"I am feeling burnt out right now and could use some time to myself. The problem is that I am an extrovert by nature and people have gotten used to me having my dorm room door open and just stopping by. It's already difficult enough living with so many other people, but now that the stress of the semester is high, I'm overwhelmed. What are some ideas that I can use to get some alone time?"
First of all, I think it’s really cool that you’ve acknowledged the fact that you’re feeling socially burnt out and that you’re in need of some self care. A lot of people aren’t able to acknowledge that, so you’ve already gotten past a huge barrier. Next, identify the situations in which you feel the most drained. If it’s primarily when entertaining your floor mates, try finding a space on campus maybe that can allow you to do some quiet reading or browsing social media. Also – don’t feel afraid to close your door from time to time, everyone is feeling very caught up in their own academic agendas at this point in the semester, so shutting out the floor for a bit to focus on your own thing is totally justifiable. Also – we have free access to the AC transit system since we’re students here, so take advantage of it! You can bus all the way to Lake Merritt and wander around, or just take it someone nearby that you don’t visit often just exist and take some time to yourself. I personally enjoy taking the 51B down to the Berkeley Marina and walking around down there, it’s a really cute area with some cool shops that you can check out, and the marina itself is very calming and relaxing if you walk out to the end of it. For extra alone time, I even run from campus down to the marina, but that’s not for everyone because running can suck sometimes!
Justin
Hi there!
Good Luck!
Simran