Persisting: Preventing Burnout

By Olivia Feldman, HW ‘22

If you’ve spent a lot of time in debate or in any activity, you’ve probably experienced the exhaustion that makes something you once loved feel like a chore: burnout. Tournaments every weekend, research, drills, practice debates, and Mondays spent frantically catching up on schoolwork create a massive workload that can be unsustainable to keep up with.

For many debaters, the automatic response to their card output decreasing or drills getting worse is to work harder. When burnout is involved, this strategy can counterintuitively make you less productive. By ignoring exhaustion and trying to maintain very high standards of work, burnout may get significantly worse, eventually leading to debaters leaving the activity entirely.

Unfortunately, recognizing burnout might be easier said than done. Noticing that you’re tired of debate is one thing, but actually becoming excited about it again is another. With that in mind, here are some tips that have helped me prevent and address burnout in the past:

1) Take real breaks

Okay, maybe this one is obvious. Taking a break from debate is the clear solution to the fatigue that can come from overworking yourself for too long. Still, many “breaks” that debaters take are filled with having conversations about debate, obsessing over tournament results, and doing prep. Half-focusing on debate instead of fully dedicating yourself to schoolwork, other extracurriculars, or just relaxing will never give you the rest you need to avoid burning out.

This advice doesn’t just apply to a long break after a months-long period of grinding debate work. Taking breaks for an hour, a day, or even just a few minutes can be integral to boosting productivity and providing a respite from the constant focus that can be so exhausting. This is especially true in the era of online debate--whether at tournaments or just prepping, taking a break from the screen and getting a snack or some quality family time can give your eyes and your brain some much-needed rest.

2) Remember what you love about debate

The draw of debate is different for everyone. For me, the social aspect and the friends I’ve made through debate are what keep me coming back to the activity. For others, it may be finding weird process counterplans or diving deep into critical theory. Whatever your passion in debate is, it can rekindle your love for the activity to make it seem less like a chore. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t complete necessary assignments, but focusing on the most enjoyable aspects of debate can alleviate fatigue.

3) Branch out

This is very different advice from the last point, but avoiding burnout is also about balance and finding what works for you. Sometimes the issue is not busy work, but boredom from doing the same thing for the entirety of your debate career. Branching out into other arguments or other forms of debate can provide exciting novelty and challenge, which can in turn reawaken excitement about debate.

This doesn’t just mean finding a new disadvantage when the topic comes out or cutting a case neg. Depending on the style of debate you’re used to, trying out policy, K, philosophy, theory, or tricks debate can allow you more control over your experience and potentially lead you to discover a new interest.

Each of these suggestions is just a start, but they’re tips that have helped me to stave off burnout over the years and fight it once it settles in. By experimenting with them and figuring out what works best for you, you can stay one step ahead of exhaustion.

Happy debating!