable of doing so. However, most students don’t know where their breaking point lies, and, with this competition, students attempt a trial-and-error method in finding out how much they can really do. When this error occurs, students experience “Homework Burnout.”

What is “Homework Burnout”?

When coupled with all the other responsibilities you may face on a daily basis, getting through large amounts of homework can be especially draining. Whether you start your homework right after school, at ten P.M. after soccer practice, or at eleven P.M. after procrastinating all day, homework burnout is real.

Emerson College First-Year Seren Cho defines homework burnout as: "the eventual exhaustion developed from having an extremely heavy homework load from class.” This exhaustion can have negative effects on your concentration levels. If you’re getting tired after the first thing on your to-do list, it will be much harder to get the rest of your homework done. Even if you make it through one night of homework without burning out, you might feel the exhaustion the next day or the day after that as you complete more and more assignments.

In a New York Times article on burnout at the professional level, author Kenneth R. Rosen characterizes burnout as a cycle. It’s easy to get trapped in the routine of overextension -- working late one night, then later the next, then even later the night after that as these small increments seem manageable. For this reason, it’s important to reflect: how much work were you taking on last week? Last month? Last year? How does it compare to how much you’re doing now? Do you feel more tired now than before?

These check-in questions are crucial to understanding how you’re feeling so that you can, eventually, figure out how to manage your stress levels.

Breaking the Cycle

“No one wins the Busy Olympics because winning that game means losing at everything else,” says one article from Above the Law, This statement holds especially true for today’s students because it proves that the cycle of homework burnout forces its victims to prioritize work over all other aspects of life. For example, holing yourself up in your room for days on end to complete essays, projects, and catch up on extra-curriculars leaves no room for time spent with friends or family.

The article goes onto explain that being “busy” is a state of mind that occurs when you don’t really know how much work you have to do, and it can seem like there’s a lot more work than you actually have to do. In order to demystify your workload, get organized.

Find a personal organizing calendar app that works for you. Some popular free options include Google Calendar, MyHomework Student Planner, My Study Life, and Chalkboard. These apps can help you input deadlines, make to-do lists, and/or make scheduled reminders.

If you prefer the old-school pen and paper calendar, you still have lots of options. Giant wall or desk calendars with a page per month can help sort out long-term deadlines. Such calendars come in whiteboard form, too. For short-term assignments, portable planners with room for daily to-do lists can come in handy. If you want to double up, make on-desk to-do lists on sticky notes or a piece of paper. If you can only work when a to-do list is super neat, type it up first, then print it out, crossing out the items as you go.

There has been a lot of talk lately about mindfulness practices, but what really works? Generally, we hear about yoga , taking a bath, journaling , essential oils, and meditation. However, mindfulness goes beyond this: sometimes, all it takes is focusing on something other than your work.

The best mindfulness practice is to involve yourself with a task you do not need to complete perfectly, be it working on a coloring book, writing poetry, or completing a puzzle. To decide which practice to complete, you need to ask yourself some questions about how you manage stress.

When you’re stressed, do you like to work on something for which there is only one right answer? In this case, try a puzzle: be it a traditional puzzle, a LEGO set, sudoku, or a crossword. For some people, these straightforward, right-or-wrong practices are appealing and cathartic in times of stress.

Or, when you’re stressed, do you like to do something more ambiguous and creative? If so, try your hand at creative writing or art of another form. Creative writing can be easy to get into. Simply hit an online  writing prompt generator  and complete a free-write for five to ten minutes. Poetry is also engaging. Look around your immediate area for something that represents a word or phrase that inspires you, such as “light through the trees” or “vase of wilting flowers.” Think about what abstract metaphors your surroundings can represent -- this can get you out of your work brain and help you to connect with your thoughts and the world around you.

Finally, if you’re an extrovert, do you like to spend time with others when stressed? If so, share a meal with your family, go on an adventure with friends, or head to a bestie’s house for fun and games , watching TV and baking cookies while you talk out your feelings of stress.

Have Your Say

Have you ever experienced homework burnout? Are you experiencing it now? If so, how do you break the cycle? Let us know in the comments below.

