Burnout

[brenden]

I go to a relatively weak school (median's around 30) and I don't think people are used to seeing a rigorous study habit. Generally I don't leave school until the cleaner, Neil (good bloke), lets me know he's locking up generally at 6.30pm, and my general answer to "Hey Brenden do you want to-" is "Nope. Studying." (Not gunning for 99, I just about failed year 11 so I'm balancing it this year lol)
One of the most common things I'm told by students and teachers when I'm talking about my study habits is "Well, it's all well and good to study Brenden, but remember to stop sometimes, you might burnout"
Stopping really is a fantastic idea in theory when you're not the one that's actually going for the score - but what is burnout really? I've heard rumours of being next to dead etc but I'm finding it pretty hard to visualise. So - what the effery is burnout?

[86]

It's when you occupy yourself with so much content, techniques, things to learn etc, that your mind becomes quite overwhelmed. You become irrational. You get stressed and the stress takes its toll. Your mind needs a break as well as much as your body does from activity. It's like running a marathon only you keep on going when it's over - you'll get exhausted and eventually will collapse from fatigue. So I suppose it's like fatiguing of your mind. You hear stories of people going 'blank' or having 'mental blanks' when they see the exam - it's one of the side effects of over-doing it. It's the running joke that you see the first question and go, quite literally, wtf? Your thoughts are all jumbled up that when you see a question a whole lot of things you've studied jump at you in a completely random order and it makes no sense.

Eventually if you do get to this stage, simple questions trip you up and you just cannot think logically and hence make 'silly mistakes' that you really shouldn't otherwise be making. It happened to me for unit 3 - all I wanted to do was make my Physics cheatsheet (Which took forever with the amount of content I wanted to fit) and do as many past exams/Checkpoints questions, which wasn't fun, strenuous, tiring and very demanding. When it came to the exam well, let's just say there wasn't much energy left to give the exam a good crack.

That's why something as simple as taking a walk or getting some fresh air in between study is so helpful - it lets your mind unwind itself a little and rest itself temporarily. So when people claim they have 'burned out', they have pretty much over-studied. It goes by the saying that it's better to study efficiently, rather than longer, and that studying longer does not mean you've gained more than you normally would. It's quality vs quantity.

Also, something pretty important to understand in VCE, is that you actually can take a break without compromising your ATAR. You can go take some time off for yourself, your life for the year isn't completely dominated by VCE (Although it mostly is). Just don't get too carried away.

[TrueTears]

relevant:

is "burning out" if you work too hard on the holidays a myth?

Burnout

[remo14]

From my own experiences I would say the root of burning out is lack of sleep. I realized this as before SACs I use to not sleep adequately not due to lack of prepartion but nervousness. However, before my exams I keep the pressure away and slept easily. So when exams came I was surprised that I found them very easy. So if you give your body the rest it requires burning out should never be an issue.   

[max payne]

 Honestly I don't really believe in "mental blanks in an exam". No offence, I think its just an excuse for lack of preperation and/or studying wrong. For example, could an elite athlete, who trains months for an event and fails just say "oh I blanked out". Nobody would wouldn't believe him and nobody would care. Thats why you have a whole year to prepare, mentally and physically. That includes controlling "burnouts" with rest and relaxing. I mean honestly its VCE not the Olympics!

[brenden]

relevant:

is "burning out" if you work too hard on the holidays a myth?

Burnout

Thanks for that. Probably a bit hasty of me not to type burnout into search before making a post. My bad   
Alrighty so, long story short, could but might not exist but take breaks anyway. Sweet as. Thanks lots and lots guys =]

[Starlight]

did anyone here about this story http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/chinese-students-use-iv-amino-acids-to-study-for-high-stakes-tests/2012/05/10/gIQAMZw2GU_blog.html

now that's crazy

[thushan]

did anyone here about this story http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/chinese-students-use-iv-amino-acids-to-study-for-high-stakes-tests/2012/05/10/gIQAMZw2GU_blog.html

now that's crazy

What the hell? IV amino acids? Hope they're not overdosing otherwise someone's going to have a shitload of metabolised ammonia in their system.
Which is why you don't overdose on protein shakes.

[brenden]

Yeah! Damn ammonia! *cough*

[paulsterio]

I'm going to take a stab here, the effects of burnout have been researched and it is shown to actually exist, but I think it is all mental and it's all a big myth really, if you really love what you do then you should have no problem doing it for long periods of time right? I've never heard from anyone burning out regarding video games, for instance.

It's just because people have picked the wrong subjects in VCE and are having to force themselves through something they don't enjoy.

[pi]

What the hell? IV amino acids? Hope they're not overdosing otherwise someone's going to have a shitload of metabolised ammonia in their system.
Which is why you don't overdose on protein shakes.

Way too nerdy, YOU NEED TO STOP STUDYING FOR AT LEAST 1 WEEK!!!

[thushan]

What the hell? IV amino acids? Hope they're not overdosing otherwise someone's going to have a shitload of metabolised ammonia in their system.
Which is why you don't overdose on protein shakes.

Way too nerdy, YOU NEED TO STOP STUDYING FOR AT LEAST 1 WEEK!!!

Say that to curry parents.

[thushan]

I'm going to take a stab here, the effects of burnout have been researched and it is shown to actually exist, but I think it is all mental and it's all a big myth really, if you really love what you do then you should have no problem doing it for long periods of time right? I've never heard from anyone burning out regarding video games, for instance.

It's just because people have picked the wrong subjects in VCE and are having to force themselves through something they don't enjoy.

Three things Paul. Emotional exhaustion. Depersonalisation. Lack of self-accomplishment.

And let's be a little less dismissive of burnout. Experienced it myself multiple times last year and I was doing subjects I enjoyed.

[pi]

What the hell? IV amino acids? Hope they're not overdosing otherwise someone's going to have a shitload of metabolised ammonia in their system.
Which is why you don't overdose on protein shakes.

Way too nerdy, YOU NEED TO STOP STUDYING FOR AT LEAST 1 WEEK!!!

Say that to curry parents.

I did, got a week off easily

I'm going to take a stab here, the effects of burnout have been researched and it is shown to actually exist, but I think it is all mental and it's all a big myth really, if you really love what you do then you should have no problem doing it for long periods of time right? I've never heard from anyone burning out regarding video games, for instance.

It's just because people have picked the wrong subjects in VCE and are having to force themselves through something they don't enjoy.

Three things Paul. Emotional exhaustion. Depersonalisation. Lack of self-accomplishment.

You do realise that only three people in this thread will understand that properly? Right?

LOL

[paulsterio]

Three things Paul. Emotional exhaustion. Depersonalisation. Lack of self-accomplishment.

And let's be a little less dismissive of burnout. Experienced it myself multiple times last year and I was doing subjects I enjoyed.

So that's what the answer to that HEP question was! damn, got it wrong LOL!

But anyways, I know that it exists, but as far as I know, it's mental right? Not physical - it means that we can change it by changing our beliefs, the way we look at things (perception) and the way we respond to things, I'm not saying I'm right - but it's just something I was thinking about