Editorial: A different kind of burnout

Lehigh students’ routines typically look the same. We wake up, (attempt to) attend all of our classes and spend hours in an academic building working on assignments that are due throughout the week.

Some of us are club leaders or members of campus organizations that require a similar amount, if not more, of the energy we put toward our academics. 

Our stress levels run high, and we spend our free time counting down the days until the next break.

When that break finally arrives, we are, naturally, excited. Break means we are free to do whatever we want and, at least for a little while, no longer have to deal with the responsibilities that come with being a college student. 

Some of us might travel to a different state or country — somewhere where the sun shines more brightly than it does here in Bethlehem — while others might spend their breaks at home, catching up on lost hours of sleep and reconnecting with hometown friends.

During our time tanning on the beach or sleeping until noon in our childhood beds, we’re rarely thinking about what it’s going to be like when the break is over and we have to return to campus.

After spending so much time looking forward to our time off, it is usually unpleasant when it’s over. Going back to campus means our responsibilities are no longer avoidable — we’re faced with the large piles of exams and assignments that were waiting for us to come back.

This is where the problem begins.

The transition back to academic life after spring break, or any significant break from school, is often challenging because we’re going from all work to no work and back to all work again very quickly.

Spending a week operating on your own time only to be thrown back into the strict routine that comes with being a college student can be frustrating. It is hard to return to the “work hard, play hard” mindset after a few days of all play and no work. 

The same thing happens on the weekends. After spending five days putting all of our focus toward schoolwork, we are expected to use Saturday and Sunday to recoup — many of us will shut out laptop lids and silence our email notifications for two days in an attempt to recharge.

Having students spend eight weeks consistently working and then only giving them a week off before having them work another consistent eight weeks is not an effective system. 

That being said, maybe it’s us who have to try and adapt to the system.

If we were to spend the few days before spring break winding down from work and the last few days before school starts gearing up, it might be less of a shock to our systems than it is now. It might mean retaining some of our productive momentum that is hard to build back up.

Similarly, racing to get all of our work done by Friday night so we can spend the weekend relaxing only to get bombarded with a new set of assignments on Monday might not be the most efficient way to structure our weeks.

If we were to work consistently throughout the week, each individual day would become less stressful. Though, that may mean giving up the do-nothing weekends many of us enjoy — a tough trade-off not everyone will want to make.

If you prefer to use your breaks for leisure and save the academic work for when school is in session, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you prefer spending the weeks working hard and your weekends playing hard, there’s nothing we can do to stop you.

We are simply pointing out a struggle we have experienced and an alternative we believe may be more effective — but there’s no saying which is better or worse.

Many of our editorials have been used to tell students, university administrators and the public at large how they should think or act, but it’s important to recognize that a radical change from the way things are doesn’t have to be the first solution.

If you find yourself feeling burnt out on Mondays and overwhelmed after breaks, though, don’t say we didn’t warn you.