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6 tips to help staff and faculty manage burnout

The end of the semester can be a stressful and difficult time for many staff and faculty members. If you’re feeling particularly stressed or struggling to finish out the academic year, here are a few tips that can help you identify burnout, manage it and find support. 

What is burnout?  

Burnout describes a generalized condition that can manifest when we feel overly stressed, overwhelmed, overloaded or anxious about our work or life.  

Here are some of the most common symptoms of burnout:  

• Feeling mentally, physically or emotionally depleted or exhausted  
• Developing cynicism or negative feelings towards your work, teams or projects  
• Distancing yourself from tasks or responsibilities 
• Losing motivation to do tasks or assignments  
• Difficulty concentrating  
• Missing deadlines  
• Impacts to your work performance, relationships or overall engagement at work 
• Disconnecting from others, feeling isolated or lonely  
• Difficulty sleeping, changes in eating patterns or an increase in substance use  
• Feelings of hopelessness, helplessness or irritability   
• Feeling chronically stressed, anxious or overwhelmed  
• Feeling dissatisfied 
• Lacking meaning and purpose 

Keep in mind that burnout can show up differently for people, and you may not experience every symptom listed above. However, it’s important to identify these symptoms and take note of which ones may be affecting you most. This can make it easier to know when you’re struggling or need to seek additional support. 

What causes burnout? 

Burnout is a unique experience for everyone. This is because we each face a unique set of stressors in our work and lives. Identifying possible sources of stress or burnout can be a helpful step in pinpointing possible solutions and seeking support. 

Here are some of the most common reasons for burnout: 

• Unmanageable workload or overall volume of tasks and projects 
• Lack of clarity around your role or responsibilities 
• Limited communication or support from team members or supervisors 
• Overstimulating or ‘fast-paced’ work environments 
• Tedious work that feels repetitive, boring or doesn’t resonate 
• Student behavior or academic deficits 
• Changing classroom environments (e.g., AI) 
• Lack of control over responsibilities at work or at home 
• Compassion or care-giving fatigue 
• Changes in organizational culture or structure 
• Lack of recognition or feeling underappreciated or overlooked 

If any of these factors resonate with you, here are some strategies that can help you (and your colleagues) recover from burnout and find support. 

1. Give yourself (and others) grace 

Many of us may assume that burnout is a personal issue that could or should be resolved through resilience or willpower. However, it’s important to recognize that burnout is a collective experience that often involves structural or cultural factors within teams and departments. 

When you’re feeling burned out, focus on what is realistically within your influence of control. It’s also important to recognize that your colleagues may be feeling the way which can help you open the door for meaningful conversations and communal support. 

2. Evaluate your expectations 

All of us want to do well at work. However, it’s important to remember that you can only do so much with the resources, time, energy and support that are available to you. For instance, it may not be realistic to meet every deadline if you aren’t given enough time or take on additional responsibilities if you don’t have team support. 

Expectations related to our jobs may come from our supervisor or department, but they can also come from us. Take some time to identify work expectations and ask yourself: 

• Are these expectations realistic or achievable? 
• Where might these expectations be coming from? 
• How are these expectations impacting my life outside of work (e.g., mental health, relationships, free time, etc.)? 
• Which of these expectations are within my control? 
• Is there a way for me to find support for those that feel out of my control? 
• What might good ‘enough’ look like for me? 

Asking yourself these types of questions can help you identify areas where you may need to adjust your expectations or adjust how you perceive work.  

3. Focus on what is in your control 

We may not always have control over how our team operates or what our jobs look like.  

This lack of control can contribute to feelings of burnout. Instead of focusing on what may be outside of your control (like workload or deadlines), try to refocus your time and energy towards the things that you do have a say in. 

Here are some examples of things that you may be in control of: 

• What extra responsibilities or projects you take on 
• How you delegate responsibilities or tasks among your team 
• How you interact with your coworkers or supervisors 
• How you structure your courses to match your teaching style 
• How you spend your free time away from work 
• How you interact with work notifications or requests after-hours 
• When and how you reach out for support 
• How much sleep you get each night 
• Who you spend time with at work and outside of work 

Sometimes, it may also be helpful to relinquish control over certain things. For instance, once you’ve completed a project or submitted an assignment to your supervisor, it is in their hands. 

