For many young people in Australia, working while studying can be a great idea. After all, there are many benefits to this, the most obvious one being more money to cover education and living expenses. Perhaps most importantly, studying while working also teaches you responsibility and helps you achieve financial independence— not to mention the experience looks great on a resume!
Nonetheless, for many students, the thought of managing a full-time study load and a part-time or casual job can seem daunting. Balancing study time with work can sometimes feel impossible, particularly around exam season or when assignments start to pile up. For this reason, today we present 10 tips to help balance study and work.
1) Communicate well with your boss
Working a part-time or casual job means that there will most likely come a time when a shift clashes with one of your academic activities. However, you can help avoid this by communicating well and letting your boss know your school schedule and availability as early as possible. Giving your boss enough notice means that you’re more likely to get hours that work for you, allowing you to earn enough cash without sacrificing your studies.
2) Create a schedule for the week
When you’re working and studying at the same time, life can get busy. Between lectures, tutorials, practicals, labs, assignments and more it can be hard to even remember everything you have going on. Creating a schedule is a great way to help balance work and study because it allows you to visualise and keep track of everything, ensuring you have time for work, study and leisure every week.
3) Don’t leave assignments until the last minute
We’ve all been there, but when you’re studying and working, staying up writing an assignment or studying for an exam is a really bad idea. Not only is it terrible for your health, but it will affect your performance at work and academically. Instead, fit assignments into your schedule by breaking them down into manageable chunks.
4) Manage your stress
When you have so much on your plate, it is only natural to feel stressed, However, if you don’t learn to manage this appropriately it will begin to negatively affect every facet of your life. A key aspect of staying healthy as a student is to take time to focus on yourself. Even a few minutes every day doing a relaxing activity such as yoga, meditation or taking a scenic walk can make a huge difference.
If you, like many students across Australia, find the stress is beginning to harm your lifestyle, reach out to your university student services for help.
5) Get plenty of sleep
Sleep is often neglected by students at university, however, its importance should not be underestimated. When you sleep your body heals and repairs itself. If you consistently fail to get enough sleep, you will soon have to face the consequences. In fact, not getting enough sleep will make it harder to focus on your studies and at work, causing your performance to suffer.
In short, turn off your smartphone and log off social media a few hours before bed to make sure you get plenty of quality sleep.
6) Build a support network
Balancing work and study can feel lonely and stressful, and this can quickly deteriorate your mental health. For these challenging times, it is important you build a support network of friends and other trusted people you can turn to.
7) Use public libraries
As anyone who is balancing studying and working knows, time is precious! Public libraries are great because they help you avoid the distractions you would face at home, allowing you to be more productive and making sure you get the work done.
8) Separate work, study and leisure time
When you’re working and studying, leisure can be difficult. Even as you try to chill out with a nice book, thoughts of your next assignment may be floating around your head. To properly balance study, leisure and work, it is important that you are able to separate the three. Don’t do your homework where you like to relax, like your couch and your bed, and leave any thoughts of work at the door.
9) Eat healthy and exercise
Unsurprisingly, if you are frequently eating junk food and living a sedentary lifestyle your brain and body will pay a price. To make sure you can balance work and study without harming your mental and physical health it is crucial that you eat nutritious food and get active for 30 minutes a day. This can be as simple as taking a walk around the park and swapping water for soda!
10) Have fun!
While you may be incredibly busy, don’t forget these are meant to be some of the best years of your life— so find time for leisure, fun and chill-out activities with your friends. Not only will your mental health thank you, but it is also an important part of managing your time. Trust us, your future self will thank you!
Whether you’re working to help pay for your education and bills or looking for some experience before you graduate, it can be overwhelming to have to balance study and a job. However, with discipline, focus and preparation it is more than achievable.