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Life

How to Balance School, Work and a Social Life

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Illinois State chapter.

Right now I’m a senior in college. I wish I could say that I know all of the answers, but after 18 years of schooling, I still feel hopeless. Although I can’t give perfect advice on how to balance everything in your life, I sure have gained some knowledge on things that have made my life just a tad bit easier.

BUY A PLANNER

I am dead serious when I say you need a planner. And not only do you need a planner, but you also need to buy yourself a nice set of colorful pens to color code your planner. My life is guided through color. What I mean by this, is that my entire life is color-coded. Sounds extreme, huh? I love color and it helps stand out to me and read things a lot easier that are in color. Here is a breakdown of my key for my planner:

Class #1

Class #2

Class #3

Class #4

Class #5

Work

Sorority

Her Campus

Appointments

GOOGLE CALENDAR

I absolutely love Google Calendar and stand by it 100%. I will never use any other calendar app. If you are someone who doesn’t enjoy carrying around a planner, Google Calendar might work better for you. If you also like color, you can color-code your events. I put everything into my calendar from meals, events, classes and gym time. This way, I can see my entire day out in front of me and can see where I am busy and not busy.

DON’T OVERWORK YOURSELF!

I know how it feels to be paying for everything on your own and feeling like you have to work your life away in order to survive. I have put myself in many positions where I am so exhausted I do not want to do anything but lay in my bed. You have to remind yourself that your health is more important than a check, and your school is more important than a job.

Those were just three of my main things to do in order to juggle all of what life throws at me. They keep me in check and I hope they can help you too!

Lot’s of Love,

Jess <3

Jessica Hogeboom

Illinois State '22

ISU 2022 | Elementary Education Follow me on Instagram : @jesshogeboom