With only 24 hours in a day, sometimes students feel as though there isn’t enough time to accomplish their entire to-do lists. During especially hectic weeks filled with midterm and final exams, some may even feel like they cannot afford to stop working. This often results in burnout — when students get tired or overworked, they swear that they can feel their hair turning gray.
According to psychology professor Laurie Veillette, symptoms of burnout often resemble those of anxiety or depression. Those signs, which can be a “good indication” of burnout, according to Veillette, include “irritability, changes in sleep, changes in appetite, increased tearfulness, difficulties concentrating, difficulties with memory, low energy, a lack of motivation, not really getting as much enjoyment out of things as one might otherwise or wanting to isolate.”
Veillette explained that such levels of exhaustion most often occur in perfectionists and others with rigid personalities. She emphasized that being more forgiving to oneself, as well as adapting to feelings instead of avoiding them, can help to limit these negative impacts.
“We’re just getting out of hurricane season in Florida, and the reason that palm trees are still standing after a hurricane is because of their flexibility,” Veillette said. “In the face of pressure … rigidity tends to lead to a kind of snapping instead of bending. It’s not that you’re not going to feel the stress or the pressure. It’s being flexible [and] recognizing that this stress is limited and that it will eventually end.”
Erik Peterson ’27 said he has experienced burnout “for pretty much all the different terms [he’s] been [at Dartmouth],” which, for him, is usually caused by a “collection of a lot of small things that happen.” However, Peterson has found that compartmentalizing helps him get through periods of stress.
“The best way to get through [burnout] is just to go one assignment and one lecture at a time, just slowly crawling my way back up,” he said. “I think the small wins really help with morale.”
Peterson said he recommended setting “fake deadlines” as one way to deal with his responsibilities and has found it allows him to be more flexible with his work methods.
“For a homework assignment that is due Friday, I tell myself that I’m going to get it done by Wednesday,” Peterson said. “[The] brain is easily tricked … I can take advantage of that.”
While Peterson emphasized academic strategies to overcome burnout, Emily Pridemore ’25 said she employs a different tactic to alleviate burnout. Pridemore will often take trips off campus to shake up her routine and keep from feeling “stir crazy.”
“[I make] allowances for myself to take some sort of vacation or trip every single term that I’m here,” Pridemore said. “I’ll take a few days and go to Canada … One time I went to San Francisco with my friend … I come up with random reasons to get out of here [Dartmouth] for a second, and I think that helps a lot.”
However, Pridemore says that there is another key factor in her avoidance of burnout — she finds that “[getting] into a rhythm” where she is intrinsically motivated helps her stay on top of academics.
“I think I can stay active because I do a lot of things on campus that can give me an instant dopamine hit of fulfillment,” Pridemore said. “For example, even though I was really tired being a rush chair this year, I did it partially because I knew how fulfilling it would be. I think having those little things on the side keeps you busy enough to where you don’t really think about whether you’re treading water.”
According to Veillette, this method of aligning responsibilities with values and enjoyment is crucial to “enhance the work quality … and get more meaning and enjoyment from it.”
“As a Dartmouth student, you may not be a fan of writing reports,” Veillette said. “But if you’re writing a report on a topic you really care about, it’s worth it because your message is getting out there.”
Peterson finds that this mindset can also be helpful for extracurricular activities. Burnout has led him to only participate in student organizations that drive his passions, he explained.
“For my first year, I really tried to do a lot of different activities, and I wasn’t really passionate about a lot of those,” Peterson said. “So this [quarter], I’ve really been focused on only doing extracurriculars that I find either are going to help me or that I find enjoyable. Taking extracurriculars as either a break or an hour of something engaging does help when it’s time to go back to classwork.”
For Pridemore, setting specific goals and keeping a perspective on the long term has been another successful solution.
“I’m applying to PhD programs right now, which are anywhere from four to six years,” Pridemore said. “This can sound dumb, but closing my eyes and thinking about where I’ll be in five years has always been really therapeutic to me. It makes it easier to work hard and have grit when you’re considering those goals.”
Whatever tactics students choose to employ, Veillette says one of the most important aspects about burnout is self care. While it can seem like beating ourselves up over mistakes will motivate us to succeed, Veillette says that positive reinforcement can often work better.
“If you really want to motivate yourself, you can approach it with reward and reinforcement for any movement, even small, in the right direction,” Veillette said. “If we can meet ourselves with some compassion, flexibility, love and kindness … that can help us get through the burnout.”
