5 Key Tips for Combatting Homework Fatigue
As a college student, it can be easy to feel unmotivated after long periods of stress. Here are five tips for when your workload makes you feel burnt out:
1. Set a timer — not for your breaks, but for your work time.
When I’m avoiding doing my homework, I’ll often play mental games with myself like, “Okay, it’s 4:38, so you can start at 5.” Then 5 hits, but by that time I’ve sat down on my bed, so I say, “You know what? It isn’t that much work. I can start at 5:30…” and so on.
To really get things done, I’ve found it helpful to set timers — not during my breaks, but when I’m already at my desk. Even if I set one for just 20 minutes, I make sure to work completely uninterrupted for that chunk of time. And if I still feel I need a break afterward, I stay true to my word and take one.
Although it isn’t much time, you might surprise yourself with how much you can do when there’s a definite endpoint in sight.
2. Get up and move around often.
When you’re stuck sitting at a desk all day, it’s way too easy to forget to move. It’s been proven that physical activity can help reduce burnout, so on top of giving your eyes a rest from the screen, exercise can actually help you come back to your work feeling more refreshed.
Even if you’re feeling too overwhelmed to roll out the yoga mat or go for a run, I’ve found that simply standing up, stretching and doing some jumping jacks every hour or two can be a great start.
3. Figure out why that one class is always stressing you out.
When you find yourself feeling extra stressed about one particular class, that might be a manifestation of performance anxiety. We don’t always realize it, but we often procrastinate more on tasks we’re worried we won’t do well on.
I’ve definitely felt this in my neuroscience class; I’ve never thought of science as my strong suit, so even the thought of studying for that class’s exams gets my heart rate up. I find myself predicting the areas of content I’ll be confused about or how many hours of studying are ahead of me.
When my thoughts start spiraling into hypotheticals, I situate myself with the facts: I chose this class because the material interests me, I did well on the last exam because I studied hard and if I do bomb this test, life will go on.
4. Make sleep a priority, and try your best to make it regular.
I know, I know — I’m not the best at this either. But sleep and burnout are inextricably linked, so as college students, it’s important for us to work on improving our nightly routines. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten is to “treat your homework like a nine-to-five job,” which helps me avoid those long nights of cramming that always lead to a less-than-optimal output.
Apps such as Sleep Cycle can track your sleep quality and let you see if it gets more consistent as you change your habits.
5. Set realistic short-term goals.
It’s great to be ambitious, but when you’re constantly mulling over big ideas like whether or not you’re on the right path (to the point where it’s interfering with your ability to get things done), it’s okay to set that aside for now.
Let yourself take things one day at a time and don’t forget to celebrate the small victories.
