Juggling academic goals and part-time work can be exhausting for many students. You may often worry about meeting assignment deadlines, completing projects, and raising enough money to fund your studies. As a result, many students resolve to multitask in order to accomplish academic goals and still find time for a healthy social lifestyle. However, it is possible to strike a perfect balance between studies, social life, and part-time work. So, if you are struggling to balance your academic and work life, this article offers you useful tips to strike a working balance.
Work With Supportive Employers
When hunting for a part-time job, it’s worth letting your potential employer know that you are a student and find out if they have any student support policies. For example, you can request for adjustment to the work schedule to fit in extra study time on certain days. Furthermore, if possible, ask your boss to allow you to work remotely so that you can use the spare commute time to study. Additionally, you can request exclusion from major work projects so that they do not impact your studies.
If you are working in the industry of your degree or doing a degree apprenticeship, you might be lucky to get automatic support from your employer. If you do not have support yet, explain to your manager and supervisor how you intend to use the skills and knowledge gained from your studies to increase productivity in your work.
Find Ways to Manage High Workloads
Even with all the effort and good intentions, you may sometimes find yourself with competing crunch times from study and work. Whenever this happens, boldly ask for help from relevant persons like your coursemates, tutors, or support staff. You can request someone to assist with assignments or other course-based work.
On the other hand, you can consider setting aside part of the money you get from your part-time job to hire someone to help with piling academic tasks. Hiring experts from Homeworkdoer.org will help you meet academic deadlines while still making money with part-time work.
Manage Distractions
Distractions arise from the most random places and at the wrong time, often making it hard to focus. Therefore, it would be best to create a strategy to manage possible distractions. For instance, you can avoid the temptation of checking your phone often by putting it on “Do Not Disturb” mode or leaving it in another room.
On the other hand, if you are working on a computer, leverage free apps like Cold Turkey or Self Control to control the time you spend on sites not related to your work or checking social media. If there are other people around, ensure that they know that you are working and would appreciate some silence.
Create a Dedicated Study Space
A dedicated study space enables you to get into a study mood. You can turn your kitchen, dining table, or favorite coffee shop into a study space. In addition, you can make use of your college study spaces to catch up on time lost while working.
Moreover, you can request your employer to allow you to come to the office earlier or stay longer to use the office computer and space for your studies. However, for this tip to work effectively, it would be wise to avoid minor distractions such as housework. Putting house chores into a planner alongside your other to-do tasks can help you create a workable balance.
Create Extra Time
Is there any possibility you can find some time within your busy day to study? Use it. For instance, waking up earlier than usual allows you some time to catch up on a reading or tackle a pending assignment. In addition, you can use commute time to prepare for an upcoming test.
Furthermore, you can request your manager to compact your working hours to maybe work three full days instead of five half ones. With this, you will have two days of uninterrupted studying. Again, the few minutes you spend scrolling through your social media feeds eventually adds up to an hour or so. Additionally, watching one episode less in your favorite series can give you some extra time to study or complete a school project.
Plan Your Work Early
Check your school calendar and plan your workload at the beginning of the semester to stay at the top of your time from the word go. Map out your assignment deadlines and class times and organize them into a calendar. After that, map out the time you need for independent studies like reading, project prep, or coursework. Schedule this together with your other life commitments to see how everything falls in place in the long run.
Balancing part-time work, academic goals, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can sometimes be challenging. It can sometimes push you to extreme ends or impact on your academic performance if you do not have a working plan. Therefore, it would be best to plan your time well and learn to delegate tasks to experts whenever necessary.
