Treating School like a Nine-to-Five: How an Internship Can Change Your View on Your Academic Lifestyle

As I was sinking into my bed one night a few days ago, after a long tiresome day of going to lectures, working on assignments, and preparing for midterms, I began to do what everyone does during the late hours of a random weekday – scrolled on TikTok. Surely enough, I stumbled upon a TikTok and like many of you, I was curious as to how both aspects correlated to one another.

In her video, she explored the idea of treating university like a nine-to-five job. Her full-time job gave her the discipline and routine of doing work within a time block and ensuring rest afterward to prepare for the next time block of work. As I thought more about the routine this girl applied to her life, I thought about how sometimes, school truly takes over my life. When you prioritize schoolwork over everything else in your life, it can become this never-ending black hole that sucks you in. There will always be more notes to take, more assignments to work on, and more lectures to get ahead of. You must decide when to stop and take the time to do things for yourself outside of academia. Now, this “nine-to-five-to-five” model may not be ideal for everyone since we all have such different routines and responsibilities, but here are a few aspects of this model that you can incorporate into your life:

Take time off

When you work a full-time job, your employers must give you time off, whether it is a few hours after the work day or even whole days during the weekend. Similarly, as a full-time university student, you are also entitled to time off to rest and recharge. This can be a few hours or a whole day. I like to take my Fridays off after I finish attending my classes. I usually use this time to immerse myself in the act of simply doing nothing.

Make time for your hobbies and interests

As a full-time employee, you are not solely thinking about work. You also engage in activities and interests outside of work (raising a family, joining a community group, volunteering, exercising, etc. Outside of being a university student, you are also a person with likes and dislikes. Therefore, it is worthwhile to schedule time for those hobbies and interests in whatever ways work for you, whether you book a workout class or even join a club or community organization. Find ways to engage your mind and body in things that take your mind off school.  

schedule and time block

As a full-time employee, you must schedule specific tasks you must accomplish every day to meet a goal or deadline. As a full-time university student, you also have assignment due dates and midterms you must prepare for. The best way to do that is to break large daunting tasks into smaller tasks that are more attainable. Whether your app of choice is Notion, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or even bullet journaling, find what works for you to help you properly make use of your time.