School. Work. Extracurriculars. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
Being a working college student can be extensively exhausting. You’re supposed to balance it all, on top of getting enough sleep, taking care of your body, finding time for relaxation, keeping up with the news and politics — it’s a massive challenge to take on. But hey, we can handle it — or we can at least try with some tricks up our sleeves.
1. Recognize that your education should always come first.
You’re not paying thousands of dollars for a college education that you can’t give your all to because your manager or supervisor scheduled you outside of your availability. Give work a specific outline of your availability so you’re only taking on the amount of work that you can handle. If you come to find out that you asked for too much, talk to your manager and ask them to cut back on your hours. Your internship or customer service job is important, but not important enough to be detrimental to your education.
2. If you have a weekly work schedule that comes out, schedule your homework time and social plans accordingly — directly after it’s released.
This may seem obvious, but if you wait on a work schedule a certain day of the week, try to make plans with friends directly after it is released, and assign time slots during the week that you’ll use for homework. The longer you wait, the more off track you might get with your workload, and your plans to hangout with friends might dissipate.
3. Your time is extremely limited; time management is crucial.
The time slots that you do have open, you have to be in the zone. Wasting time procrastinating and scrolling through pictures of Harry Styles is beyond easy to do. However, as a perpetually busy person, you have to snap out it and start typing away on that paper you were avoiding.
4. Find something to look forward to at the end of your long days to motivate you.
If you’re like me, a delightful vision of sprawling out your bed and watching Game of Thrones after an exhaustingly long Monday is of major assistance in pushing through to finish homework. Find what it is that motivates you, whether that be a tasty snack, the new episode of your favorite show or a relaxing bath, and use it to your advantage. Focus on your motivating activity to get whatever done that needs to be done. #TREATYOSELF
5. Don’t completely block out your friends.
It can be difficult to manage a social life when you’re a working student with plenty of other responsibilities on your plate. However, it’s important to still make time for the people you care about to help reduce some of your stress. If you’re too busy to hangout with friends for a certain week or for a few days, reach out to them and let them know the situation, so you’re not leaving anyone in the dark. Most importantly, when you need someone to vent to, don’t suppress everything inside — vent to your friends! True friends want to help talk you through your stresses.
6. Know when to say no.
Adding extracurriculars to the formula of being a working college student adds to the challenge. Know when you have to say no to the clubs or organizations that you are participating in. If there is an event the night before a big exam, don’t feel uncomfortable letting them know you can’t go because need to dedicate your time to studying. People will understand more often than you think — remember, other students are going through the same exact rollercoaster. If one of your organizations is asking for more than you can give, it might be time to take a break for a semester or retract yourself from that extra curricular.
7. Treat your body right.
When you’re running back and forth between commitments all day, it can be hard to focus on the quality or quantity of food that you’re eating that day. Make sure you don’t run yourself into the ground by not giving your body the nutrients and exercise it needs. Plan out a meal in advance, so you don’t waste time thinking about what to make for lunch and end up substituting it for something more unhealthy.
8. Don’t forget what you’re doing it all for.
It can be easy to forget the exact purpose of another exhausting, stressful day of balancing school, work, extracurriculars, a social life, exercise and more. It’s also easy to forget just how lucky we are for receiving an education in the first place. There are endless numbers of people in the world desperately craving an education. Remind yourself of your dream career that you’re pushing yourself to attain. Remind yourself of the feeling you’ll have when you hold that diploma in your hand at graduation, knowing you conquered everything you thought you couldn’t.
Remember that the purpose of your stressful schedule is to make your future dreams come true — and it will all be worth it.