How to heal from or avoid burnout?

Hi Khoa, This is a very good question which touches many people. I think everyone deals with stress in a different ways. For me, when my school or work got too busy or stressful, I have a list of activities I enjoyed doing and I would pick and do one to change my mind set (for example: going for a run). I think everyone gets stressed and tired, the difference is how you manage this. Everyone needs to find their own solution that helps them and know when to talk about it with family and close friends. I hope this helps.

Speaking from my personal experiences. Physical activities is the way to go, stay active will help you to release stress and avoid burnout from the beginning.

I can relate to your feelings in experiencing burnout, especially when there is a lot that you need to get done. My recommendation is to take breaks, and give yourself time to factor in things that you enjoy doing. You can create a study schedule during your semester at university, and schedule time for yourself such as going to the gym, or having dinner with some friends. By balancing your priorities, and doing things that you enjoy, you should feel less burnt out and move motivated in the long run! Allow yourself to take a day off if possible!

I'm going to tell you something that may be "against the grain" so to speak. My advice is not to "just relax" or "take a break" or "approach your job more casually" or anything akin to that. My advice is to divert your activity into the aspect of your job that attracted you to it in the first place.

The reason I say that is that folks who are "burned out" are often overburdened not with just "work" but the drudgery aspects of their job -- i. e. the worst part of an otherwise cool and exciting occupation. Taking a vacation from the job, IMO, reinforces the idea that what you've chosen to do with your life has lost its ability to contribute satisfaction to you. Sometimes that may be unavoidable. Maybe you've chosen something that simply won't provide you what you need anymore. But I'm hoping -- and betting -- that that's not the case. That you really can turn this around. And looking for what excited you in the first place is the way to go.

This sort of approach may require you to disappoint some people or change direction or be a bit more assertive about what you are willing to do. Or simply changing to another similar job at another company.

The idea is that if you're talking about something that you've spent a lot of time and effort and hopes and dreams into, don't give up on it. Give it a chance to fulfill its promise to you. You may end up changing direction entirely, but don't give up. Make it deliver the satisfaction and fun you always expected it to. After all, you gave a lot to your job -- your job should give some back, right? You might be pleasantly surprised.

Great question. I agree with the previous answers - finding something you enjoy to do can help break up the busy times and give you a break from the stress. In addition, I would plan out my study schedule as evenly as possible to avoid having to cram for exams. This helped make sure I had enough time in a week to fit in a something enjoyable.