You face tons of pressures in your life – from making good grades to getting on the varsity sports team. The pressure to be an “overachiever” is huge, especially if you’re planning on getting into a good college. High school is the time to start building your resume for colleges, and you get to hear about it from teachers, parents, and counselors. All of a sudden each grade really counts! This is the GPA that’s going to propel you into college or leave you behind! You’ve gotta be involved in clubs, community service, sports, and other extracurriculars if you want those scholarships and acceptance letters to start rolling in. But when is it enough? Are you so busy that nothing is fun anymore?

Burnout happens – it’s common in the business world, in relationships, and (increasingly) in kids. And parents are giving their kids a head start on being overextended and over-involved: ballet lessons, Little League, camps, after school activities, music lessons, dance classes, etc. The list is endless, and so are the possible consequences. Kids don’t learn about leaving some quiet time, or just finding fun things to do. How often do you make sure to leave yourself time to unwind after a busy afternoon of practices and classes? Or decide to do some reading, just for fun, before bed?

Burnout is probably a little different for everyone. It might be that you’re fizzling out on something that you once loved to do, like playing baseball or getting involved in student government. All of a sudden things are just tedious and feel completely pointless. It’s kind of like you’ve done something so much that you can’t feel excited about it anymore. That’s the worst-case scenario if you were planning to get into playing baseball professionally or running for public office someday. Burnout can sap your enthusiasm for the stuff that once seemed like your favorite thing to do. If you are feeling burnt out, you are not alone. So many people suffer from mental exhaustion. So how do you know if YOU’RE experiencing burnout? Read on under “Defined” and “How To” for information on what it looks like and what you can do about it! Help is always available.