How To Manage Stress & Prevent Burnout

As mentioned on Wednesday it has been a very long and busy semester for me with a point of almost reaching complete burnout. I asked the readers of Studenomics if productivity can lead to burnout? I wrote up my own list of how I was able to manage stress and prevent burnout but before I get into my list I want to display some of the ideas brought forward by the great readers of Studenomics:

Know your limits. Grant Baldwin says that all of us have a capacity and we simply can’t fill our whole day with activities.

Schedule some fun into your day. Nate feels that a minimum of 30 minutes a day of fun time is needed to ensure you don’t burn out or lose your mind due to stress.

Schedule spontaneity into your schedule. MyLifeROI says that he was able to survive a full load in college by scheduling time that involved him doing nothing at all.

Take a day break. Jeff says when he has a day off from a particular activity he does not engage in that activity at all for the whole day. When you come back you are so much more refreshed.

Those were some great tips from the readers and now it’s my turn to discuss my tips that have helped me manage stress and prevent burnout. Just keep in mind that these tips don’t come from an health journal, it’s just what has worked for me and could possibly work for you.

Take a power nap. I find it hard to fall asleep during a normal night but when I’m running on minimal sleep and  struggling with studying for a exam, with writing an assignment or even with writing a blog article I find that the best cure is to take a power nap for an hour. Every time I wake up refreshed and ready to get back to work and an hour is not enough time to lose focus.

Eat properly all the time. I know eating properly is very subjective and yes I do sneak in some junk food but all you got to do is use your best judgment before eating. Even though you may be extremely busy there is no excuse for eating fast food, you could always run into a grocery store and grab some healthy food.

Squeeze some exercise into your schedule. I do weight training about 3 times a week but I also feel it’s important to squeeze in a quick job whenever possible. When you are completely stressed sometimes the thing that could really help you is to turn on your favorite rock tunes on your music player and go for a jog.

Have some fun on the weekends. You work hard all week so you deserve to have at least one night where you let loose and have some fun. No need to get completely drunk but it’s okay to drink with your buddies and not even mention or think about the things that are stressing you.

Think about the bigger picture. Whenever I’m near the point of complete burnout I think about the bigger picture which usually involves thinking about having that Degree, or new job, or whatever else motivates you. The trick is to realize that you’re putting in all of this hard work for a reason.

Did I mention sex? Nothing helps to kill stress more than having sex, period. I really don’t think I need to explain the benefits of sex to the readers of Studenomics so I will leave it at that.

There you have it those are my tips for managing stress and preventing burnout all while working full time, studying full time, and trying to get a blog going! Let’s hear some more stress reduction tips from you guys.