Thanks for all the replies.
The only advice I can give you my friend, is, whatever you do, do not take any time off. When working on my PhD and feeling burnt out, I took time off. Suffice it to say, Ive not gone back.
Just think of it this way: if you dont finish, what are you going to do with your life?
I agree. Taking time off would be counter productive. I don't plan on quitting since It's just one more semester after this one and it's looking to be like a fairly easy next and hopefully final semester.
When I burn out, it's because work has become so overwhelming that I've completely lost my perspective. You need to take a step back and re-evaluate the situation you're in. What's your goal in life? What's your reason for going to school, and why is it better than the alternatives? What's going to happen if you don't finish? Just make sure to look at the big picture, keeping things like buying a house, a car, etc.. in mind.
Once you've answered those questions, everything should be clear.
That said, doing this made me decide not to pursue graduate school, so your mileage may vary.
Work has indeed been quite overwhelming to me. It feels like once I get caught up in one subject, I am behind in another one. I attribute this to the burnout as well. I agree with Aelph in that a goal or motivation would help things, but right now I don't have any goals that wouldn't require a hell of a lot more studying to pass a certification exam after I graduate. I know bad things would happen if I didn't graduate and I wouldn't want to waste all the time and money I've invested this far so it's definitely onward in some way.
I definitely don't think I could do graduate school anymore either. Initially I thought that it was a great idea. I could make more money, have a better job, etc. When I think of it now, it just doesn't seem worth it, unless somehow I don't go for a couple years and my employer pays for me to go.
Man, when studying, I not only burn out, I crash and burn. I've had nothing but As and Bs for like five semesters (only one B-) and now I'm getting like..a Csomething in physics. Then again I went five-six straight semesters, most of them full. I so need a semester off, especially when I need physics grades a whole lot better than that.
I'm hoping so hard for a C in the two classes I'm doing horrible in. B is a possibility but I'd sure have to do really well on the next test and hope there is some sort of end of the semester curve for attendance or something. I'm just glad I'm not taking any summer courses (can't really do that anyway unless I was taking them at a bigger school).
Keep going man, I spent like the last year and a half of my graduate degree burned out. As long as you balance your goofing off time and your scholastic necessities that should help you pursue your final months.
Definitely. I'm trying to limit video games to weekends. We'll see how that helps. Might try to exercise more, but I've been feeling particularly lazy about doing that lately.
I've found that working in very small increments can help: do an hour or two of work, then go do something else for awhile. I think most of the 'burn out' for me comes from feeling like I've got a constant pressure on me, so I'm trying to convince myself that taking a bit of time off -- just a bit, mind you -- isn't going to make or break my average.
That's what I used to do and it worked well. I still try to do that but often the "little break" turns into a bigger break than it should be. Maybe I should plan something for the summer to look forward to as well. My sister really wants me to get an internship down in NC where she lives. She's been sending me internship postings to my email from down there. Maybe I should take the hint. It'd be nice to live in a warm climate for the summer. Probably too late to get an internship though >.>
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