4. Practice delegating 

Have you ever felt like you’re the only one who can do certain things at work? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. However, these types of assumptions and feelings may be causing you to experience over-responsibility where you take on more than you can reasonably handle.  

That’s why it’s important to practice delegating tasks among your team. You may not be able to give up full control right away, but seeking support from your colleagues can help you manage projects more effectively. It can also build trust, as you’re demonstrating that you trust the abilities of others on your team to do good work.  

5. Diversify your time 

While it may seem counterintuitive, it can be helpful to take breaks from our work responsibilities. In fact, stepping away and reallocating our time can help us feel better, stay motivated and find purpose in our lives and jobs. 

This is because burnout can cause us to lose sight of the things we really care about. It can also make everything we do feel like a chore, which isn’t very productive.  

Diversifying our time may look different for each of us. Here are some examples of what this might look like: 

Living life outside of work: You may choose to dedicate more time to other areas of your life outside of work, like friends, family, hobbies or leisure. Finding meaning in your time away from the office can help reduce stress, enhance your sense of fulfilment and bring joy to your life. 

Pausing between projects: Stress can be a positive feedback loop, especially when we find ourselves jumping from project to project. Instead, it may be more helpful to allow yourself to take a break and reset between projects. After you’ve finished one, step away and take a deep breath before moving onto the next thing. This may look like going for a walk, grabbing coffee with a colleague or spending time completing lower-stress tasks. 

Getting away: Research shows that over half of all U.S. workers leave vacation time unused each year. However, vacation time can provide a variety of benefits that can help you feel better in the long run. If you feel too overwhelmed or uncertain about taking time off, you’re not alone. That’s why we’ve put together some tips to help you prepare before you leave, leave work behind and make a smoother transition back to work. 

6. Reach out for support 

If you’re feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed or don’t know what to do, start the conversation with your colleagues and supervisor. They are often the best resource to help address work-related issues and succeed.  

If you want additional support, there are campus resources available for all staff and faculty. 

Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP)

FSAP provides a variety of free mental health services for CU Boulder staff and faculty, including workshops, support groups, same-day appointments, short-term counseling (including family and couples counseling) and more. Staff and faculty can take advantage of FSAP services without taking sick leave or paid time off. 

Ombuds Office

The Ombuds Office can help staff and faculty identify options to resolve disputes, determine appropriate courses of action and aid in the informal resolution of workplace conflicts or other concerns. They also provide confidential consultation services.

WorkWell helps oversee a variety of health and wellness programs that are aimed at supporting staff and faculty and fostering a sense of belonging on campus. You can get involved by attending classes, events and more.

AcademicLiveCare

AcademicLiveCare provides access to free online counseling and psychiatry appointments. Staff and faculty can access services for free, regardless of their health insurance plan or coverage.  

*This program does not provide emergency or crisis services. 

Wellness Workshops

The Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) provides free workshops to help staff and faculty find support and improve their wellness. Workshop topics include sleep, healthy eating, support groups, parenting, estate planning, homebuying, retirement planning and more.

Thriving Campus

If you are looking to connect with a local provider in your area, Thriving Campus can help you connect with a variety of providers based on specialization, needs and insurance. 

Mentorship programs

Did you know that staff and faculty members can work with a professional mentor on campus? Here are a few to check out:  

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Advocacy and Support

I was too afraid to tell my boss 'no.' My burnout was so bad that one day I left the office on a stretcher.

• When I was a VP at my company, I was too afraid to speak up or tell my boss "no."
• I reached burnout and collapsed during a meeting, forcing me to leave the office on a stretcher.
• Once I explored my childhood trauma in therapy, I was able to set boundaries at work.

"Teresa, you can plan the office party, right?"

My stomach tightened, and I felt lightheaded at the question. I went through a mental checklist of everything I was asked to lead. I tried to repeat the boundary script I read in a Forbes article the previous day.

Instead, these words come out of my mouth: " My workload is already full, is there any chance you can maybe find someone else to cover? If not, I will try my best to make a plan."

My boss stared blankly at me before telling me I should just plan the party.

