Achieving a healthy work-life balance is crucial for your long-term mental and physical well-being. Paired with college studies, it can be difficult to find time and not overwork yourself.
According to Forbes, 90% of surveyed professionals agree that work-life balance is very important to them, with 82% also emphasizing work flexibility. Regardless of whether you work part-time and study full-time or vice-versa, let’s take a look at how you can balance both worlds while still having some time for yourself.
Don’t Sacrifice Sleep or Eating Habits
First, you should never sacrifice your health just to get more things done. While you may achieve short-term success with your work and other projects, you’ll feel the consequences of your actions later on. Keep your sleep schedule regular and stick to eight healthy hours of rest during the night.
Likewise, make sure that you eat three times a day and that you mix in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other healthy snacks. You need to be energized and fully awake to get your work done properly – the best way to do that is by eating and sleeping well.
Learn to Prioritize Your Obligations
As a student and an employed professional, you’ll have to make some concessions on how to prioritize your obligations. What’s more important to you – your college degree or your work? If you’re working a part-time job to make ends meet, your college should be the priority.
You can use IHateWriting or mycustomwriting as a writing platform to help you turn in essays and various academic assignments when you’re pressed for time. Think about what fulfills you the most and focus on those activities before anything else to stay content with your lifestyle and long-term goals.
Keep Tabs on Your Deadlines
Whether you’re a self-disciplined student or someone who doesn’t like to write everything down, you’ll need to keep track of your deadlines 24/7. Regardless of whether you work as a freelancer or go to the office or another place of work, your college obligations need to be kept in check. You can use one of the following apps to do so:
- Any.do
- Calendly Mobile
- Evernote
- Todoist
- Asana
These apps are a great way for you to break down your tasks and deadlines in detail. You’ll appreciate how much flexibility they’ll provide you with in terms of your schedule and how much more you’ll get done while using them.
Don’t Neglect Your Social Life
Balancing your life, work, and studies means giving your “life” the spotlight once in a while. Whether you have an upcoming birthday party invite coming up or a trip with friends to plan, go for it. You need to let yourself live your life as much as you need to work to develop as a professional.
Neglecting your social life can disassociate you from your friends and family, leading to further problems for your mental well-being down the line. Instead, let people know that you’re alive and well by showing up for an event or two whenever you have a window of opportunity.
Find an Activity to Help You Unwind
While you’ll undoubtedly have your hands full of work and studies, you’ll still need to find time for yourself in all the chaos. For example, finding a balance between sport and study can really help you get better at the latter.
You can pick up an easygoing sport or exercise routine to get into in-between your work and study sessions. Likewise, some people may enjoy reading, playing video games, or taking their dog for a walk as a means to relax. Think about what you love doing and make it a habit – it’ll truly help you relax and clear your head when you need to unplug.
Managing a Healthy Life-Work-Study Balance
Keeping up with all of your chores and obligations is a long-term commitment. You’ll always need to be on the lookout for new tasks to complete and upcoming deadlines to respect.
However, it’ll feel very rewarding knowing that you’re doing something worthwhile for your future. You’ll often feel tired and mentally drained from your efforts but you’ll also be glad that you have so much meaningful work to do. After all, finding one’s purpose in life is all that really matters in the end.
Bio: Eric Wyatt is a professional content marketing writer, email marketer, and social media guru. His writing expertise extends from online articles and social media content to academic essays, papers, and case studies. He spends most of his free time learning about new ways to write better copy, as well as reading fiction literature.