How do you deal with burnout?

[drducky.]

In undergrad and when i first started med school, i could sit in the library all day and study. Now i dread it. I sit down with a cup of coffee, ready to go, but as soon as i start, i just don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t feel tired or anything but i just don’t want to do it. I’m sure covid has impacted me on a psychological level but i don’t know how to get over this rut i’m in.

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[slowthai]

Just imagine ending up in North Dakota

 

[undergrad2021premed]

In undergrad and when i first started med school, i could sit in the library all day and study. Now i dread it. I sit down with a cup of coffee, ready to go, but as soon as i start, i just don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t feel tired or anything but i just don’t want to do it. I’m sure covid has impacted me on a psychological level but i don’t know how to get over this rut i’m in.

i feel the same way but i'm still in undergrad :/

 

[Nugester]

I usually take a day off where I do nothing but unwind.

 

[Redpancreas]

In undergrad and when i first started med school, i could sit in the library all day and study. Now i dread it. I sit down with a cup of coffee, ready to go, but as soon as i start, i just don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t feel tired or anything but i just don’t want to do it. I’m sure covid has impacted me on a psychological level but i don’t know how to get over this rut i’m in.

I think this is common post-M2. Don't assess yourself too harshly. It's not that you can no longer study. In M1-M2, all you had to do was sit and study. Now you want to do clerkships (equivalent to a job) and try to live that M2 lifestyle sitting at a computer from 9am-9pm with nothing but starbucks/first aid on bookstand/headphones? You're probably just tired after work!

In terms of burnout in general, we've stressed ourselves out comparing ourselves to what others project on social media and I think there's external pressure to make it so everything we do is related to our success. Don't hesitate or feel bad about spending as much time as you need doing something stupid that just makes you feel good but contributes nothing to your betterment. One of those things for me is SDN. It's never going to help me or contribute to career in any way. I'm just happy to be here. In M2 I burnt out for like 2 weeks and spent that time buying a used Nintendo DS/SoulSilver (pokemon...I kid you not) from GameStop and binging it for like 2 weeks before I felt ready to do work again. My 3rd Pharm unit grade suffered, but I survived and I learnt the drugs in other units and before Step 1.

 

[dienekes88]

Stick to a schedule. From X to Y you work hard. After a certain hour, you stop and do something else. It's hard to keep going when there's literally no end in sight. Set hours. Manageable work chunks. This makes everything less daunting.

 

[Doctor-S]

Boarded here, definitely busy every week, and still enjoying my career.
One of the best ways I do NOT burn out is by coming home to a sweet and loving pet that can't wait to chill with me.

 

[calivianya]

If you ever figure it out, please let me know.

I’ve found that I study better when I’m happier. It’s a lost cause this rotation because I’m miserable and I can’t do anything but relax when I get home. Sometimes meditating, yoga, eating something delicious (bad coping mechanism, don’t recommend), or something like that right when I get home will help me unwind enough to study, but it’s just not happening if I get home upset or frustrated for the most part.

 

[stickgirl390]

If I sit down to study, and I really truly can’t focus at all, can’t get anything done, then I just stop studying. I realize I won’t get any quality work in, and I won’t get any wellness either just forcing myself to sit there in misery. Sometimes you just have to accept defeat, and go do something else unrelated to school. You’ll get back to it when you can, and that’s okay.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

As soon as you realize you're becoming inefficient in your studying, hard stop and do something fun or relaxing, just take a break. The only time I truly sit down and study is about a week before exams (that's also because I attend all lectures in person), but during that week I probably study 12-16 hour days. Does that mean I'm sitting there and 100 percent grinding the entire time? No, that sounds impossible, at least for me. I probably have about 8 hours of intense, 100 percent efficiency studying, and 4 hours of time for myself in little 20 to 30 minute breaks, whether its cooking, cleaning, video games, YouTube, etc. Try to set realistic goals between breaks too (I'll study 2 more lectures, then take a 30 min break, etc). I've also had full days where someone couldn't pay me to study, maybe that's burnout?? I felt no problem just taking the day off. I usually let the stress of the exam gauge my study level haha; if I wasnt pulling out my hair thinking I NEEDED to study that day, I probably dont.

 

[CliveStaples]

The other day was my third work day in a row (12 hour shifts in the ER). At the end of my shift, I was angry, almost swearing at the most unhelpful person on the phone who was being a roadblock to getting critical information about a patient from their healthcare system, while a nurse handed me an EKG that looked like a STEMI on a person under the age of 35.

Then do you know what happened? My shift ended, I let one of my colleagues take over my first patient, I handled my STEMI, and went home. Yesterday I did nothing but self care, and today I will take out my partner to a nice seafood dinner where I won't have to scoff at the $300 price tag because it's Valentines day and I sacrificed a lot of Valentine's days the past decade in order to have this one today. My life may be no less stressful, but I do think it was worth it.

 

[odyssey2]

Exercise and sleep are everything. Make time for that, even when it feels like you should be doing something else, and it will pay back dividends.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

After a big test, a large group of us would rent a local rink and play street hockey for a couple hours. Then go have a couple beers, and start fresh in the morning. This was a great stress release, but not with the injuries of rugby or football.

 

[InFreudWeTrust]

Just imagine ending up in North Dakota

Different strokes for different folks.

Cheap col, loan repayment, disposable income, and less traffic sound wonderful. You can take your extra money and travel wherever you want on your free time. Tried a big city for medical school and can’t wait to leave. Paying out the nose for smells of urine, noise pollution, and constant annoyance is overrated.

 

[PapaGuava]

After a big test, a large group of us would rent a local rink and play street hockey for a couple hours. Then go have a couple beers, and start fresh in the morning. This was a great stress release, but not with the injuries of rugby or football.

That's awesome! That's what I miss the most about being where I'm at because I can't play ice hockey. I always have my gear but the closest rink is almost 2 hours away.

 

[Mica45]

This is literally me,
I studied so hard during my undergrad and got 4.0 GPA and I’m so exhausted rn and I can’t study anymore. I pepefer to do the hardest thing in this world but not study 🤣

 

[Magnolia28]

Hi Dr. Ducky,
I’m just an undergrad so I don’t know exactly what you’re going through but what helps me is thinking about my patients and how I can better serve them. I’m a nurse aid and EMT so I have the honor of very regular patient care. As a medical student I’m sure you have patient care experiences to think on.
Honestly the most motivation experiences were the times I felt most helpless. When someone is suffering in front of me and I can’t do anything about it, I feel the weight of the training I need to help them. I’m just not there yet. So I think back to those experiences when I’m not motivated and it helps. That and iced lattes.

 

[Dr. Daliah]

We all go through it, don't feel bad. What helped me was changing things up. No one can sit for hours on end reading, so I would alternate getting some other students together for a study group, or moving my butt to a different location to study, or making note cards so I felt I was doing something, putting smaller amounts of material on "oldschool quizlets". But once you find yourself daydreaming, take a 10 minute break to drink water, move around, and look away from the screen.