I had recently been promoted to VP of Human Resources. I was already stretched thin with developing new training programs, improving our hiring pipeline, and onboarding new hires. I was nearing burnout — and fast.

I was too anxious in the office to set boundaries

I knew what boundaries were, intellectually. Yet, on the few attempts that I tried to "set a boundary," my body took over. I froze in terror, and my throat closed up.

After being promoted to the executive suite , I became the only woman in the room. My heart raced whenever I contributed to a meeting. When I left the room, I obsessed over everything I said, questioning whether I sounded stupid or not. Soon, I lost my appetite, stopped sleeping through the night, and drastically lost weight.

It all came to a head one day in a meeting. I remember my heart rate quickening. I felt my heart skip a beat. I tried to excuse myself, but after just two steps, my body swayed, and if it weren't for a nearby chair, I would have fallen.

"Teresa, should we call the ambulance?"

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I blinked, and — in blurry, distortedness — I saw the faces of the CEO and CMO of my company staring at me. Soon, I was lying on a stretcher and being wheeled out to the lobby. The elevator doors opened and closed. The whole office was staring at me — jaws agape. I felt so small and mortified.

I thought it was a heart problem , but at the hospital, they did a lot of tests that came out clear. The doctor diagnosed me with burnout and anxiety.

I found the solution to my troubles when I started trauma therapy

Before all of this, I met one of my best friends for coffee at Starbucks. She was talking about her dad. At the end of the conversation, she said something that stuck with me: "I'm just curious, T. You never talk about your mom and dad. Why is that?"

I evaded the topic of my childhood around friends and in the therapy room. Perhaps part of me hoped that journaling and the mindfulness work I was doing would be enough.

But my friend's question kept playing over in my brain.

That's when my psychologist guided me through Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, a practice where I embodied myself at different ages. I remember — during a session — embodying 9-year-old Teresa. My dad was screaming at me because my running shoes were not organized in a straight line at the door. As I described the scene to my therapist, he responded, "None of this was your fault."Tears fell down my cheek. It felt like my therapist was talking directly to 9-year-old Teresa — not to 45-year-old Teresa.

Even though both childhood trauma and burnout symptoms often overlap, the solution differs. Most traditional burnout recovery approaches overfocus on external solutions — like physical exercise or an adequate rest and sleep schedule. While these are healthy and self-care-promoting, for someone who has experienced childhood trauma, true relief comes from addressing your deeper needs, I learned.

I implemented what I learned into my work life

I realized that I was responding to male authority figures like I was a child, and that's why I couldn't tell my bosses "no," and that led to my burnout.

Having the awareness that this was happening changed everything. If I feel triggered at work, I quietly tell myself that freezing or complying helped younger Teresa survive scary events. And then I tell myself that things are different for older Teresa. I am not in physical danger, and the responses that served me when I was younger no longer serve me. Doing this means that I allow the fear or anxiety to pass through me. From here, I can assert my boundaries from a regulated state.

This isn't a one-and-done solution. I look at boundary work and trauma-based work as a lifelong practice. It's a constant journey of understanding the patterns.

Every time I manage to successfully navigate a difficult conversation that would have triggered me in the past, it reaffirms that I am, in fact, capable of asserting myself and setting boundaries — especially in the workplace.

Watch: Rikers Island is one of the world's most notorious jails — here's what it's actually like

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Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say

The Associated Press

A metal can sits on the ground at the scene where a man lit himself on fire in a park outside Manhattan criminal court on Friday in New York. Mary Altaffer/AP hide caption

A metal can sits on the ground at the scene where a man lit himself on fire in a park outside Manhattan criminal court on Friday in New York.

NEW YORK — A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial is on trial has died, police said.

The New York City Police Department told The Associated Press early Saturday that the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital.

The man was in Collect Pond Park around 1:30 p.m. Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said.

Jury selection ends in Trump hush money trial

A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed to the aid of the man, who was hospitalized in critical condition.

The man, who police said recently traveled from Florida to New York, had not breached any security checkpoints to access the park.

The park outside the courthouse has been a gathering spot for protesters, journalists and gawkers throughout Trump's trial, which began with jury selection Monday.

