In today’s society, it has become normalized for students to disregard personal aspects of their lives to focus more on academics. All over social media, some influencers are sharing their daily lives and extreme study hours without sharing the cons of this life. It has become normalized to dedicate someone’s entire life to their academic career.
While that dedication can be admirable, it is important to show how harmful this lifestyle can be to someone’s health. Given the expectations today’s society places on students, academic pressure may cause anxiety and burnout, making students more vulnerable and prone to depression and other mental health issues.
It is critical to understand the foundations of one’s life to notice when things are becoming too unbalanced. Too much academic pressure and stress may lead to burnout and overwhelming anxiety. For example, I have seen many college students juggle part-time jobs, schoolwork, volunteering, studying for upcoming exams and attending classes.
When I started college, I felt overwhelmed by the workload, especially the pressure to maintain a high GPA while also working a part-time job to earn income. I also try to balance extracurricular activities, such as volunteering, shadowing doctors and attending club meetings, with my studies to gain more exposure to the healthcare field. All of these factors helped me become more involved in my community.
While academic success can be admirable, taking care of your personal needs also helps you. Personal needs include exercise, a healthy diet, breaks from studying and socializing. An article by Atiya Mostardi at Eastern University discussed the importance of self-care, each personal need and the benefits of meeting them.
Personal aspects include what makes up a person’s identity. If left neglected, these can hinder an individual’s sense of self. The chances of burnout and mental fatigue may increase.
According to Mostardi, exercise can help increase mood stability and reduce stress. A healthy diet includes nutritious meals that can help elevate a person’s energy. Incorporating study breaks can also prevent burnout. Socializing can also boost mood, especially when it’s uplifting or validating.
Specific strategies that students can use to balance their academic and personal lives effectively include setting boundaries between the two. Students should set aside time for both study breaks and uplifting socializing with peers. This can help prevent burnout from constant exposure to academic material and the mental fatigue it can cause.
Another strategy to balance academic and personal lives is to experiment with different study methods to see which one helps them retain information most efficiently. This can help students explore more methods and reread material they are studying.
Practical self-care routines students can easily incorporate into busy schedules include setting specific times for certain activities, such as exercising a few days each week. Scheduling time off from school can help a student feel refreshed and ready to study again.
Personally, I have tried to insert times in my schedule for socializing and going to events with my friends. This helps me feel more encouraged if I’m around people who are uplifting and supportive. Additionally, study groups can also be extremely valuable to gain more help about the material, instead of stressing about misunderstandings of the material.
Making time to be around people and socializing has helped me a lot. I feel more encouraged especially to have grace with myself for certain materials that I’m struggling with, while also receiving help from my peers.
Some may even argue that prioritizing academics can foster discipline and resilience. However, this can potentially outweigh the negative aspects of neglecting personal identity. While priorities and being consistent to studying can build up discipline and resilience, it can also lead to easily neglecting personal identity.
In my own experience, I feel as if studying consistently has made me become more disciplined to the schedule that I have built for myself. My primary motivation is maintaining high grades and building a foundational understanding of the material I am being taught. Yet, I have also experienced mental fatigue due to the amount of stress and burnout.
The subject of the normalization of dedication to academics might inspire a strong work ethic in future professionals may be true in some aspects. Discipline and resilience are strong factors for future professionals who want to excel in their fields. However, the risk of burnout and mental fatigue can increase exponentially.