Tips for balancing study with your work and social life

Hey, graduates! Life is incredibly hectic when you become an adult. Whether you are at a university or you are out in the working world you will have a lot of different things demanding your time. Life is a huge jumble of responsibilities, and we need to learn how to juggle these effectively while also leaving ourselves some time for fun. If you are studying while working and balancing your social life, read on to make things easier for yourself.

Make a schedule

The first thing you will want to do when you start your classes, along with the rest of your life, is sit down and make yourself a schedule. Take an afternoon to sit with a bunch of pens and a piece of paper, and create a schedule for yourself for the month ahead. You can add in the hours of the day, your working hours and lunch hour, and then divide the rest of the time between your hobbies, any classes you take, your study and down time. This will act as a guide for you each day and will allow you to make sure that you have time for everything.

Work around your commitments

If you are an older student who is going back to school, it is important that you choose courses which you can work around your commitments. For example, maybe going to a physical building to work on a business degree wouldn’t be suitable for you. However some accredited online mba programs would be ideal because you can take classes at home. Make sure you choose an online course that will allow you to work at your own pace, from anywhere. That way you can work your classes around your life.

Be organized

So you have a schedule. Now you actually need to stick to it. Unless you want to fall behind you need to ensure that you keep your work as organized as possible for easy access and to make it easier for you to know where you left off last. When you finish a study session, take 5-10 minutes to write down what you want to cover the next time you study. It could be a few sections of a chapter or maybe it is homework you want to polish up. Doing this will save you time in the long run because you’ve already set yourself up for your next study session.

Don’t overdo it

It is incredibly important that you balance your lifestyle. Don’t do too much! Whether it is working or studying, doing too much will cause your mind and body to burn out. You won’t be useful to anyone then…until you recover. If, during a study session, you start to feel your attention drifting away or you are tired, close the book and come back to it tomorrow. Listen to your body, and let it rest when it needs to.

Take time away

It is crucial in balancing your life that you take time away from your work and study sometimes. We all need to give our brains a chance to reset and refresh once in a while. Make sure that you step away from the laptop or book at the end of the week and don’t pick it up again over the weekend. Give yourself the time to spend with your family, have a donut and enjoy your life. You can come back to your responsibilities later.