How to Maintain a Work-Study Balance

Feeling overwhelmed by trying to maintain a work-study balance?

You’re not alone.

You might be a part-time student supporting yourself while completing your education.

Or you might already be working but wish to expand your skills or network by attending a university part-time.

It goes without saying—there are countless benefits to combining work and study. Not only can you expand your skills and network, but it can also increase your credibility. Juggling work and study could greatly benefit your future career.  

Over the past years, I’ve been able to discover and develop extremely effective ways to hack the balance of work and studying so I thought to share them with you.

I hope that these 10 tips to maintain a work-study balance help you too.

PART 1 PREPARATION PERIOD

Before you start your semester, it’s important to prepare yourself well because it will allow you to be as efficient as possible.

I personally like to set aside a lot of time during my summer holidays or semester breaks because these steps can make a big difference.

Tip 1: Strategically plan courses

If you’re out of high school and can choose your own courses, take some time to review the course catalog.

Be mindful of factors such as coursework intensity. Some courses, like computer science, are more demanding while others, like writing courses, tend to be more relaxed.

I personally like to take only one difficult course per semester and combine that with other “fun” courses. That way, I feel relaxed, happy, and still very accomplished.

Tip 2: Create a realistic schedule

The next tip is to create a schedule that works out realistically for you and your job.

Take a look at your working schedule and try to spread the courses over the week. That way, you’ll have enough time to attend lectures, complete homework, and study individually.

In my case, I usually have performances on the weekends. So I would avoid classes that are on Saturdays and Sundays.

Also, I know that my energy level is higher in the evenings than in the mornings. I can concentrate more in the evenings when I’m more awake so I’ll take courses that offer evening lectures rather than early morning lectures.

Tip 3: Study in advance

I know this might sound cringy but trust me, it works every time.

Once you know which courses you will be taking, go ahead and familiarize yourself with the topics.

There are so many resources that you can use nowadays; you can read textbooks in advance, watch Youtube videos, or take courses on educational platforms like Coursera and FutureLearn.

You don’t have to study everything. But it is helpful to understand the gist of what you’re about to learn.

This way, you’ll stay ahead of the game once the semester starts. (Who knows? You might even enjoy the process a bit.)

Tip 4: Practice speed reading

Were you ever trying to read something but your eyes were actually just following words and your brain didn’t process any information?

If so, speed reading might help you.

It allows you to process the information you are reading quickly without identifying every word.

This can help you to increase your understanding and read much faster.

You’ll also be able to use your time more efficiently.

This is a technique that has helped me over the past years to read very quickly. Highly recommended.

PART 2 SEMESTER PERIOD

Tip 5: Organize materials

The semester has begun and it’s game time.

But sometimes our mind has too many thoughts, making it difficult to process and concentrate.

To declutter your mind, make a To-Do List.

While some people enjoy writing their lists on paper, I personally enjoy using Google Tasks as I can edit from anywhere, at any time.

For example, here’s how my To-Do List for a recent microeconomics course looked like.

Note that my To-Do List includes specific task names, details, and realistic deadlines.

The good thing is that I can also integrate the tasks quickly with my Google Calendar. This saves me a lot of time.

Tip 6: Quit perfectionism

Perfectionism can hold us back because of the unnecessarily high expectations that we give ourselves.

Sure, we all want to achieve so many things.

But the reality is that our energy has limitations and our day consists of only 24 hours. In order to increase our performance level, we should try to stop chasing perfectionism because it is unattainable and ineffective.

Related: 6 Tips to Overcome Perfectionism

Tip 7: Prioritize

Prioritizing is one of the most important aspects of time management.

If we look back at the sample Google Task image from Tip 5, you’ll notice that it says (x% of grade).

What this is showing is the grade weight of the specific task. This has been an extremely helpful method for me because I can quickly understand how important some tasks are.

If some things are non-compulsory or you feel that they aren’t so important, don’t be afraid to ditch it all together.

You could be saving yourself a lot of time.

By identifying where to allocate our limited time and energy, we can achieve maximum efficiency.

Tip 8: Manage Stress

When you work and study simultaneously, you may not be able to avoid stress.

However, you can learn to manage it in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

In order to identify when you are stressed, practice mindfulness, yoga, or go out for a walk.

Give yourself permission to take care of yourself as your mental and physical health are fundamental components to your overall well-being.

Tip 9: Learn to Say No

If there is anything I learned from the overwhelming amount of work at Harvard, it is learning to say no.

In order to manage your time, not only should you identify your priorities, but you should also learn to be selective.

Sometimes this may be a hard thing to do, especially if you feel the need to please your boss by overworking.

However, it’s important to understand that your schedule is already packed during this period.

If certain things, events, and people do not feel meaningful to you, just say no.

This way, you’ll avoid burnout.  

PART 3 HOLIDAY PERIOD

Tip 10: Reflect and Give Yourself Permission to Rest

Congratulations! You’ve made it through the strenuous semester.

Now that you’re finished, give yourself some time to evaluate.

What did you learn? What did you enjoy? How could you have studied more efficiently?

Note these observations down so that you can apply your discoveries in your next course.

Celebrate your achievements by resting. Some people may enjoy their time with friends and family while others may relax by going on a short vacation.

Whatever it may be, go energize, indulge, and treat yourself.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, it takes dedication to combine both work and school, but with great preparation, time management skills, small hacks, and self-care, you can surely achieve great success.

I wish you all the best in your career!