Productivity burnout and its impact on BYU students

As winter semester draws to a close at Brigham Young University, students are busier than ever.

With so much going on, it can be hard to feel organized. But what if the very apps designed to help manage everything are actually contributing to feelings of burnout?

According to the American College Health Association, 76.4% of college students reported moderate or high levels of stress in the last 30 days.

There are apps designed to help with health step trackers, calorie counters and sleep timers.

Gabi Kocsis, a student at BYU, uses many of these apps to stay organized.

"I use the VEVO active one all of the time, and it tracks my sleep; it can tell me how rested I am. It reminds me to eat and drink water throughout the day, which is super important as a student," Kocsis said.

Then productivity apps, like calendars, checklists or even reminders, add on to help keep on track every hour of the day.

Another student, Kate Daynes, said these apps, while helpful, can be difficult to manage all of the time.

"I sometimes feel anxious when I look back at my day, and I realize that I didn't do everything that I had planned," Daynes said.

According to a research study done by Asurion, the average American checks their phone 96 times a day. That is once every 10 minutes; all of these notifications can make it worse.

Jonathan Felker talked about his methodology for staying organized.

"If I do worry about kind of scheduling everything, that can be pretty stressful, especially if you're not able to get everything done, then having to worry about rescheduling future stuff," Felker said.

Many BYU students are also returned missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After living a very strict schedule for 18 months to 2 years, the change back to an unstructured college life can feel very jarring.

"I served in Germany, and it was very punctual and very formal structured culture, so I just got used to that and really liked it. Then I came home, and I had kind of a crisis with the way that my life wasn't as structured as it looked on my mission," Daynes said.

Some dont struggle as much, preferring to embrace the chaos.

"I use Google Docs where I can just make a chart, where I can have my classes on one side and the days of the week on the other," Felkner said.

Are these apps really helping to better manage all thats going on in people's lives, or is this obsession with metrics and numbers becoming in itself more information overload?

No matter the style of organization, students say balance is key when it comes to productivity and freedom.