Through Friday, the streets and sidewalks in the area around the courthouse were generally wide open and crowds have been small and largely orderly.

Authorities said they were also reviewing the security protocols, including whether to restrict access to the park. The side street where Trump enters and leaves the building is off limits.

"We may have to shut this area down," New York City Police Department Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said at a news conference outside the courthouse Friday, adding that officials would discuss the security plan soon.

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 9-8-8 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

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Trump hush money trial

Day 4 of Trump New York hush money trial

From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell in the courthouse

We've wrapped up our live updates. Learn more about Friday's proceedings by scrolling through the posts below, and return on Monday for more live coverage of Trump's hush money criminal trial .

Man who lit himself on fire outside of the courthouse has died, law enforcement official says

From CNN's John Miller

The man who lit himself on fire outside of the Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump’s trial was taking place died Friday night, a senior law enforcement official told CNN.

NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey B. Maddrey said earlier that the man walked into the center of Collect Pond Park, which is directly across from the courthouse.

He opened his backpack and took out pamphlets that he scattered in the park before setting himself on fire.

The man was taken to Cornell Burn Center earlier in critical condition. Police had said they thought it was not likely that he would survive.

Key takeaways from the final day of jury selection in Trump's hush money trial

From CNN's Jeremy Herb and Lauren del Valle

The historic first criminal trial of a former US president begins with opening statements on Monday.

Judge Juan Merchan swiftly  moved through consideration of roughly 200 potential jurors  to find a jury pool of 18 by midday Friday, swearing in 12 jurors and six alternates who will decide Donald Trump’s fate in the New York hush money case.

Here are takeaways from the final day of jury selection:

• The jury is set: Four women and one man were  added to the jury on Friday as five of the six alternates for the case. They will sit in the jury box and will hear the duration of the trial, but they will only be put on the jury should one or more of the 12 jurors be excused from the case. Prosecutors focused their questions in the case on preparing the jurors to accept testimony from less-than-favorable witnesses, like Michael Cohen. Trump’s attorneys, meanwhile, were almost singularly focused on a single question: What did jurors think about Donald Trump?
• Final round of juror questions highlights emotional decision for potential jurors: There were several emotional moments during Friday morning’s questioning of potential jurors, with two jurors telling the judge in the middle of voir dire that they no longer felt they could serve. One female prospective juror who works in sales for a trading company began crying when she was handed the microphone. At one point after that jury had left, another juror raised her hand and told the court she started feeling “high anxiety” as she sat and listened to a line of questioning about the credibility of witnesses.
• Trump is still trying to stop his trial: Despite seating a jury, Trump’s legal team again tried to stop the trial in its tracks with another strategic appeal. In a new motion filed Friday morning, Trump’s lawyers once again asked an appeals court to temporarily halt the trial until they ruled on Trump’s appeal to move the venue of the hush money trial out of Manhattan. The motion was denied.
• A hearing on Trump’s gag order violations is set for Tuesday: Despite Trump’s attempts to delay, opening statements in his criminal trial will begin Monday morning. On Tuesday, the morning will shift to Trump’s discussion of witnesses in the case, as Merchan plans to hold a hearing on social media posts by the former president that prosecutors say violated his gag order. They’re asking the judge to fine Trump $1,000 per post and remind him that violations of the gag order could result in imprisonment.

5 alternate jurors were selected Friday. Here's what we know about them

From CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle, and Jeremy Herb

The full panel in Donald Trump's hush money trial has been set after five alternate jurors were selected Friday.

Remember: A full 12-person jury was seated earlier this week, along with one alternate juror.

