Student Blog: How to Balance Doing Everything Without Burning Out

We are officially 9 weeks into the fall semester, and I am burnt out. So I thought it would be a good time to look back on how I got here. Coming back to school was great, and I was so ready to get started. I had a million things I wanted to accomplish this semester. I did really well accomplishing those same things over the summer, so why would this fall be any different?

I started the summer performing in She Loves Me; I slept in, went to rehearsals, went to the gym, and worked my waitressing job. Then I went home for a month, and then I went to Oxford and studied Shakespeare. While in Oxford, I went to my classes and rehearsals every day and also found time for a social life as well as relaxing alone time to just read or watch a show.

I felt so accomplished and like I was able to juggle so many things at once. Coming back to school, I was ready for classes and rehearsal and to hang out with my friends and go to the gym and get back to work. All of that was sustainable for the first couple of weeks. But once my body caught up to how fast my mind was working, I was exhausted. I was going to dance in the morning, only to find myself unable to move because I was so tired from the workout I had done the night before. I was studying for midterms during a waitressing shift, or trying to learn songs on the car ride to the gym.

Last Friday, I woke up so physically and mentally exhausted that I could not get out of bed for dance. I wasn’t sick; I just desperately needed an extra hour of rest. In that moment, I realized that in my excitement to be able to do everything, I had given myself no time to do nothing. And nothing was what I needed more than anything else. I had no rest days. I felt like any night I wasn’t called to rehearsal, I needed to go to the gym or cram for a test or do anything somewhat productive. I didn’t consider how much of a necessity it was to just rest, read a book, or just go to bed early.

But in my mind, I had so many goals I needed to achieve. Like right now, I am working towards improving my dance ability, and going to the gym to cross-train is absolutely helping me achieve that. But some mornings I go to dance and can’t execute basic moves because I have overworked myself. Something that was supposed to be helping me was doing the opposite.

And I know it is easy for me to write this and say that your body needs rest days, but I also know firsthand that a BFA education usually does not give you the opportunity for rest. At Otterbein, we have Sundays off, but those days are used to rehearse student-directed shows or go to dance club or work outside jobs. 

Obviously, I am still trying to find the balance between doing what is needed to achieve my goals and not burning out more than I already have. But I think I am off to a good start. This week I started by taking Sunday morning off from the gym and sleeping in because I had a late night with my friends on Saturday and was working that Sunday night. Because I got those extra hours of sleep, I already felt better starting this week and went to dance this morning full of energy. I definitely have a lot more improvement to make in prioritizing rest days, but at least I know what is causing the burnout, and I can start making changes to fix it (most of the time).