 What is up guys karma medic here and welcome back to another dose I get a lot of questions from you guys on how I've managed to stay so productive throughout my nine years at university Four years of my undergraduate degree and now in my fifth year of medical school without getting to the point of burning out So today I'm gonna talk to you about my top six ways of preventing burnout whilst in medical school If you're new to the channel, then hi My name is Nasser and I'm now a final year medical student studying at King's College London And I think mental health and how we take care of ourselves is so important Something that I'm placing an ever-growing emphasis on and I think we need to talk about it more here on the internet and on my channel So let's get right into it If I could summarize this video in pretty much one word, it would be variety It's so important to make sure that we're not spending every minute of our time doing the exact same thing over and over again And that we have other things going on in our lives if I studied every minute of every single day Then eventually I'm going to burn out It's just pretty much a fact of life Even if it's not studying whether it's only playing video games or only hanging out with friends The idea of doing one thing non-stop can feel overwhelming and it can make me feel empty inside if I'm doing it for too long and there's not enough variety Mixing things up by having extra curriculars that I love doing is the key to me not feeling like my life is revolving around one thing and for keeping me fulfilled As you guys know, I love to play sports. I really enjoy running and basketball I like to spend time with my girlfriend and friends I create these YouTube videos every week and of course I like to study medicine Doing all of these activities during my week keeps things fresh and helps me keep focus I'm more likely to be focused during my studying sessions If I know that the rest of my day or the rest of my week is filled with other activities that I actually really enjoy doing Instead of just continuously studying throughout the whole week with no benefit or reward in sight Having said this, it's important stick to your schedule as much as you can so that you don't end up going over time on one extra curricular And missing out on another you want to actually have time to do all the things you want to do It's also important to make sure that you keep things varied within the single task as well So for example, if I have a four hour study block I try to keep the material that I'm covering varied enough to keep me interested rather than spending the four hours on the same Topics for example, I can be covering multiple body systems or topics or changing up the type of activity that I'm doing So for example, I can do two hours of reading and then two hours of practice questions This helps me stay productive and focused for the entire four hour block It's easy to forget the reason that you started doing something to begin with I find it useful to keep some sort of reminder as to why I'm working on the specific thing I'm doing nearby So for example, I keep scrubs on my desk over here And I have the youtube silver subscriber plaque over there over my shoulder And it just helps remind me of why I started making youtube videos in the first place It motivates me to keep going and prevents the feeling of making these videos being something like a task or a chore That I just need to tick off of my to-do list Honestly, it reminds me of you guys and the impact that you've all had on me over the years As you probably know, I started the channel with the goal of just helping a handful of you get accepted into medical school And now there's over 800,000 of you who are interested in my life and how I work And it just gives me that little boost of motivation that I think we all need sometimes Finding your purpose and the reason why you're working towards something and the things that you're doing makes the work more directed and fulfilling I honestly enjoy med school so much more when I remember that the reason for me doing this isn't to get the best mark on an exam Or to rank first It's actually to become a competent doctor that patients feel comfortable opening up to and that I can practically help by sharing my knowledge and experience I think it's really important to recognize when you're struggling and to be sure to ask for help sooner rather than later I don't know why when I was growing up I sort of had this notion that I needed to always be in control Always know what I'm doing and overcome any obstacle that was in my way, but truthfully, that's just not the case It's okay to not be okay and to talk to other people about it. Sometimes when things are feeling tough I'll take time out to talk to my sister or my girlfriend or my friends about what's going on You know or we'll play video games together or go for a coffee Just hang out to take my mind off of things and just help process those emotions and feelings And what's actually going on talking to people that you trust and that you're comfortable with can be a huge help Whether that's friends family your personal tutors or supervisors at university something I've actually started doing recently is talking to a therapist with the help of the sponsor of this video Better help better help is an online service for professional counseling It was really easy for me to get set up with the therapist better Help assessed my needs and matched me with a licensed professional and we started talking within just 48 hours of me signing up Now just forget that this is a sponsored segment for a second. I can't even describe just how beneficial this has been for me I feel like with medical school this youtube channel and life I've been constantly on the go so much so to the point that I haven't had the chance to actually sit down And think about how I feel or how much all the stress and this busy life has impacted me Talking to someone has enabled me to think through those emotions in a way that I never have before And it's honestly been eye-opening