How To Balance Work And School
Balancing work and school for students can be challenging, especially with part-time or full-time jobs to pay for classes, learning materials, and more.
Schedule Your Day
You must plan your day by having set times devoted for work and ensure that you have marked important dates for your exams and assignments. Additionally, you need to spare some time for exercise and for your own downtime, whether you wish to spend it by yourself or with family.
Prioritize Your Activities
This is also an important component of organizing your schedule on a weekly or daily basis. There are certain tasks that need to be done before others. For example, tasks related to work or school should be prioritized, while certain times need to be allotted for house chores like cooking and cleaning.
Multitasking
With increased responsibilities, it becomes vital that we learn to multitask. This may not be easy at first, but with practice, we learn to become better at it.
Create A Designated Space
You must designate yourself space that allows you to stay focused when you are working on your most important assignment. Ensure that whenever you sit down to work, you have everything you need, instead of having to leave your space searching for different things such as your textbook or your notes for completing your assignment. Your learning space should be clean, organized, and have a comfortable seating arrangement.
Don’t Neglect Your Health
There is nothing more important than having to take care of your physical and mental health. This involves having enough sleep, doing regular exercise, and eating healthy by having a balanced diet. You must also be aware of when you are feeling overly stressed, so you know exactly what kind of strategies you might need to cope with stress. According to School-Life Balance by John Hopkins University, there are certain signs to look for when you are stressed such as having anxiety or panic attacks, a feeling of always having to hasten things, trouble getting proper sleep, indulging in unhealthy behaviours like drinking excessively, smoking, or overeating, and experiencing depression.
We can start by learning to relax our body through meditation, increase our vitamin D intake with a short walk in the sun, practice positive talk, think of things that give us joy, talk to our friends or loved ones, and try to be optimistic in the most difficult circumstances.
In conclusion, Working part-time throughout your studies equips you with the transferable skills employers are looking for, so it’s important to highlight these in your CV and cover letter.
In whatever role you choose, it’s likely you’ll develop teamwork, problem solving, time management and communication skills – all of which will boost your graduate career prospects.