Being Drained and Tired is Normal

Imagine being a BSA (Accountancy) student, a student leader (president of my batch - not necessarily a flex, but an achievement that’s worth sharing, at least), a freelancer (currently working for two clients), a lover of an LDR situation, and I have finals next week too, commonly known as “hell week” to most college students.

That’s the situation for me right now. These past few days, it seems like I don’t really care about how people think of me, how I feel in certain situations, or how my projects and assignments would turn out (in terms of quality). I want everything to end.

When I say “end,” I don’t mean I’m ending my life, no no no, when I say end, it’s me wanting to finish all my tasks.

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

As a BSA student, I’m expected to read in advance, be good at analyzing transactions and accounting theories, and deal with all the minor subjects that come with the curriculum. I also have to prepare for our finals next week, so for the most part, it’s been hard for me, making me feel drained.

As a student leader, my officers and I have deadlines to chase, which has already kept my mind occupied for the past few days.

As a freelancer, I’m expected to be a copywriter, content writer, social media manager & marketer, and graphics artist for ONE client. The other client I work for only requires my copywriting skills, so it should be all right (I hope).

As a lover in an LDR, I constantly miss my girlfriend and am looking for ways to spend time together, money to use for these dates and the time to fit the dates into my busy schedule.

In my tasks above, there’s one thing in common: the feeling of stress. Being stressed makes us feel overwhelmed and depressed. Being stressed gives us a heavy feeling in our chest and a sense of self-doubt as to whether we can overcome this feeling of stress or not.

How do I know? That’s because that’s how I’m feeling right now.

Being stressed makes me think negative thoughts; thinking about negative thoughts always makes me feel tired. This is the cycle that constantly repeats.

I guess a lot of people also get drained because of feeling stressed. In my case, there’s a feeling of:

Doubt - There’s always a thought of “Can I do it?” or “I think I did it better before, I don’t think I can do well this time,” or doubt when it came to questioning my skills as a student, freelancers, and a leader.

Doubts like “What do people think of me?” or “How would they react if I made this decision as the president?” these thoughts lingered in my mind and just ended up draining me for the most part.

Being Unworthy - Because there are a lot of doubts, I end up feeling unworthy of anything. I’m unworthy of being followed as a leader, unworthy of the opportunity to study in a private school, unworthy of my very kind clients, and unworthy of all the opportunities and blessings I’m currently enjoying.

Restlessness - Did you know that the brain takes 20% of our energy on a daily basis? Just by thinking alone, we burn 320 calories. How much more if we’re thinking about things that stress us? Things that need deep analysis and things that linger for a while before we get it right out of our heads? Because of these thoughts, we end up feeling constantly tired, resulting to feeling drained.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Here’s my ULTIMATE advice: just don’t be drained.

Okay, I’m just kidding. That’s not my advice, and I’m keeping this part in as well. Come on, you gotta laugh at that joke.

In all seriousness, accept the feeling of tiredness and being drained. Just remember that problems are like clouds. No cloud stays in one place. They all pass by, and the sky will be crystal clear.

Prioritize yourself, be ready to abandon everything else as long as you’re healthy and well. Well, not necessarily “abandon everything” that’s scary to do, but make sure you keep your peace. Prioritize your peace by making sure you prioritize yourself.

It’s a bit cliché but take a break, a long break. If you have a lot of deadlines to chase, like me, there’s no need to go over the top to create the best output. Just make sure you’ve done your best and take the break you deserve.

Finally, just know that it’s okay to be drained and tired. Just know that in this world full of humans, you’re not the only one feeling how you feel. Some people have worse experiences, but that doesn’t mean I’m invalidating your feelings. Just know that you’re not alone.

Dr. William Irvine calls it negative visualization. It’s the thought that somebody out there is wishing for your situation right now.

For example, I feel tired and unmotivated, yet I still mustered up the courage to write this blog because I feel like it. I’m struggling right now, but somebody out there has nothing to eat or is in the middle of a war. If given the choice, they’d choose to struggle with what I’m struggling with right now.

That way, I feel less bad for myself, and to be honest with you, I don’t think it’ll apply to everybody, but it works for me. I also don’t know if it’s morally right for me to think that way, but hey, I’m just a first-year college student. What do I know? Tell me your thoughts down below:

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