In this CAM we focus on academic burnout and finding work-life balance. Students commonly call 'academic burnout' a phase in which engaging with academics becomes exceedingly tiresome and difficult. Such burnouts often follow from pursuing a hectic schedule of work and academics leading to a poor work-life balance. Yet, our commitments stay and the world does not wait. 

Moreover, as exciting as this offline semester is, it comes with its own challenges of balancing between work and life. First-timers on campus might feel the Fear Of Missing Out on socializing and making up for the lost time and friendships in an online setting. Final-year students might be torn between making the most of the last semester, giving their last best shot at academics and planning for life after Ashoka.  In this CAM event, therefore, we would like to have a conversation around ways of dealing with and working through phases of tiredness and low-motivation in one’s academic schedule and of working towards a healthier work-life balance in general. 

Here are some of the queries we hope to address: 

• Amidst the hustle culture at Ashoka, where we see people work more often than not, how do we recognise that we are slipping into an unhealthy stage of work-life balance and remind ourselves to take a break? 
• How can we avoid feeling guilty about taking breaks? 
• How do we work our way through phases of burnouts?
• Sometimes, taking a break leads to other breaks, taking us to a point where catching up on work becomes daunting. How do we motivate ourselves to get back to work then, or manage our breaks wisely? 

Through this Coffee and More…! session, we hope to explore these sorts of questions and potentially know helpful and interesting ways to think about finding work-life balance.