Burning yourself out with school work—or any other activity—is prominent among teenagers, and it is really confusing as to whether this is good, bad, or just in the middle. For instance, everyone knows that working for 6 hours straight on a school project that probably won’t be worth it in the end is never a good thing… even though we all still do it. Well, maybe not to that extent, but you get the picture.

Although working super hard on something can be seen as a really good thing, working for so long to the point where you haven’t consumed anything but coffee for the last day… ya. That’s when it can become a huge health problem.

You might tell yourself that you should just push through the pain even if you are putting your health at risk, but no. You should never overwork yourself that hard or even admire the idea of it.

I think at this point in our schooling we have all experienced these types of struggles, and it is one of the worst feelings ever to go through. You become aggravated with small things and, in the end, no matter how good the final result is, it probably will not be worth all of the aggravation you go through to achieve that result.

It is ok to take breaks, don’t feel like you have to endure all of that. A lot of people have a difficult time coming to this conclusion. They could deny themselves sleep or food just so they have more time to work. People also tend to cut corners and make sloppy mistakes when working on something for too long, and it impacts their vision of the end product in a negative way.

My advice? Always make sure to change what you’re doing from day to day. Doing the same thing over and over again is a detrimental cycle. Say, for instance, you love candy. If all you do is eat candy all day, you start to feel sick and get that nauseous feeling in the back of your throat. You know the one. Just compare that to working.

All in all, you should take time to care for yourself. I know, it sounds obvious, but it truly is important. Take time to do something that you really enjoy to regain your energy. Don’t just use a fifteen minute break to eat and expect that to tie you over. Enjoy yourself! You can create your best work when you are energized and not sad and tired.