The Key: Motivation
You burn out when you hate what you’re doing, and you hate what you’re doing when you’re not motivated to do it. The tips below will help you maintain motivation and stop burnout.
1. Don’t Start Too Fast
Drastic shifts in work time cause burnout. Start by studying 10 minutes more/day for a week, then 20, then 30. It’s a slow process, but you’ll burnout if you don’t do it.
2. Know Your Limits
Are you tired all the time? Are you unhappy? Do you hate working? Then work less, sleep more, and search for purpose in the work you do.
You have your whole life to get where you’re going.
3. Stop Motivation Killing Behaviors
In my experience, as soon as you start watching TV, 90% of your motivation leaves. And it’s hard to get that motivation back.
If you start your day by watching YouTube, you might not get working for hours.
4. Get into a routine
Get yourself to work at the same time every day. Once it becomes a habit, you don’t have to motivate yourself to start. All you have to do is work.
How to form the habit: Set a trigger (event on your calendar, alarm…) to get you started. Then, give yourself a reward once you finish (food, watch TV…)
5. Take Breaks Often
Burnout happens because we don’t take breaks. I’ve found that a five-minute break for every 30 minutes that I work resets my motivation. Every few hours, I take a 30-minute break.
Know what kills your motivation, and avoid it at all costs.
6. Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is a source of motivation and energy…you need it. If you get enough sleep, you’ll do the same amount of work in way less time.
How much sleep? Enough that you’re not tired the next day. (Read: How to beat bad sleep habits)
7. Change Where You Work
A new environment is interesting, so studying is too. I try to spend 80% of my study time working in my favorite spot (my room), and 20% somewhere else (library, coffee shop, random bench, etc.).
