Burnout Before We Begin

Why Are We All So Tired All The Time?

Teenagers joke about being exhausted. About running on caffeine, pulling all-nighters, and surviving on minimal sleep. It’s funny until it isn’t. Because deep down, we know that we're not just tired—we’re burnt out.

We wake up exhausted, get through the day-surviving and not thriving, and collapse into bed at night only to do it all over again the next day. And all of it's for what? Good grades? A perfect resume? The slim chance of getting into a dream college? The world tells us that every little thing we do now will determine our entire future. So, we push harder, do more, take on everything we can—until we have nothing left to give.

But when did it become normal to feel like this? Being a teenager is NOT supposed to feel like you're running a never-ending marathon that has no end in sight. 

The Pressure to Always Be Doing More

We hear it everywhere. “What are your plans for the future?” “What do you want to do with your life?” “What’s your passion?” These questions sound harmless, but when you don’t have the answers, they feel like a ticking time bomb.

We’re expected to have a plan. To know exactly who we are and what we want to be by the time we’re 15 or 16. And if we don’t? It feels like we’re already falling behind.

There’s no room to just be okay at something anymore. It’s not enough to play an instrument, you have to be winning competitions constantly. It’s not enough to love writing, you have to be published and acclaimed. It’s not enough to enjoy a sport, you have to train like you’re going pro. Even hobbies, the things that are supposed to bring us joy, become just another thing to perfect, monetize, or add to a college application.

The worst part? Even when we’re doing everything “right,” it still doesn’t feel like enough. Because someone out there is always doing more.

When Hard Work Becomes Burnout

We’ve been told our whole lives that hard work leads to success. And sure, hard work is important. But what happens when it goes too far? When working hard turns into never stopping?

Burnout doesn’t just mean feeling tired. It’s the numbness, the lack of motivation, the feeling that nothing you do matters anymore. It’s when the things you used to love feel like a burden. When no amount of rest makes you feel better.

It sneaks up on you. One day, you’re managing everything just fine, and the next, you can barely bring yourself to care. You stop trying as hard in school, stop enjoying the things you used to, stop feeling like yourself. And that’s terrifying. Because if you’re not the overachiever, the one who does everything, then who are you?

We wear our exhaustion like a badge of honor. As if being constantly busy, constantly overwhelmed, means we’re doing something right. But deep down, we know something is wrong. We just don’t know how to stop.

We Are Not Machines

The world won’t slow down for us, so we feel like we can’t slow down either. But that doesn’t mean we should keep running ourselves into the ground.

We need to stop seeing rest as a waste of time. Doing nothing for a while doesn’t mean we’re lazy—it means we’re human. It’s okay to take a break. To enjoy something without needing to be the best at it. To do things just because they make us happy.

We are more than our achievements. More than our grades, our awards, our college acceptances. And if we keep pushing ourselves past our limits, we’re going to burn out before we even have the chance to live.

So maybe it’s time to take a step back. To breathe. To remind ourselves that we are enough—not because of what we accomplish, but because of who we are.