Life gets crazy, life can be hard, and sometimes balance can feel difficult to achieve. This gets especially hard when BBYO enters the mix. For that reason, many seasoned BBYO members have come up with ways to balance BBYO, to avoid burnout, and stay on top of one’s game.

The BEST BBYO advice I have ever been given is to work on BBYO for 10 minutes every day. It may either seem like a lot of time or a little bit of time, but giving yourself ten minutes will allow you to stay focused, get work done, and balance your life. As a Junior this year, the amount of homework I receive on top of ACT prep takes up a lot of my time. Allowing myself to take these ten-minute BBYO breaks has allowed me to stay on top of my regional work and has, in turn, kept me sane. I don’t feel myself getting overwhelmed as much as I used to. Ten minutes keeps you on track and motivated. Working so hard for so long can cause burn out and giving yourself ten minutes allows yourself to flourish.

Another way to balance life and BBYO is to work together. Whether it's with your fellow chapter members, counterparts, or friends in other chapters, working together will allow for the chapter, regional, and international operations to be done with ease. When you put all the work on yourself, it is easy to become overwhelmed. Splitting the work up, like in a school project, will lessen the responsibilities per person. Then you can balance life way easier with less work to do for BBYO. Again, not allowing for you to burn out due to being overwhelmed. 

Always ask for help and don’t be scared to say no. Sometimes, it is hard to accept the fact that you need help or accept the fact that you are overwhelmed and need to say no. Once you can realize that doing the task alone or doing the task period is too much for you and the work you will put out will not be your best, you can accept what you would need to do next. Ask for help from staff, advisors, board members, and chapter members. If you have accepted to do something and you don’t have the time for it, it is okay to say no when asked to take on something else. It will allow you to get your life back on track and to keep yourself from burning out. 

Giving in ten minutes, working together, and allowing yourself to say no will help you balance BBYO and life. These tips will allow you to stay on track, produce top tier work, and avoid burnout.