How Do You Overcome Language Learning Burn Out?

If you reach the point of language learning burn out then you are in a lot of trouble. You have pushed your studying too hard and now you are suffering the consequences.

It is vital that you can overcome this, which you will, it just takes time and some rest.

I will go through some things that you need to do if you are suffering from language learning burn out. The sooner you do these things, the sooner you can feel energetic again and ready to study and make progress.

You Need To Accept That You Are Burnt Out

The first thing you need to do is to actually acknowledge that you are burnt out and accept that it has happened.

Sometimes we may not even realise it is happening, but we need to pay attention to our bodies and listen to it telling us that we are suffering.

This can be frustrating as we may want to continue studying and we may think we can avoid burn out, but if it has happened, then it’s happened.

It doesn’t mean you have done anything wrong or failed in anyway; it just means you probably pushed too hard. Just accept that it has happened and that you need to overcome it.

We all want to reach our goals, so it’s understandable that you pushed too hard and ended up draining yourself of energy. It’s not a long term issue and you will be back to full power soon.

You Need To Rest If You Are Suffering From Language Learning Burn Out

The second you realise you are burnt out, you need to stop and rest.

This is the only way you are actually going to overcome the problem. Your body and mind is completely drained and the only way it can recover is through rest. You need to take a step back and look after yourself.

Get some proper rest, eat properly and just try and relax for a while. It may take a few days, but you will start to regain your energy and you should notice the symptoms of burn out starting to ease.

You shouldn’t try and push though as you will only make yourself worse, even reducing your work load and gingery trying to continue isn’t ideal in most cases; really rest is the only cure.   

(You can read more about – Should I Take A Break If I Experience Language Learning Burn Out?)

Try And Work Out What Caused The Burn Out And Stop Doing That

To overcome burn out long term, you need to work out what has caused it in the first place.

If you don’t do this, you will rest, feel better, and then do whatever you did before …and then end up being burnt out again.

You will just keep repeating this cycle until you are able to identify what is causing you to burn out and put a stop to it.

You can’t simply say that studying a language has burnt you out, you need to work out what exactly it was that cause it, did you work too hard, where you trying to study an area that you where not ready for, or did you just do too much.

Something you were doing wasn’t working with your lifestyle and you will need to change how you approach the language after you rest and recover.   

(You can read more about – What Are The Causes Of Language Learning Burn Out?)

Change The Method You Are Using To Study The Language

Once you have worked out what has caused your burn out it, you may need to change the method you are using to study the language.

It could be that the method is fine, you are just going about things a little too aggressively and trying to do too much, but this is why you need to work out what you did wrong.

Once you know, you can adjust accordingly and the method you are using may be something you consider changing to help you prevent a future burn out.  

(You can read more about – Should I Change My Learning Method If I Experience Language Learning Burn Out?)

Re-evaluate Your Reasons For Learning The Language

While you are resting and recovering you should think about why you started to learn this language and go through all the reasons that got you so inspired in the first place.

Hopefully these reasons are still valid and thinking about them will help relight that fire again. Often when you get burn out you lose all interest in the language and studying in general.

By trying to go through all the reasons why you started, it can help bring that feeling of excitement back again and it can help you overcome your burnout a little faster.

You will still need to rest, but when you are fully recharged you will hopefully be feeling really passionate about the language and hungry to tackle it again.

When I was first burnt out I did not do this and while I felt better after a few days the burn out left a very bitter taste in my mouth and it took me 3 months to rediscover that passion. I think if I had went through my reasons for wanting to learn the language I would have got back to studying a lot quicker.   

Focus On Things You Enjoy Doing With The Language

When you do feel better after resting, you should start studying again by focusing on the areas of the language that you found fun and actually enjoyed doing.

Studying with this type of material is going to be a lot less stressful, since you enjoy doing it. This is exactly what you need when you get back to studying.

You may be hesitant to get started again, so focusing on the fun side of things can make that transition a little smoother. 

Reduce Your Work Load

Another thing you can do to help you overcome the burn out is to reduce your work load. Of course initially you need to completely stop and rest, but when you regain some energy and start studying again, do at a reduced tempo.

This does two things, it is firstly less work, so you probably are not going to get burnt out from this, but more importantly it allows you to set some easy goals and smash them.

When you set a goal, and then complete it, it will give you confidence which will make you feel good and building up your confidence like this will help you to totally overcome the burn out.

When I started studying again after burn out I set myself really small daily goals, something that was almost impossible to mess up. This might have been something as simple as only immerse for 10 minutes in the language, but it didn’t matter, I was able to complete it.

At the end of the day I was able to tick off that I had completely my language learning goals and it felt good, even if they goal was minuscule.

Over time you can build that back up, but just start small.      

Focus On Going Over What You Already Know

You can also help yourself overcome the burn out by taking a few steps back in the language. Instead of picking up where you left off, go back to the start.

Start going over the really easy beginner basics, you will probably fly though this stuff with ease, but it can be a nice refresher. You also don’t really need to think too hard about this kind of stuff, as it’s so basic.

This allows you to still interact with the language while not straining yourself. You might think it is a waste of time but it is still allowing you to solidify your foundational knowledge which is never a bad thing.

You can then build up form this and build your confidence again and work up to where you left off before you had to stop.

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can see what you need to do to overcome your burn out. Really you just need to rest and then when you start to feel in the mood to study again, do so gently so that you don’t rush back into things.

Burn out is annoying, but it can happen to anyone, so don’t beat yourself up if it happens to you, just take the time to recover and then get back at it. So long as you are consistent with your studies you will see results, a little break here and there isn’t going to stop you seeing success! 

(You can read more about – Frequently Asked Questions About – Language Learning Burn Out)