Know What You Can Handle

Emma's Enlightenments

This Week’s Advice: Know What You Can Handle. 

Only you know what you can handle.  

Something I have frequently struggled with is burnout.  

Burnout is something that can be especially dangerous in college. You have so much more freedom, so you are making all your decisions. You don’t have anyone in your ear telling you something is not a good idea. 

If you take on more than you can handle, you might be an overachiever for show, but you might fall quickly to burnout.  

There are ways to avoid this and also do what makes you happy. 

I first learned about burnout in high school. It was homecoming week, I was in the Student Government Association, in the marching band, on the cheer team, on homecoming court, and, on top of everything, I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me. 

I was so overwhelmed. I was not home at all that week, I had no sleep and no time to feel my emotions. After homecoming, I didn’t want to do anything. I was so tired.  

I tried to bounce back too fast and hop back into everything else I had been doing. I was having a hard time eating and showering, and even sleeping, even though I was so tired. 

Eventually, I bounced back. But, because I was pushing myself too hard, I failed countless times. I didn’t fully recover until months later. I didn’t even feel like myself anymore.  

This being said, you need to know what you can handle. Do not put too much on your plate, when you know you can’t finish it. 

It’s okay to say no. You don’t need to say yes to everything. 

Pace yourself reasonably.  

This applies to this upcoming week because we are getting to the point of midterms, or even just big tests. Make sure you don’t put too much on yourself, so you have time for these important things, as well as time to yourself. 

Taking time for you is just as important as setting time aside for schoolwork and clubs. 

You don’t want to fail because you overshot yourself. 

Have fun, and do what you want, without burning yourself out. 

As I have talked about in previous articles, taking care of yourself is the most important thing you can do. 

Putting yourself at the top of your list, saying no, and overall, just being yourself does not make you a bad person. 

You know you. You make your decisions. 

Choose you.