UNITED STATES—Life can be tense people. Sometimes some of us are juggling SO MUCH we feel like there is no end in sight. For me, I’m starting to feel the burn. Balancing life and work is difficult, but imagine balancing multiple jobs, school and family life. Yeah, the amount of stress now reaches gargantuan heights. I’m starting to realize that balance is key to life. Can you always plan every single detail? No, but you have to find a way to carve out time for a bit of everything, but at the same time you have to carve out TIME for yourself.
That is the one thing I’m learning that is vital to prevent burnout or exhaustion. I’m seeing myself on this 24-hour cycle. I feel like I’m always working or doing something. It’s like my mind is operating constantly and I’m having trouble turning off the light switch. Sleep is vital, but difficult when you feel the need to always get something done. I have discovered that I am someone who likes things to be scheduled and once I have a system in place I won’t or I am very resistant to change. Change is difficult for people; and it’s not that I don’t like change; it’s that it disrupts my overall flow.
When it comes to working multiple jobs at least 2 or 3, it’s vital that when you leave one job to head to another, the focus is on the next job, not the one that you just left. I’m coming to grips that once the time frame has expired that’s it people. There is no need to fight the urge or drive to try to do more than what you’re capable of doing. Some companies want you to be Superman, not aware that in doing so you can cause one to burnout. Once a person burns out, it doesn’t just revert back to the norm. When you get exhausted it takes time to reenergize the body.
I’ve learned that my cellphone is my biggest problem. I hate getting texts from work when I’m in school or ay my other job. While I know it’s not intentional my body automatically tenses up with the worry of “What has gone wrong now?” It’s not a good feeling and I keep my phone on out of fear that an emergency might arise and I need to have access to it. However, I’m starting to realize turning off the ringer or setting my phone to silence is ok. It allows me to have a bit of peace and balance in my life. Not the easiest thing to accomplish people.
Now school, that is an entirely new beast, especially those of us seeking a MA or PH.D. Balancing class is one thing, but finding ways to implement schoolwork or homework in an already busy schedule is no easy task. For most college courses, the level of reading that has to be completed can be daunting. It’s so daunting at times, that you just feel no desire to read the material because you don’t see actual consequences. If an assignment is tied to the reading, than that makes things a bit more stressful. I’ve come to acknowledge as much as I hate studying, it is something that is vital to retain knowledge and master material in a course. The more you recite, read or analyze it retains its important. In no fashion am I arguing that you must study to death in order to master material; that is never the case in my opinion.
I am a believer, if the material is interesting you will appreciate it. However, if the information is difficult to comprehend, no matter how hard you fight to understand it, it’s pointless unless you have the professor break down the core facts that are of importance. I find no issue setting aside a day for schoolwork or a few hours for schoolwork without interruptions to really focus on the task at hand. That is the key word FOCUS. If you’re focused on one thing, your attention needs to be on that, not attempting to do 40 things at once, when it’s not possible people.
Life is about balance; you have to work when you work, you have homework when homework needs to be completed. When you attempt to overburden yourself with more tasks than your body can handle you will burnout quicker than you hoped.
