Burnout prevention

[Deleted member 1077394]

I'm a very busy nontrad. Normally, I am energized by doing a lot of things and don't mind my super busy workweek. The problem with this is that, without fail, towards the end of the semester (November & April. Every year.), I get so burnt out and the urge to quit gets strong. Then, I get a break and it comes around again and I want to do everything again. It's just that day-long breaks can be really hard to come by, especially for nontrads such as myself.

What are you guys' strategies for preventing burnout?

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[Blueprint Med School]

Try and schedule activity holidays around the time you notice you normally feel burnout creep up. I usually got a mid-semester swoon spaced around high energy beginning and ends, so I learned to schedule concerts and trips* around the 50% mark of the semester, basically splitting it into two halves with something planned at the end.

*Obvs, adjust that for COVID.


David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[Deleted member 1077394]

Try and schedule activity holidays around the time you notice you normally feel burnout creep up. I usually got a mid-semester swoon spaced around high energy beginning and ends, so I learned to schedule concerts and trips* around the 50% mark of the semester, basically splitting it into two halves with something planned at the end.

*Obvs, adjust that for COVID.


David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

That's a really good idea. Thank you, Dr. David.

 

[HouseJC]

It's hard to know what you mean when you call yourself non-trad and without knowing your lifestyle or "day in your life", it's hard to give concrete suggestions. For me, as a current Ph.D. student who will attend medical school next year, I find it best to lay out my entire week and see how my free time looks. I find a major cause of mental stress (and eventual burnout) is that even if you are working, but without a plan, you will not "see" progress. This forces you to work even harder, create more stress; overall a negative loop.

Also, even during work, I use the Pomodoro technique, where every hour, I go 55 minutes of work/studying etc, and 5 minutes break to drink water, go to the bathroom etc. After 4 cycles, I'll go for a longer break (usually lunchtime). I have a mid-day lull, so that's when I would go for 30-40 minutes of exercise (normally high-intensity interval training). That will usually boost my mood, so I'm motivated and focused for evening tasks (which again, I use the Pomodoro). Then at night, I do some journaling to reflect on the day, unwind and sleep.

It took me some optimization to develop this routine, which will likely change again in medical school. Also, while this might work for me, it might not work for you, so just full disclosure Good luck!