Balancing a Part-time Job With School

By Natasha Garrido on April 17, 2017

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Coming into college, you’re given an important decision. You can decide what is most important to you: grades, sleep, or a social life. Now, add a part-time job into the picture. Question is, how do you balance a part-time job with school?

You can’t have it all, no matter how much you want to convince yourself of that. Because of all the stresses that come from deadlines, midterms, and papers that keep you up at night, it’s hard to find a balance when adding in a social life, let alone a job. But even with that said, it’s still possible and many people mix work and school together.

1. Time management is your best friend. Plan out your schedule and don’t waste time every day trying to plan that out. Use every hour wisely, being productive with everything you do. And yes, that means doing assignments when you’re free to making time to get coffee with someone. Having a grip on what you’re doing makes work and study a whole lot easier.

2. Do something you love. Or at least, something you like. If you’re capable of finding a job you enjoy and which relates to your major, it makes life easier and makes work not feel like a hassle. But know that even if you can’t find something that relates, go for the job that you need.

If you’re introverted, you might like working in a library. If you’re extroverted, you might enjoy working in the cafeteria more to be around people.

3. Take it one step at a time. You’ll hurt yourself more if you tell yourself that you need to do everything at once. It’s great to be able to work ahead but don’t tell yourself you need to get it all done in one night. Take breaks when you need them; your body will let you know when you need to. Don’t put work before grades because passing is what will help you keep your job.

4. Finally, don’t overcommit. It’s setting you up for failure. It is a domino effect. If you spend too much time with friends one night or with a school group you decided to be a part of, you might put off a paper or lose sleep you could have had. That could cause you to miss work or class because you slept in or got caught up procrastinating. All of this makes you stressed and puts the situation on repeat. Know what you need to do to succeed and focus on that.

Having a part-time job isn’t the worst thing in the world. Hey, being in college, you need this thing called money to help pay for not only school but also that caramel macchiato with almond milk that you like having every morning, or that night out you really needed. Just manage your time, know what you can handle, keep working hard, and most of all, take care of yourself.

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