Contemplating the Mysteries of the World - Part 14: Burnout

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Burnout Sucks, I think We Can All Agree On That. 

I have not put out a blog since December 12th, so it has been almost a full month. I have generally been very burnt out, not with JetPunk, but with life in general. For those of you who don't know, I am a senior in high school and am an insanely busy person, and I just do not have a lot of motivation right now. Midterms started yesterday, and I need to find something to focus on other than my tests and projects, so I figured I would write this blog. Anyways, I will now hand the keyboard to the snarky, sarcastic, and slightly rude side of myself and start the rant.

Burnout is something that we all experience in some way, shape, or form. Whether that is school, work, or even a project on Minecraft, sometimes we just get tired of working on something. Most of the time, I feel like doing anything but what I actually need to get done. I think that is stupid. We all know that burnout exists, so why does society expect so much of everyone? Why should we be expected to keep up with hours of work, school, and activities when everyone knows that we just need to sleep? Maybe we need to lower our expectations of one another for the general benefit of our mental and physical health.

For a longtime, I actually thought burnout was a myth. I thought that it was an excuse that people used when they wanted to be lazy, but now I get it. Sometimes it is just hard to focus for long periods of time. Personally, there are some days when I can work for 5-6 hours straight on homework, others I find it difficult to work for 30 minutes. I think that if we were less overworked, we would spend more time on things that we enjoy, which would keep us from being burned out. I have even been finding it difficult to do the things that I love. My Minecraft projects seem tedious, musical practice is tiring, and I just find myself watching TV on the couch.

What I wish I was doing right now

Normally, I write these blogs in one sitting. I don't like to spend a lot of time thinking about what I write here, I just write what I am feeling at the moment. This blog is different. This is my 3rd day writing this blog, not because I am trying to make it better, but because I keep loosing motivation to write. I am jealous of this cat, I want to be sleeping right now, but instead I am sitting in school mentally preparing myself for a debate next period, and trying to finish a French Project.

The pandemic has probably made people's burnout worse, because people have become used to doing less and staying home. We have become more lazy as a society, and it will take a long time for people to get back to a normal state of work, but we should make sure that we do not overwork ourselves.

Looking back on this blog, it could have definitely been snarkier, but I don't really care. I have too much on my to do list to change it. I have some ideas for a different blog series that I may start to give myself some variety. Anyways, I guess I am done...

Thank you for your cooperation,

Rosie.

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Level 59
Jan 11, 2022
This blog is definitely very accurate in my opinion. I always experience burnout, if it is from trying to complete English homework, or just to experience my hobbies in general. The main way I actually experience burnout is from repetitive cycles. My brain doesn't enjoy doing the same thing over and over and over again, meaning I lose a lot of motivation to try and finish something that I might have been really motivated about at the start.
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Level 68
Jan 11, 2022
I agree with Ethaboo above; this blog is definitely relatable. Especially since high schoolers in general are pressured with high expectations, it really shouldn't come as a surprise when we are tired out all the time (it doesn't help that we usually only get anywhere from 4-7 hours of sleep). There have already been so many studies and tests that have proven that less work and less pressure would be beneficial to students. Students really aren't the only ones as well, since adults are often overworked. Especially in countries that have so few paid leave (such as the US), people have come to normalize workaholism, and the drawbacks that come with it. That is not healthy as a society. To be frank, the extent to which our world glorifies beating yourself down is just repulsive to me.
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Level 75
Jan 13, 2022
Pressured with high expectations? Very relatable...

My mom made me do 9th grade Chinese maths when I was in 6th grade, and would yell at me if I didn't know them :/

Also, I have like 12 exams a week. They've proven to be useless and only make students at our school adopt a habit of cheating everything and doing virtually no work.

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Level 48
Jan 13, 2022
I can relate on so many levels. I have a similar situation with tests, and I also was forced to take an advanced maths class at a young age. It wasn't Chinese math, but I still know how it feels.
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Level 73
Jan 13, 2022
This is something most Asians can relate to. Parents (and teachers) make us complete the syllabus of higher grades way before they actually attend it. That's why I had a basic understanding of calculus, trigonometry and organic chemistry by the end of middle school.