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Every college student approaches schoolwork differently. Some students have perfected their study schedules, perfectly allocating their time to stay on track with each of their classes. However, life happens and many (if not most) college students end up off-track when it comes to their studying habits. It’s all too easy for life to keep you from studying as much as you want, leading to you being days away from an important exam and plenty of coursework to review, and not enough time. Cramming, unfortunately, is a practice many students face at least one point in their career, if not during every exam season. For many students, it’s fairly easy to experience studying burnout. While you can take the necessary steps to prevent studying burnout, there are always ways you can help yourself recover from studying burnout, whether it’s before or after your exams.

Studying burnout takes a mental and physical toll on you. Even after exams end, you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, anxious, or unable to sleep.

Keep reading for studying burnout recovery tips you can keep in mind for your future studies.

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Fall back on your support system

As a college student, no one understands your struggles more than your fellow college students going through similar struggles. While everyone has varying stressors in their own lives, you can all relate to being a college student and your shared challenges – grueling exam seasons, part-time jobs, trying to build and maintain personal lives, navigating self-growth, and so on.

You likely aren’t the only one in your close friend group experiencing the negative effects of studying burnout during or after exams. Connect with your friends and check up on each other, plan quality time outside of academic life to recharge and take your mind off of your studies.

Seek help

If you are suffering from studying burnout, you may find yourself struggling to figure out your next steps. Recovery can be overwhelming and the major question of “Now what?” may be what you find yourself stuck on.

If this is the case, consider seeking out mental health services or counseling on campus. Burnout is common among college students, and there are multiple services on campus available to help you. From your college’s academic counseling offices to mental health services, there are people there to help you navigate studying burnout recovery.

Pick up a hobby unrelated to studying

During exam season, you likely are shifting your entire focus to getting studying done. Other areas of your life are likely abandoned when an important exam is coming up. You may stop following your daily workout routine or stop having enough time to sit back to play your favorite video game or read a book before bed that isn’t related to your classes.

Recover from studying burnout by rediscovering your passions outside of academics – treat yourself to a new book or video game, spend hours mindlessly adventuring outside of your apartment, or pick up a new hobby. Give time back to yourself for an opportunity to recharge.

Recognize your accomplishments

Whether your studying led to the results you wanted or not, you shouldn’t forget all the effort you put into studying. Studying can be mentally and physically exhausting, from spending hours focused on one subject to not giving yourself the hours of sleep you deserve. When all is said and done, celebrate what you’ve accomplished – you successfully complete an exam!

Shift your focus to what you can celebrate. You can be one semester closer to graduation. You could have just passed one of the most difficult classes that you have ever taken. Remember to give yourself the recognition you deserve.

Prevention is key 

The best tip at the end of the day is to prevent studying burnout from happening at all. This is easier said than done, but if you have experienced burnout before, you know how mentally and physically exhausting it is and the toll it takes on you. Recognize what caused you to experience burnout in the first place to prevent it from happening in the future.

Was it spending too many hours out and about with friends? Did you take too many classes in one semester? Did you spend too much time focusing on one course in particular only to neglect your other courses during the semester? If you can recognize where you went wrong and what led you to studying burnout, you can figure out what you can do going forward to avoid the same situation happening again.

Establish and follow a studying schedule that creates a balance between your courses and personal life. Set boundaries between your academics and personal life – shift some friend time at parties and hangouts to study sessions, cut back on some courses, and so on.

Taking care of yourself mentally and physically is essential to being successful in college, both inside and outside of academics. Good luck!

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