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How do I minimize/prevent AND recover from burnout from studying?

shivajikobardan

Oct 21, 2021
39
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Oct 21, 2021
Messages
39
TLDR-: student who feels like doing nothing eg not like to even read a page during some days. Used to happen a lot during exams. Is happening since 15 days, visited doctor, started taking meds. Meds might be doing their work. I need some guidance and advice that I might be missing.

1) I am Computer Engineering student and burnout is really a huge issue for me. I keep getting burn out(IDK the exact word for this tbh). I feel exhausted. I feel fed up studying. It feels like a brain fog. I don't feel like opening my textbook or watching video. I don't want to do anything at all. I instead browse reddit, watch youtube videos to pass my time. I feel so resistant to studying I don't have a word for that man. This has been happening to me since last 15 days. I am simply idle. It is not like I don't feel fear. Even if I feel fear, I feel like doing nth. I have already consulted doctor and doctor just gives me medicines and nth more. So hope people here will be considerate and give tips independent or dependent my medical conditions. My life really sucks due to this.

2) Even now I have been feeling this thing for around 15 days. I went to Psychiatrist and he added proate medicine. Hope that works. But even though it works I still need some advices and guidances as medicines can't fix everything.

3) It is not like I study 10 hrs everyday. I study 3-5 hrs everyday normally. I even had a vacation where I travelled a lot and had lots of fun. So it is not due to lack of entertainment NOW. but I agree entertainment lacks in my life a lot. I don't have any ways to relax my mind as most ways to relax would be expensive like guitar. And it is winter it is really boring to do yoga, stretching and meditation. (I used to do it as well in the past but still got burn out so this is not the reason why I am getting burn out.).

4) My medical conditions-: The medicines that I am using are-: 1) Proate 500 2) Zosert 50 3) Sizodon 2

5) In the past when I used to get burnout only during exams-: We have 3 days gaps to study during each exam. Our exams last 1 month long And I would finish studying 40% of topics before exams and during exams at least during 2 exams(we would have 5-6-7 exams depending on semester). I would get burnout and fail to do anything during those exams..And I keep failing exams that I have already studied 40% because I can't focus during exams. The culture here in Nepal is most students study during those 3 days and pass the exam comfortably. I have improved here as well. In the past, I used to finish studying once and I would not make revision notes so I had to re-read what I have studied all again. But nowadays I make summaries while studying and just revise it. So it is a bit better in this case. But I still get burnout.


6) What are hobbies,activities that are not very expensive that I can do in order to prevent myself from being burnout very frequently. I won't mind a burnout every 3 month.
 

Tha fios agaibh

Aug 11, 2014
2,252
Joined
Aug 11, 2014
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2,252
Well, you could take up drinking?
Ok, just kidding.

I agree that medicines can't fix everything. In fact they may be stifling your focus. Do consult your Doctor about that.

It could be that Conputer Engineering is just not for you.
It takes some people years of schooling before realizing they are on the wrong career path.

If your not interested in a subject or enjoy the challenge of learning, it may not be right for you.

3 to 5 hours of study is not excessive but taking short breaks throughout it is very important.

Any hobby that takes your mind off your studies is a good one.

Consider meditation to clear your mind. This could be just sitting quietly for 5 or 10 minutes while focusing on your breathing.

Another excellent thing to do is exercise. Maybe just go for a walk.
This not only helps your body but will have a huge psychological benefit.

Best of luck.
 

kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
6,514
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Jun 25, 2010
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6,514
Stop the meds. They are not the answer nor are they a solution.

If you aren't UNDERSTANDING the subject there is no amount of study going to make that happen. By 'understanding' I mean - do you know the subject well enough to be able to teach it to someone else? And I don't simply mean repeating what you've heard someone tell you.

You can learn by rote - a poor way to grasp any subject and it's NOT understanding. Sadly there are many that go the route of education and come out with the ability to repeat their 'learning' but not understand it and this can be a failure of an education system if they don't TEST the subject properly which, as you'd expect, show up readily in exam results.

I've met many individuals that WANT to learn but simply (and it's not their own fault) CAN'T because they cannot comprehend. They have extensive records of study, have copious notes and can repeat a taught lesson practically word-for-word yet they don't comprehend what it is they're studying and/or trying to put over to a third party. They repeatedly fail the final exams and the system, in some cases, distorts the output by allowing 'endless' retests and/or drop the pass mark to a point at which random guesses at the answers will eventually give a pass result.

