When to Pull the Lever: Recognizing Burnout

Before you start reading, just know this article is all about rambling, ranting, and blowing off steam. Nothing really informative here!

Ever had an elder tell you, “You’ll understand when you’re older,” only for you to brush it off, convinced you knew better? Then, as you grew up, you finally got it—and wished you had listened?

That’s exactly what this article is about. I wish I had listened to my grandma (may God rest her soul) when I was 19. I’d just come in from a 16-hour day (school and internship) and headed straight to my room to work. She called to me from the living room to come eat, but I refused, saying I had too much work to catch up on.

Then, she barged in with a plate of food, shut my laptop, and practically force-fed me, insisting I go to bed. She warned that all those late nights and endless work would catch up with me, that my body would age faster than I realized, and soon, my mind would follow.

Fast-forward six years: iron deficiency, a short fuse, fading people skills, constant burnout, and a memory that betrays me. I wish I had listened. My body is too slow to keep up now, and I can’t imagine staying up past 10 p.m. Last year, I could still jump from one flight to another, but now even the thought of travelling exhausts me.

I haven’t lost my sense of adventure, my passion for learning, or my job, but I am just tired. I used to ignore my body, pushing and pushing until I crashed, but at least I could push back then! Now, I can barely lift a finger—and I’ve learned that’s okay.

I need to listen to my body.

I’m sharing this because every day, a new student approaches me, fresh into their academic career, asking how to get two or three years ahead of their peers. My answer is the same: nothing. Take your time, and allow yourself to just be a student. There’s no need to rush. What’s meant to happen will happen. Give everything you have to being a student right now. Trust me, you’ll work so much later that you’ll miss your university days. Don’t follow someone else’s path blindly. Just because it led to their success doesn’t mean it’ll lead to yours. Make your own path—slowly, steadily, surely, make your own.

So, take it from someone who learned the hard way: do not rush. do not push. do not carry more than what you can hold. Take care of yourself, appreciate the slow days, and don’t worry about being ahead. You’ll get there. As cliché as it sounds, trust the process, and trust that your path is unfolding just as it should. And when the day comes, you will look back and thank yourself for being gentle. Life has a mysterious way of always working out, if you let it.