

How To Deal With Academic Burnout & The Symptoms
Academic burnout at university is no joke.
Irritated, exhausted, overwhelmed. Is this another day, or is it academic burnout?
Academic burnout can make daily life at university hard to manage. You get out of bed, just to get straight back in. You hide your head under the covers and avoid everything from studying to brushing your teeth.
The smallest task can seem unbearable when you’re dealing with academic burnout. And this feeling can really ruin your university experience.
You might be dealing with exam stress on top of Freshers’ flu and feelings of homesickness. It might be your housemates, too, that are contributing to your burnout if they’re being difficult, and your mental health in general can add to the feelings of burnout.
Uni is supposed to be fun, so we’re here to help you spot the signs of burnout and how to avoid it.
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Academic burnout
Academic burnout is usually defined as a strong physical, mental, and emotional reaction to prolonged stress (caused by your academic studies in this case). It leads to feelings of exhaustion, lack of motivation and concentration, and frustration, ultimately affecting our ability to perform and our sense of self.
It can also be caused by overwhelming stress from the whole university experience, including the pressure of socialising, being independent, and even working a job to help with your finances.
According to a survey of full-time UK undergraduates by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), 56% of students had paid employment while studying, working on average 14.5 hours each week. Combined with their degree demands such as seminars and lectures, students are averaging 48-hour weeks, with some experiencing 56-hour weeks. To put this into context, the average working week for adults in full-time jobs is 36.6 hours.
TBH, it’s no surprise that students are experiencing academic burnout.

Academic burnout symptoms
Some of the symptoms of burnout are quite obvious, but some may surprise you. Here are the signs of burnout you shouldn’t ignore if you’re experiencing them.
You constantly feel exhausted
If you have trouble getting to sleep, getting out of bed, or even both, this is a clear-cut sign you aren’t able to switch off.
Loss of interest in activities and/or your course
Have you lost all enthusiasm for your course or hobbies you once enjoyed? This can be a very clear sign you’re experiencing burnout. You may only do the bare minimum, or skip on work and activities altogether.
Irritability, frustration, and cynicism
University might start to feel like a waste of time. You may feel pessimistic about life after university and begin to experience feelings of regret. When these symptoms are prominent, or unusual for you, it’s time to take notice.
Lack of self-care
Dragging yourself out of bed or getting through simple tasks can be overwhelming for you. You may skip showers, brush your teeth, do laundry day, or clean the house.
Easily distracted and indecisive
You may struggle to pay attention when you’re burned out. Underlying stress over a period of time has been proven to affect our cognitive function, making problem-solving and memory recall a bigger task than it usually is.
Sleep troubles
Stress and overwhelm from burnout can lead to some serious sleep problems if they’re not nipped in the bud. Symptoms include insomnia, restlessness, and trouble getting out of bed.
Turning to alcohol and depressants more than usual
Alcohol is often turned to when people want to unwind and temporarily boost the feel-good hormone serotonin. But if this has become a regular thing, especially in larger quantities, you may be doing yourself a disservice and making your burnout even worse in the long run.
Depression
A combination of some or all of these factors above can lead to long-term physical and mental health problems. The main one is depression, which can ultimately have a serious impact on your well-being if you don’t take steps to get yourself back on track.
Causes of academic burnout
You’d be surprised what underlying stresses cause burnout. Here are just some of the few you could experience, especially during your student years.
- Too much work
Is your course getting on top of you? Are you struggling to complete tasks because of a lack of support and resources? Or perhaps your part-time job is demanding too much of your time and you can’t seem to struggle with your work and studies.
This will have a profound effect on your energy levels and your ability to keep up. Even if you’re the most organised person, there could be days or weeks where it all gets a bit too much.
- Living arrangements
Living with nightmare housemates or can’t deal with the noisy halls you’re in? These things can niggle at us, especially when your home is supposed to be a safe haven during your studies.
- Financial stress
A lot of students face money problems during their studies. Perhaps your loan came through late, your course is demanding you pay extra for things or you’re massively regretting blowing your cash on all those nights out. Ultimately, your underlying financial worries over a period of time can be what causes you to burn out.
Stages of burnout
The five stages of burnout is a framework that identifies the cycle of burnout. This also applies to academic burnout too.
- The honeymoon phase
This is when you get a ‘high’ from your achievements. It feels great in the moment and you feel tons of creativity, satisfaction from your work, and a sense of achievement. This could be from tons of good feedback you’re getting, a great uni project you’re working on, or even praise from your part-time job.