Here's what we know about the alternate jurors selected Friday:

Alternate Juror #1

• A woman originally from Spain
• Not currently working
• Married with adult children
• Likes to travel
• Says she does not follow the news and does not have any social media accounts
• Says she doesn't "have strong opinions about former President Donald Trump that would interfere" with her ability to be a fair and impartial juror

Alternate Juror #3

• A native New Yorker
• He is a fan of martial arts

Alternate Juror #4

• A contract specialist who has previously lived in New Jersey and Oregon
• She is married with two children
• Says she likes to see live music and take her boys to basketball games
• Says she’s “not a big news person” but looks at The New York Times, Reuters and the BBC
• Does have social media profiles but doesn’t post or use them

Alternate Juror #5

• Works for a clothing company
• Says she gets her news from Google

Alternate Juror #6

• Project manager for a construction company
• She is divorced with three sons
• Her boyfriend is in law enforcement
• Says she listens to true crime podcasts
• Her father was convicted of a federal crime when she was in high school but she said she was shielded from the details

The full jury is sworn in. Catch up on what happened ahead of opening statements in the hush money trial

From CNN staff

The full jury panel has now been seated in the hush money trial against Donald Trump, clearing the way for opening statements to start on Monday.

There are 12 jurors and six alternates who will hear the case against the former president.

Opening statements are set to begin Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET. Court will be a half day on Monday and Tuesday due to Passover, ending at 2 p.m. ET each day.

Leaving the courthouse Friday, Trump again called the trial a "giant witch hunt." Just hours after jury selection finished, an appeals court denied Trump’s latest attempt to stop the trial from going forward.

Here’s what happened today:

Finishing jury selection:

• The remaining five alternates were sworn in on Friday. All 12 jurors and one alternate were selected Thursday.
• The day started with a group of  22 potential jurors answering a questionnaire and facing more questions from lawyers on both sides.
• Trump watched the alternates' answers very closely as they shared their opinions of him, turning toward the jury box as they responded. 
• Before the lunch break, Judge Juan Merchan gave the jurors instructions not to discuss the case with others or research it. He said the court cannot start until all 18 jurors are present each day.

Sandoval hearing:

• The judge held a Sandoval hearing in the afternoon after the full jury was sworn in. The routine procedure aimed to address Trump’s criminal history and assess how much prosecutors can ask about it if the defendant testifies.
• Prosecutors want to bring up past cases — including a $355 million civil fraud order and the E. Jean Carroll defamation case — but the former president's legal team argues those issues aren't relevant to the case at hand .
• The judge said lawyers will have his decision on that matter by Monday.
• It's not yet clear whether the former president will testify. But coming out of the courtroom, Trump said “yes” when asked whether he would take the stand.

Meantime: A New York appeals court judge denied Trump’s motion for an interim stay pending a  change of venue appeal . This was the latest attempt by the former president to stop the hush money trial before opening statements.

Outside the courtroom:

• A man lit himself on fire outside the courthouse , New York Police Chief of Department Jeffrey B. Maddrey said.
• The man walked into the park across the street from the courthouse, throwing flyers into the air , according to Maddrey. He then pulled a canister of what police believe to be an accelerant and lit himself on fire, he said.
• The man is in critical condition at Cornell Burn Unit.
• NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said police have not determined if the incident was related to Trump’s trial. He said the man did post about the incident on social media and that his internet presence will be part of the ongoing investigation .

See courtroom sketches from Trump's first criminal trial

No cameras are allowed inside the Manhattan courtroom where Donald Trump's hush money is underway, but sketch artists are capturing the scenes.

Trump’s request for interim stay of criminal trial is denied

From CNN's Lauren del Valle

A New York appeals court judge denied Donald Trump’s motion for an interim stay pending a change of venue appeal of his criminal trial.

This was the latest attempt by the former president to stop the hush money trial right before opening statements, which are set to be heard on Monday.

Judge Marsha Michael gave five minutes for each side to argue their case at the hastily arranged hearing Friday afternoon.

Trump says judge in New York hush money case “wants this to go as fast as possible”

From CNN's Kate Sullivan and Kaanita Iyer

Former President Donald Trump spoke to reporters as he exited the courtroom Friday, and said Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the hush money trial, “wants this to go as fast as possible."

“The trial starts on Monday, which is long before a lot of people thought. The judge wants this to go as fast as possible. That’s for his reasons, not for my reasons,” Trump said.

The former president also called the trial "a giant witch hunt" and railed against people involved in the separate New York civil fraud case — including Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James — to make the case that Democrats are targeting him.

Court has adjourned

The court has adjourned for the day. Opening statements in the hush money trial are expected to begin Monday.

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