for me. The service is available worldwide And you can log into your account anytime to send a message to your counselor I'm currently chatting over video call once a week, but you can do phone calls or text communication If that's your preference it's more affordable than traditional counseling and financial aid is available as well If you're interested in trying them out, I'd highly recommend it I've honestly gained so much value from it and I hope that you do too You can go to betterhelp.com slash karma medic. That's better H-e-l-p dot com slash karma medic to check them out. Thanks again to better help for sponsoring this video Asking for help. I don't think this one is talked about enough Especially in medical school asking for help or collaborating with your peers is so important in being successful It's not a sign of weakness and it is nothing to be embarrassed about You guys have seen me working on oski prep with kenji and georgina Which really helped me do well in my most recent exams. There is simply no way I would have been able to perform as well as I did Throughout all of medical school let alone just these exams if I wasn't working collaboratively with other people I'm always talking to other students on my course about which resources they found useful and how they're getting on with the material You know creating this small community makes you feel like you're not in it alone It helps with burnout because you can talk to other people that actually know what you're going through via their own first-hand experiences So keeping an eye on your vitals what I mean by vitals I don't mean things like heart rate respiratory rate blood pressure I mean things like eating well sleeping well and exercise I try my best to make sure that I'm eating well and regularly The only time really that I forget to eat is if I'm deep in editing a video And I'm so laser focused that I forget to do pretty much anything else I also try to do some exercise every other day at most I try to not let myself skip two days of exercise I go to the gym I play basketball or I go for a run You guys know that I love running which is something that I do to get the heart pumping But also I feel like I just feel so re-energized after a run Which has the added bonus of making me feel more productive and focused because it helps clear my mind and allows me to have this Like reset for the day Finally sleeping well is key to making sure that you have enough energy to do the activities that you actually want to get done During your day if you guys have seen my video on how I'm able to fall asleep in four minutes I cover a lot of my sleeping habits over there But long story short just make sure that you're getting enough sleep for you to not feel like a zombie throughout the day And to actually be alert and get the things done that you want to get done Our brains need good quality sleep to function at its best Keeping an eye on how much you're sleeping and keeping a consistent sleep routine can be a great way to prevent burnout Getting good rest working hard is obviously important But also knowing when to rest and take a break is vital to not burning out Personally, I like to rest by watching youtube videos or netflix while I eat chilling with my friends in the evenings and on the weekends Or just playing some video games with my sister or anyone else whenever we have time Sometimes I really need to remind myself that it's okay to take some time away from my to-do list Honestly, I'm not the best at this but it's something that I'm actively trying to work on when I go on holiday Or I have time away from medical school I try and pull back on how much work I'm doing and how much time I'm spending on emails and things like that And try and spend that precious time with my friends and family even though there's always this voice in the back of my head That's just telling me to be productive Sometimes it can be hard to know when to take a needed rest and honestly This is something that I struggle with constantly Something that I do that I've found helps quite a bit is if I schedule rest into my schedule Or schedule breaks and chill time into my schedule. That way it's a predetermined thing that I've already told myself I'm gonna do and so when the time comes I just follow the instructions that I've given myself in the past And I take that rest that I probably really need Otherwise sometimes if you're really deep in a working mode It can be easy to get sucked in and just keep going keep going keep going without giving yourself that time to Take a break relax reset and then come back more focused and productive than you were before The last thing that I want to say in this video is that it is okay to burn out Balance particularly at medical school can be especially difficult if you do feel burned out Just know that you're not alone. It's something that so many of us can relate to We've either all been burned out in the past or might even be going through burnout right now At that point we might need to take some time away ask for help from friends family personal tutors at university or whatever And just get some good rest. It's okay to be in this position It's something that a lot of us go through and to be honest with you I'm probably going through burnout in medical school right now It's actually something that I'm going to make an entire video on in the near future So make sure you subscribe and stay tuned for that But it's totally okay talk to someone get some good rest and it will pass All right, and that is it guys six ways to prevent burnout in medical school I've implemented these ideas into my life and I've managed to stay productive and avoid a lot of potential burnout over the many years In higher education I hope this video can help add some value into your own routines and help remind you of some of the things That could prevent you from getting to the point of burnout if you enjoyed this video Please don't forget to leave a like on it and also subscribe to my channel to more content from me in the future And I'll catch you in the next one. Peace