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Recruitment can be exciting... and hectic. If you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, here are a few tips to help you take care of yourself throughout the recruitment process.  

Set boundaries 

Setting healthy boundaries can help protect your mental health, conserve your energy and avoid getting burned out. You can set healthy boundaries during recruitment season by coming up with rules around your roles, event planning, class and study times, among other obligations. Here are some examples of boundaries you can set this year. 

Delegate: Nobody can plan and execute events or programs on their own. That’s why it’s important to delegate tasks and responsibilities. While it may be hard to let go of control, it’s important to remember that your brothers or sisters all have the same goals and want recruitment to be successful. Practice accepting that other people may not do things the same way you would, and that’s okay. Preserving your own well-being is more important than being in total control.  

Check in: Schedule times to check in with your brothers or sisters. This can help you all keep track of your progress and identify areas where you may need extra support. Having open conversations not only helps you stay on track, but it can also foster collaboration, provide mutual support and improve everyone’s well-being.  

Practice saying no: In some cases, you may notice that an event or program requires more work than you expected. When this happens, be mindful of what you already have on your plate and if it makes sense to take on additional responsibilities. For instance, you may have a large courseload this semester or have limited flexibility with work. It’s also common to feel pressured to be a ‘good’ chapter member by agreeing to everything, but sometimes it’s better to simply say no. If it’s a mandatory event, talk with your chapter leadership if you need flexibility.  

Be realistic about your time: Chances are you’re going to have a lot on your plate this fall. That’s why it’s important to be realistic about how much time you really have. It can be helpful to keep a schedule or planner to ensure you have enough time to work on chapter projects, complete academic assignments and take time for yourself. Try setting limits for how much time you spend on a given task or project. For instance, you may decide to only spend an hour per day planning events, so you can have more time to focus on studying. Once you’ve reached your time limit, give yourself permission to walk away and come back tomorrow. If you find that the schedule you set isn’t working, check in with yourself and adjust as needed. 

Focus on 15-minute wins 

Sometimes when we feel overwhelmed, it can be hard to start even the simplest of tasks. If this sounds familiar, try challenging yourself to commit to 15 minutes of productivity. This technique lends itself well to event planning, academics, work and life. Here’s how to get started:  

Pick a single task  
Pick any task, large or small. This can include things like creating an event schedule, preparing for bid day, studying for a class, finally returning that Amazon purchase or anything else you can think of.  

Start the clock  
Set your timer for fifteen minutes. This will give you enough time to make progress without derailing your entire schedule for the day. You can use a kitchen timer, stopwatch or phone.  

Allow resistance   
Oftentimes when people feel resistance to a task, they immediately stop, quit, procrastinate or distract themselves with other things (hello, TikTok). These feelings often become an excuse to not act on a task. However, if you can allow yourself to feel discomfort and still take a step forward despite it, you’ll be able to make meaningful progress toward any goal. This is the foundation work of cultivating grit—the ability to persevere through long-term goals.  

Challenge yourself  
Turn tasks and deadlines into a game with yourself. Can you complete something in less than fifteen minutes? Can you complete a task in less time than it took you previously? Can you make it fun? 

Clock out 

Do you ever struggle to turn off your brain? Creating rituals can help you separate yourself from nagging responsibilities. Rituals help signal to your brain that it’s time to get to work or that it’s time to leave work behind. For instance, you may choose to take a walk or do a quick breathing exercise before checking out for the day. Practicing rituals like this regularly can help you disconnect and free up mental space for other things. 

Make time for rest 

You don’t need to have to earn or need a reason to rest, reconnect or recreate. This often means we need to unlearn the idea that tasks or projects must be completed before we can sit down, relax or take a breath. The truth is, there will always be something to do later today, tomorrow, next week or next year.  

Give yourself unconditional permission to rest (yes, even during recruitment). If you need a ‘reason’ to rest, think about things that you want to do outside of your chapter. For instance, you may want to finish reading a book, go on a new hike, reconnect with friends you haven’t seen in a while, get back into a hobby or simply sleep in. When you feel burned out from recruitment prep or events, commit to spending some time doing things you genuinely enjoy, whether you have five minutes or five hours of free time. 

Celebrate small successes 

It can be tempting to celebrate the big wins like hosting a successful event or attracting many potential members. However, it’s also important to celebrate the little stuff. Here are some small victories and milestones to celebrate this fall: 

• You secure a location for an event. 
• You establish a productive routine. 
• You create a financing plan (even if you haven’t raised any money yet). 
• You connect with a potential new member. 
• You participate in another organization’s event. 
• You form a study group within your chapter. 

You can celebrate these milestones by doing things like taking a collective night off or grabbing a special coffee with your brothers or sisters.  

Remind yourself this is temporary 

How you’re feeling right now isn’t how you’re going to feel forever. Remind yourself that the stress of recruitment is temporary. How well you execute an event or how many recruits you get isn’t going to define the rest of your life. One way to put things into perspective is to think about how your circumstances will impact you further into the future. For instance, imagine how you may feel about this seven days from now, seven months from now or seven years from now. Chances are, as time passes, it won’t seem as dire.  

Accept and seek support 

One of the great things about being in a sorority or fraternity is that you have a built-in support system. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, overburdened, burned out or stressed, lean on your chapter members. If someone offers you support, don’t feel guilty about accepting it. Similarly, if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask.  

You can also access professional support through programs on campus. Here are a few to check out.