Juggling School, Internships, and Burnout: Why Prevention Feels Unattainable—and How We Can Manage Instead
By Jenna Dalfino, Graduate Intern
I don’t know about you, but sometimes the idea of preventing burnout feels like a cruel joke.
As I sat in my first class of the school year, ready with anticipation to embark on this new journey of becoming a licensed professional counselor, I didn’t expect the concept of burnout to be essentially shoved down my throat. Every single class I took had a lecture on it, and for good reason.
However, I continually wondered about the messaging I was actually receiving: “burnout prevention.” Especially in a world that demands so much from us — constant hustle, nonstop productivity, always-on availability — the idea of stopping before you burn out feels almost unattainable.
Burnout prevention, as we usually hear it, sounds like this neat, proactive checklist: get enough sleep, meditate daily, keep a solid work-life balance, and prioritize self-care like your life depends on it. And while all those things are valuable, they often feel more like ideals than realities.
When your day is packed with classes, assignments, meetings, and work tasks — not to mention the emotional labor of simply showing up as your full self — prevention quickly becomes this distant goal that’s hard to reach.
So maybe it’s time to shift the conversation. Instead of chasing prevention like a far-off dream, what if we focus on management? Managing burnout in real-time, through rest, awareness, and the radical permission to say no.
Prevention vs. Management: Why It Matters
Prevention suggests that burnout is something we can completely avoid if we just get the right formula. But that’s rarely how it works for those of us juggling multiple demanding roles, especially early in our careers or education. Burnout doesn’t always announce itself loudly — sometimes it sneaks in through little cracks: missed meals, tired mornings, creeping exhaustion, a fading spark.
Managing burnout means paying attention to those cracks. It means learning to recognize when you’re starting to overfunction — when you’re pushing harder than you should just to meet expectations that often feel one-sided. It’s about tuning in to your body and mind to catch the signs before everything feels too heavy to carry.
And maybe most importantly, management gives us permission to pause — to say no to extra tasks, to set boundaries even when it feels like everything is urgent, and to prioritize rest without guilt.
How Do We Manage Burnout in This Reality?
1. Observing Without Judgment
The first step is awareness. Noticing how your body and mind respond to stress without immediately labeling it as “failure” or weakness. Do you feel tired in the middle of the day? Are you snapping at friends or struggling to focus? These aren’t signs that you’re broken — they’re signals that your system needs care.
Try to check in regularly with yourself. Even a quick pause to breathe and observe how you’re feeling can help you catch burnout creeping in.
2. Rest as Radical Resistance
In a culture that glorifies being busy, rest feels revolutionary. But rest isn’t just about sleeping or binge-watching shows. It’s about intentional breaks that nourish your whole being. This can be a walk outside, a moment of silence, turning off notifications, or anything that helps you disconnect and recharge.
Rest is also about protecting yourself from over-functioning — refusing to fill every minute with productivity just because the pressure is there.
3. Saying No — And Meaning It
This is the hardest, most crucial piece. Saying no isn’t selfish; it’s necessary.
Start by identifying what you can realistically handle. Then practice saying no to anything that pushes you beyond that limit. It might feel uncomfortable, especially if you’re worried about letting people down or missing opportunities. But remember: your health and sanity are the foundation for everything else. Without them, you won’t be able to give your best in the long run anyway.
4. Finding Small Pockets of Joy
When burnout feels overwhelming, small moments of joy can be lifelines. Whether it’s a favorite song, a comforting cup of tea, a quick text with a friend, or a few minutes spent on a hobby — these little pockets remind us that life isn’t all stress, school work, and looming deadlines.
Why This Shift Matters
Reframing burnout from prevention to management acknowledges the reality of our lives. It removes the pressure to be perfect and replaces it with the permission to be human — to falter, to rest, and to set boundaries without guilt.
Managing burnout is a practice, not a one-time fix. It’s messy, imperfect, and deeply personal.
But it’s also an act of self-love and survival. Go ahead and skip that one class or phone it in on one assignment if you have too.
I promise you have permission and choosing yourself is a radical way to navigate the challenges that come with being in grad school and having an actual outside-the-classroom life.
