Happy Monday and welcome to your mental health mini. This week is a solo and we are talking college burnout. What are the best ways to treat and address burnout in college? Very common thing. So many students I hear at Penn are struggling with burnout and overwhelm and stress. My biggest tip here is almost from a prevention perspective and then I'll get some tips. If you're like I'm already burnt out, there's nothing that can be done at this point.
Please help me. If you are finding yourself more stressed, you're like, I'm not sure if this is sustainable. This is a lot to handle, especially if you're starting a new semester, a new class load, a new school, whatever it is. I think it's essential that on a day-to-day basis you are having a sustainable balance and moving in an upwards trajectory. What I mean by that is kind of the 8020 role.
You've probably seen this on social media, heard it in a podcast, a book, everyday life, whatever. The idea is that 80% of the time you are doing things that are good for your most of the time it's from a health perspective. So maybe you are getting daily movement, you're eating balanced, you're sleeping enough. And then the 20% is things where you're kind of letting loose. Maybe you're going out with friends, maybe you're staying up later, maybe you're watching ATV show that you love.
But because you have this 80% continuing on the positive trajectory, the 20% doesn't make a difference in your overall progress. You're still having a net positive. What I found when looking back at my mental health challenges and when I was at my lowest, my 80% was these really overwhelming, exhausting negative mental health experiences. And the 20%, if it was even 20%, was like, oh, this made me happy. Today was great.
I just had a positive thought about myself and so I was constantly regressing with respect to my mental health. So from a burnout perspective, I think it's very important to structure your day and your week to keep you on that upwards trend. So maybe that's your morning routine. I make my bed, I do it every single day and it makes it a really enjoyable experience to be in my room because I'm like, wow, everything looks so nice
and organized and tidy. I brush my teeth, I wash my face, then I make a cup of coffee. One of my biggest recommendations for college students is to have a great in room coffee set up because coffee is so expensive and something that brings me joy every single morning. So maybe that's your morning to routine, maybe that's your night routine. I'm finishing up school work. I will shower and then I will watch TV before I go to bed. And I know that you're probably
like, why are you doing that? Isn't that the worst thing you can do for your mental health? So I did an interview this past year. It's episode 104. It's with Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright. And I talked about this idea of watching something before you go to bed. And they brought up something super interesting that I hadn't necessarily thought about before, which is that I forget what they called it.
You can listen to the episode, but it's like a mindless background noise essentially is what it is. So some people listen to a meditation while they will go to sleep. Sometimes they listen to right noise, some people will do like a self-guided meditation, some people will breed. I am someone who cannot shut
their brain off. But I found when I watch one of my favorite shows like The Office or Big Bang Theory, specifically those two that I've seen many many many times, I know what's going to happen and it works really well for me. And it means that I can fall asleep within like 20 to 30 minutes rather than hours. Sleep is one of the biggest determinants of mental health, especially for me. So I would be getting like 8 hours every single night, non
negotiable. I would also make sure I'm getting some kind of daily movement. So maybe you're taking a walk every day, maybe you're working out. You're doing all these things to improve your mental health in ways that you can control it. You are setting up your study schedule so that you're not completely overwhelmed and cramming for every single exam. You're doing a little bit of your readings every day rather than trying to sit down for six hours and do all your textbook
readings at one time. So you are planning a day to make sure that that 80% is solved for and you are kind of almost in control of that. And then the 20%, which is the stress associated with school, maybe you get in an argument with a friend, maybe you don't sleep well one night. Yes, you will experience those challenges.
Those will lead to more stress, but they won't derail your mental health and you won't be completely burnt out because again, you are on that upwards trajectory and getting better with your ability to cope with stress and life. So that's my advice there. Be very mindful of what is improving your mental health and improving your mood and ability to cope with stress and what is not. And really optimize for that 80% and be intentional.
If you are fully burnt out at this point, I go back to that idea of the vacation retreat. Take a day, take a weekend, and truly unplug. Don't study, don't open the textbook. Do whatever it is that will recharge you mentally. Maybe you're going to sleep in, maybe you're going to spend time with friends, maybe you're going to go on a walk, maybe you're going to go to the gym.
But whatever it is that has stressed you out to the point of burnout, you need to completely take a step away from that for a short period of time. Because if you're like, oh, I'm so burned out, I'll study for one less hour today. I honestly don't think that's going to make a huge difference in the stress that you're experiencing.
So see if you can try and structure in that break that unplugging from whatever it is that is making you stressed, and then start to make shifts towards that 8020 balance and make those improvements long term. I would also ask for help. If you are really burnt out, it's going to be difficult to keep up with your coursework. It's a lot to stay on top of classes in college. So loop in a friend, loop in a teacher, talk to a therapist,
parent, a family friend. Tell someone that you're feeling really overwhelmed and that you're feeling really stressed. Because if you're burnt out, it's not unlikely that your mental health will start to struggle as well. So loop someone in, ask for help, see if they have any advice. Maybe you're approaching coursework and effectively maybe you are doing all the readings when you really only need to be doing readings for two classes because the other ones aren't tested on.
Really ask around, see if you can learn from others experiences and get support and take a more collaborative approach. If you enjoyed this weeks mental health mini, you can listen to the full episode. It is episode 135 featuring yours truly. The link to the full episode is in the show notes. As always, make sure to leave a review, subscribe, share with a friend or family member and follow it at Cheapers to podcast. Thanks for listening.