Hey all,
just wondering I anyone has any advice on burnout.
I’m sure as we all know, this process is tough and draining but I’m right at 10 yard line and just need some advice for this final push.
I’m taking some time off from work in early November to dedicate just to my applications, and with any luck have a couple of extra days to just relax.
But writing optional essays, finalizing the resume and personal statement are becoming pretty tough.
Any advice that people can provide, as I’m probably not alone in this feeling right now, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
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5 comments
A couple pieces of advice for you!
1) Prioritize the docs that have to get done. For example, you need a personal statement and a resume for every school you're going to apply to. You do not need to write optional docs for every school you're applying to.
2) The resume is just a "you've got to finish this" kind of doc. There really shouldn't be tons of effort or thought that goes into this. If you feel like you can't get it done, just tell yourself that you just need to check this box off.
3) With something like your personal statement, give yourself incentives to finish things. Like, "if I can wrap this up in the next hour, I'm going out for lunch." One thing that can drag out this process is having too much time to get stuff done. So give yourself some targets.
4) Two thoughts for optional docs. A) Optional truly is optional. It isn't "soft required." Optional is also an opportunity, but if you honestly have nothing to say or can't put any energy into a doc, then just take the pass. It's better to say nothing than to give a half speed doc. B) Back to incentives, let's imagine that someone told you that they'd pay you $50 if you could write a decent draft of this optional statement in the next 30 minutes. If you could and would take them up on that offer, you should do the optional doc. If you could not and/or would not, that's a really good sign that i) you don't have the energy/knowledge to do this doc, and ii) you wouldn't be willing to invest the time to build up the energy/knowledge to do this doc.
Hope that helps!
Hi Garrett, very little advice because I'm in the same spot right now, and I am burnt out 😭
I've been opting to not write optional essays from certain schools depending on whether or not they will be receptive to a hefty file! Especially like a diversity essay (since my PS already touches on it) I feel that it can be more annoying for AOs to read a DS from me on top of all of my addenda and LORs. What I have been doing is a short 'why x' essay (with a few exceptions, like I think 7Sage recommends not to write one for NYU) and/or one of the fun/quirky prompts. Helps the burnout a bit!
It also helps to look at pictures of the campus libraries and imagining being a student there for a bit of motivation...
Hope we both get some good A's! Wishing you luck!
Not alone for sure. My best advice would to be get out of your house. While we all love to write in PJs, it sets up the mind for relaxation. Instead, find a coffee shop, library, restaurant, literally anything where you can treat yourself to something you like (a muffin) while you put yourself through something you despise (essay writing).
I also echo Jacob's advice - give yourself hard and fast time limits. If you're staring at the screen for 3 hours and can't write, its time to wrap it up. But keep going at it later in the day because eventually inspiration will strike.
I found that a lot of the times I would have to rewrite my stuff. I thought it was gold, only to read it back and seriously question whatever life choices brought me to write this lousy sentence. But it would often lead to an essay idea/sentence that was actually kinda fire. So my last piece of advice is to just write down all the junk, random sentence you want to appear at some point, notes, ANYTHING that is swimming in your head; inevitably, something will lead somewhere.
Hey! I'm in exactly the same boat as you are now. I've also been spending like 90% of my time to application stuff, but I'm trying to take one or two hours of every day to do something fun for myself. It's usually just reading a book or watching a movie, but it's nice to have something to look forward to at the end of the day.
It's a good idea to triage well, too; I wrote down all the schools that I'm planning to apply to and then sorted them by high priority, normal priority, and low priority based off of how much I want to go there and the specific requirements of the school. And then I wrote down every little task/supplemental I need to do for them. Seeing it all broken down like that can make it feel less overwhelming. Good luck to you this cycle!!
Definitely not alone! Maybe dedicate some of your time off to just relaxing in the beginning before jumping into it would help - that helped me tremendously with re-focusing for the LSAT. Also, working from somewhere other than home for a change of environment has always helped me, ex: I set small goals, and don't leave the coffeeshop until I'm satisfied with my progress for the day, then go home and relax. Best of luck!