How do I know? I used to teach.

In my experience, those that struggle to study have issues with understanding and, for 90% of them, they are in the wrong class. Reassess your abilities. Maybe concentrate on a smaller part of a curriculum (specialise).

This is NOT something that any medication can fix.
 

shivajikobardan

Oct 21, 2021
39
Joined
Oct 21, 2021
Messages
39
Stop the meds. They are not the answer nor are they a solution.

If you aren't UNDERSTANDING the subject there is no amount of study going to make that happen. By 'understanding' I mean - do you know the subject well enough to be able to teach it to someone else? And I don't simply mean repeating what you've heard someone tell you.

You can learn by rote - a poor way to grasp any subject and it's NOT understanding. Sadly there are many that go the route of education and come out with the ability to repeat their 'learning' but not understand it and this can be a failure of an education system if they don't TEST the subject properly which, as you'd expect, show up readily in exam results.

I've met many individuals that WANT to learn but simply (and it's not their own fault) CAN'T because they cannot comprehend. They have extensive records of study, have copious notes and can repeat a taught lesson practically word-for-word yet they don't comprehend what it is they're studying and/or trying to put over to a third party. They repeatedly fail the final exams and the system, in some cases, distorts the output by allowing 'endless' retests and/or drop the pass mark to a point at which random guesses at the answers will eventually give a pass result.

How do I know? I used to teach.

In my experience, those that struggle to study have issues with understanding and, for 90% of them, they are in the wrong class. Reassess your abilities. Maybe concentrate on a smaller part of a curriculum (specialise).

This is NOT something that any medication can fix.

I see but I need to finish my degree and I know I am capable enough to do this degree. So what?
 

kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
6,514
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
6,514
I see but I need to finish my degree and I know I am capable enough to do this degree. So

Can you take the course credits across to another specialisation? How far are you in to the degree?

The whole point of advanced education is to both extend your abilities and to discover the LIMITATION of your abilities. You seem to be coming up to the latter. It does neither yourself nor your tutors any credit to try to persevere beyond what you are really, truly capable of. It is hard to do but it can be very credible to acknowledge when you've reached your limit before someone else points it out for you.

By doing so you not only release the stress you are suffering but prevent your tutors from having negative reviews if (when?) you inevitably fail - they are probably incentivised to keep you going so their institution can extract the most from you (funds) at the risk of having poor results - unless, of course, they allow the exam 'fiddle' by multiple retests/lowering the pass grade.

If you don't acknowledge your potential limitations NOW they WILL be exposed in industry - unless you plan flipping burgers?

This is a hard decision - as hard as it is to actually point out these potential failings you are facing as it is for me to be 'impolite' in doing it for you.

You might not be suited to the subject you've chosen but there may be other parts of that subject that you can EXCEL in - being blinded by the paper qualification is a common fault. Eg, you might be a fantastic engineer (installation, maintenance, repair) and you don't need a paper qualification to do that - you need experience. Maybe you have it?
 

shivajikobardan

Oct 21, 2021
39
Joined
Oct 21, 2021
Messages
39
Can you take the course credits across to another specialisation? How far are you in to the degree?

The whole point of advanced education is to both extend your abilities and to discover the LIMITATION of your abilities. You seem to be coming up to the latter. It does neither yourself nor your tutors any credit to try to persevere beyond what you are really, truly capable of. It is hard to do but it can be very credible to acknowledge when you've reached your limit before someone else points it out for you.

By doing so you not only release the stress you are suffering but prevent your tutors from having negative reviews if (when?) you inevitably fail - they are probably incentivised to keep you going so their institution can extract the most from you (funds) at the risk of having poor results - unless, of course, they allow the exam 'fiddle' by multiple retests/lowering the pass grade.

If you don't acknowledge your potential limitations NOW they WILL be exposed in industry - unless you plan flipping burgers?

This is a hard decision - as hard as it is to actually point out these potential failings you are facing as it is for me to be 'impolite' in doing it for you.

You might not be suited to the subject you've chosen but there may be other parts of that subject that you can EXCEL in - being blinded by the paper qualification is a common fault. Eg, you might be a fantastic engineer (installation, maintenance, repair) and you don't need a paper qualification to do that - you need experience. Maybe you have it?
I am in last semester.
 
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