As many people know I just endured a strenous internship as a Band director which has lead me to question my choice of career. I now though beleive nothing my mind tells me as I feel I am suffering from burnout. Am I? I exhibit the following symptoms:
Lack of energy/excitement.
No desire to achieve any higher than average in my classes
Loooong sleeps. I MUST have 9 hours or I am one unhappy camper
Even my passion of guitar and music is waning. I find it hard to practice when for the last three years I practiced three hours a day
Procrastination of things that must get done
What are some remedies? A year off working? Travelling the world? Prozac? Large amounts of Cheetoes?
Should I be burnt out at 22? I should add the music program I am currently in is compared to engineering in terms of level of difficulty.
Personally, I’d go with the Cheetoh Therapy Program, but hey, that’s me.
I don’t know that there is such a thing as “burn out”. Everyone naturally wanes at times during school or career.
IANAD, but you also have to rule out depression. Do you feel lethargic in all aspects of your life? Are there situations that trigger your feelings of burnout?
Quasimodal–First off, I love your name. Second–Do you get a feeling of exhaustion just thinking about working in your intended career? Do you feel a genuine total lack of enthusiasm for doing anything that leads your towards this career? I’m suffering from some burnout, myself. And, like you, I demand a lot of physical comfort these days, simply because I feel like my job has sucked away awful lot of my mental and emotional energy.
For me, what’s been useful is reminding myself that I have lots of choices in what I want to do. No career-related or academic choice is really irrevocable; there is always a way to have a job that doesn’t make you miserable. I’ve been thinking a lot about my options, and I’m realizing now that I have a lot more of them than I realized. You probably do, too. Paradoxically enough, knowing that I’m not trapped where I am has given me more energy to deal with the situation I’m in now.
Also, this is a good opportunity for you to consider what it is you really want. What makes you excited? What do you love, just for itself, no matter what anyone else thinks of it? I’d make a bet that, with a little creativity, you can find a way to get or do those things. How it is you get what it is you really want may or may not involve following your present career path.
Sounds like it to me and I’ve been there (but not with music).
Can you find a way to enjoy music w/o the pressures of school? Or can you find some music that elevates you, moves you deeply? Not to play, neccessarily, but immerse yourself in?
I would try those routes–trying to get back to what sparked the passion in the first place.
OR
Go completely 180–away from music entirely (I don’t mean give up your course of study). I mean go the theater, art museums, walk in the park, out with non-music friends, read, garden–whatever has some creative drive behind it that does not involve your gift. You may be surprised at how one realm of the arts gets you interested in your realm again.
And also, check into the depression thing–it could be that, as well. They are not unrelated.
Hope this helps.
It may be burnout, but it also sounds like depression. I would check with a doctor and see if he can help. I use St. John’s Wort for depression, but some say that it is merely a placebo.
If I understand your situation correctly, you’re about to graduate, right?
Sounds like you’re burnt out but don’t sweat it too much. Just keep your head down and plow through to the end of the semester. What do you have left? 10 weeks or so? You can do it. Do you have a recital you have to prepare for?
Do you have spring break? Take it.
Hey, I was burnt out at 18. I auditioned for one thing after another all through High School and into college. I did very well but I just got tired of it. I love music and it’s been my big passion all my life but I could never muster the enthusiasm and especially the work ethic to be a professional musician performing or teaching.
The thing is, it was easy to “follow my muse” when I was young because I had time. I had time to play the music I wanted to, learn the instruments I wanted to, record the wierd stuff I wanted to and so on while I had a day job. After a while, though, I met my wife, the day job became a career, I had kids, found other things I like to do, and lo and behold I’m lucky if I get more than a few hours in every couple of weeks playing. And it’s been years since I’ve played with anybody else. Pretty typical, I would imagine.
So IMO you can either have music be your day job (your “work”) and along with the highs, endure the unavoidable spells of burnout and boredom, or you can have it be a passionate hobby, and risk it receding to back-burner status while your spare time is taken up by your family or other interests. Either way as you get older you’ll have less of your spare time to devote to music.
Burnout is working for a company for 24 years and doing the Snoopy dance-for-joy upon learning you are going to get laid off.
There is something similar to burnout and that is “bit-off-more-than-I-really-wanted” syndrome. Also known as “too-many-irons-in-the-fire” syndrome.
An example of that was my college experience. I wasn’t thrilled with attending school but I dragged myself through it anyway. During this time I worked at least 1 part time job and for 1 year I played a college sport. I didn’t get much playing time and the workouts were brutal. My idea of a good day does not start with a 2 mile jog in less than 12 minutes. I also didn’t like doing accounting homework on a 3 hr bus ride. I really loved the sport I was in and was tortured at the idea of quiting so I sat down with a sheet of paper and wrote down the pro’s and con’s involved. The “con” column was WAY longer than the “pro” column so I quit and joined a local team. It was a no-brainer when I looked at the sheet.
On a separate note, if you are not taking care of yourself then you will not have the energy to do ANYTHING let alone Band Director. And 9 hours of sleep may be just what you need. Some people do well with 4 hrs. Most don’t. You cannot hold yourself up to a 4 hr freak-show and think you are slacking off. My natural cycle is close to 9 hrs.