- Onset of stress
This is when things take a bit of a turn. Maybe you get that one bit of feedback from your tutor that knocks your confidence, or you didn’t receive the best mark on an exam or assignment. You begin to feel stress, less satisfaction, and a multitude of other conflicting feelings.
- Chronic stress
The stress you felt before is more prominent and long-lasting. You feel irritable more often, tiredness in the mornings, lack of sleep or motivation, and may even increase your caffeine intake just to get through the day
- The burnout
This is when symptoms are at their worst and you can’t work at the rate you have been. Things are even more difficult to work through and it can feel like you can’t cope. At this stage, it’s absolutely crucial to get help, as feelings of escapism can arise.
- On-going burnout
This final stage is when burnout has manifested itself as a more serious problem in your life and is an ongoing feeling. This could lead to mental health problems such as depression, chronic fatigue and a chronic low sense of self.
How to avoid burnout
Avoiding burnout is totally possible. Check out our steps on avoiding academic burnout during your studies and beyond.
Start with a clean slate
Is your room or workspace uninspiring or cluttered? Work on making your study space a motivating place to be. It could be pinning up photos of inspiring quotes or imagery or buying extra storage to reduce clutter spots.
We know this sounds like more work but hear us out. It’s work on yourself and your immediate environment.
Stuck for inspiration? We love using Pinterest and Instagram to see how people decorate their rooms. Simple searches like bedroom inspo, study room ideas, clever storage and small bedroom ideas are all it takes to bring up a ton of ideas. You could even drill this down further by adding themes like rustic, gothic, minimal and much more.
A bit of redecoration is not only fun, but it helps reset the mind and gives a renewed sense of purpose.
Take regular breaks
Taking regular breaks between study sessions and time to yourself after a busy day can do wonders for preventing burnout.
Did you know there are 7 types of rest? Here are the 7 types of rest that could help ease burnout.
- Physical – sleeping, napping, yoga
- Mental – short breaks, journaling
- Sensory – turning off lights, music, unplugging from electronics
- Creative – enjoying arts in your leisurely time, being out in nature, surrounding yourself with inspiration
- Emotional – saying no more, setting boundaries
- Social – time to oneself, surrounding yourself with positive people
- Spiritual – meditation
Take time out to plan ahead
When you’ve understood where the burnout is coming from, or you’re at the start of a new term or project, really think about scheduling your time properly. The best study apps can help with this.
Regular exercise
You don’t have to hit the gym or go on long walks during the cold months. Find an activity that gets you moving in some shape or form. It could be as simple as popping some tunes on and having a boogie in your room, or putting 5-minute intense workout videos on YouTube to follow.
More importantly – find an activity that is fun for you.
Drink more water
Did you know drinking water has been proven to relieve fatigue and help you think better? With burnout, you’re likely to neglect your wellbeing and nutrition. Make sure you’re keeping hydrated to get the best out of your brain!
Staying hydrated can be a forgetful thing to do. Invest in a hydrate tracker water bottle, or set alarms on your phone to remind you to sip water. Get home deals with us to save on a swanky new water bottle!
Struggling to find time to go food shopping? HelloFresh is a great way to get fresh food and amazing recipes delivered to you! Get HelloFresh student discounts on our site after you sign up.
Keep your nutrition up
A lack of nutrients has a direct effect on your physical and mental health. Our bodies need fuel to run in the form of nutritious, whole foods.
According to Nutritionist Resource, burnout really can be combated with nutrition! Getting plenty of vegetables and fruits, proteins, complex carbs, nuts and fish are just some of the many foods we can eat to help reduce the stress that leads to burnout.
Have a digital curfew
The always on and FOMO culture we live in today has us on our digital devices more than ever before. Whilst some sense of fun can be cultivated from this, it’s ultimately a recipe for burnout in the near future.
Set a time to completely unplug from your phone, especially at night. If you really must be on your phone, then turn on a blue light filter, dim the brightness and turn off any unnecessary notifications to reduce the need to reach out when it pings.
Helpful resources to deal with academic burnout
Below are a couple of resources to help you identify if you have burnout, as well as techniques and ways to get help for it.
Get Your Mind Plan
The NHS Get Your Mind Plan provides you with some helpful resources after completing a short quiz, such as useful tips on unwinding, links to an IAPT service, exercise routines and more.
Burnout self-test
This test by MindTools is really useful to see if what you’re experiencing is burnout. It allows you to articulate your symptoms to a student counsellor too when they ask what you’ve been dealing with.
Use our Student Beans pharmacy student discounts to help save on your health.