English language learners preparing for high-risk examinations have a tendency to push themselves too far.

In order to maximize study time, I’ve seen them drink copious amounts of coffee (or energy drinks).

I’ve seen them bury their heads in their books on the bus or on the subway.

I’ve listen to them talk about how they burned the midnight oil,  foregoing the required amount of sleep, as if the absence of sleep was somehow a badge of honour.

Sometimes, I hear them say that they binge on fast food because there’s no time to cook healthy meals.

They also seem to exceed the daily dose of nicotine.

I’m not too old to remember a time when I engaged in this type of self-sabotage myself.

And, I’ve certainly seen my share of young adult learners push themselves to the brink of mental and physical exhaustion.

Neglecting one’s health for the prospect of getting a good score is counterproductive behaviour.

It causes students to burnout before they even set foot in their examination rooms.

When the time comes to take their test, there’s no fuel and positive energy left in the tank to help them achieve what they are capable of achieving.

They put themselves through 3 or 4 hours of mediocre performance  and walk out of the examination room feeling more pessimistic than ever.

Then, if they don’t get the score that they need, they sink into the sloughs of despair.

The cycle of self-sabotage starts all over again.

How do you know if you’ve been pushing yourself too hard?

Here are some telltale signs:

• Negative Self-talk:   You catch yourself saying: “I’m never going to pass”. Or, maybe something like: “My writing is bad”, “I can’t speak English properly” or “I don’t see any improvement.”  Perhaps you even start to think that the examiners are all out to get you and what you’re doing to prepare for the English proficiency test doesn’t even matter anymore.  Perhaps thoughts of quitting cross your mind.
• Increased Irritability: Emotional outbursts are a sign of burnout. Perhaps you raise your voice with your children, your spouse or your instructor, without provocation.  Perhaps you start to over-complain about things that never bothered you before.
• Getting Sick: A workaholic myself, I found that when I was on the verge of burnout, I used to get sick a lot. I’d catch a cold easier and it would last longer – sometimes for 2 or 3 weeks. My friends would experience digestive problems or weight gain because of their sedentary lifestyle.
• Forgetfulness: Making silly mistakes and forgetting important information go hand-in-hand with burnout. Perhaps you can’t remember what you studied yesterday in class. Or, perhaps you cannot organize your thoughts properly so that the information you learned simply doesn’t stick.  A type of brain fog descends on your mind.
• Withdrawal from friends: You don’t want to socialize anymore. You stop hanging out with the people that you care about.  You no longer care about building a support network.

If you’ve nodded your head or recognized three (or more) of the signs in yourself, it may be time to take a break.

Take the weekend off.  Go for a hike. Walk your dog. Cut your neighbour’s grass.  Catch a movie. Re-connect with a friend.

Do something different that will make you happy.

Remember: the time away from study is not wasted.  You’re resting your brain.

Contrary to popular belief, your brain is not a machine.  It is not built to run 24/7.

It needs some recovery time. It needs time to process the information that you’ve been filling it with.

The brief time away from your studying will help you regroup, refocus and reenergize.