Anyone burned out/tired from essay writing? Tips?

Happened to me last year and I wanted to die.

Oh man, I definitely can't picture myself waiting one more year. Hopefully you and I have better luck this year! Where all did you apply last year?

Aimed too high - Stanford, Harvard, Haas & Yale... Got burned like Icarus. But this is really off topic...

Seriously though, I think short breaks interspersed between short writing periods is the best bet given your time frame at this time. Just make sure you don't turn the short break into a long break. You can do it!

Thanks for your advice, everyone!

Yeah, its easy to stress out and lose perspective. I think I need to do a fair share of psyching myself out and looking at essays as something "fun." And not stress over the deadlines.

CyberC1 - I know a lot of people that applied a second cycle (one friend is applying this year for the third time) and ended up getting into their dream schools! I'm sure the same will happen for you I will try out your technique, sounds promising.

Staind - Thanks for sharing your tactic! I find though that scaring myself into writing has a counterproductive effect. I just freeze

Anyway, good luck everyone. This process will be over soon

When starting a new essay I've found that brainstorming while I take my dog on a walk or to the park, or while I'm taking a shower helps. Something other than staring at a blank piece of paper or computer screen. Once I get that idea for my essay, the rest becomes a bit easier.

I try to always have a task when I sit down in front of the computer; i.e., today I will write my first draft of my third essay for Wharton. Helps much more to get settled in front of the computer with a specific task in mind, instead of saying, oh yeah, got to "go work on essays." If I know I need to get work done on my applications, but am too burned out or tired to get some quality essay writing accomplished, I use the time to go through the online applications for my schools and make sure all my information is filled in and correct. Finally, if I'm just completely distracted from essay writing, I visit gmatclub.com

@globalcitizen - quite amused, that's my nick on flyertalk forums =)

I totally agree with your post about burnout - i just did 2 round 1 schools and i'm already fatigued. I'm also plagued by the debate of whether to tailor my career goals for a school or not
Not to mention that each school is bloody confusing in requirements ....
anyhow, rant complete - but I am quite excited to make sure this is the last bloody time I'm doing this (as a reapplicant)

i would ask a friend for advice and for a different perspective. i got tired reading what i wrote over and over again and having someone to talk to about it helped open my mind to new ideas/suggestions. but what really helped me was getting an admissions consultant just for my essays. i knew i had earlier deadlines to turn in my essays to the consultant for review so i had to really power through. and knowing that i wanted my essays to be the best i could do before i turned them in gave me additional motivation. but god i've never felt so burnt out. if you can't afford to pay someone to look at them, i would try to talk it over with a friend. hearing your essays out loud and especially having someone else critique it will help. good luck!