“Only two weeks until Fall Break.” “Only three and a half weeks until Thanksgiving break.” “Only seven weeks until Winter Break.” 

I am not the only one who is guilty of grumbling over the number of days left before a much-needed break. The reality is that many of us do not wish to be away from our friends or the campus climate during break; we just long to be away from the schoolwork and the responsibility of going to class. Burnout is whispering in our heads that we are ready to be done. 

Despite some perspectives that it is actually just laziness or merely the unwillingness to work, burnout is real. It can be as difficult as other emotions, like jealousy, influencing us to make bad decisions.

“Oh, it won’t be bad if I skip this class today.” Yeah, except all those absences will begin to add up. 

“I’ll do the homework tomorrow.” Hint: You’ll never get that homework done. 

Procrastination and burnout are a duo like Batman and Robin, except they don’t save Gotham City; they work together to trap you in your own hesitation. It’s hard to fight through this, especially when we are tired. Procrastination is the first murmur in one’s head that creeps in like poison and once it’s settled, burnout pulls us another step back from doing our work. 

While I’m as guilty as anyone of feeling burnout and succumbing to procrastination, it’s how we fight and cope with it that will get us through the remainder of the semester. 

Fight it. Resist it. First, try to make it to Thanksgiving break. Remember, there’s only about four weeks left in the semester.