Maintaining Study/Work/Life Balance in College – Is It Possible?

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When most students first enter college, they are usually struck dumb by the amount of academic work they have to do on a daily basis, which is further exacerbated by the fact that it is often the first time they have to deal with many other responsibilities on their own. Not only does a college student have to worry about writing, editing, and proofreading his/her research papers – he/she also has to buy groceries, cook, keep a dorm in order, schedule his/her time, keep track of expenses, and usually, support him/herself financially.

If we remember the need to maintain some sort of social life, it becomes obvious that a freshly minted student has quite a number of plates to keep spinning. A lot of undergrads feel anxious and stressed because they find themselves stuck in the middle of unknown routine. So, one tends to ask, “Is it even possible for me to maintain some sort of balance between my studies, work, and life without neglecting any of the three”? In this article, we will cover some of the ways to at least move in the right direction. Ensure to follow the simples tips and tricks given below to make your academic life less hectic.

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Contents

1. Schedule Your Time

According to Bettertxt, most undergrads that post their orders online lack time to cope with the whole range of given assignments. It is especially true if you work a part-time job while in college. If possible, try to find a job that has flexible hours or allows you to work whenever you have time for it. For example, if you design websites, you will be able to choose when you work; if you work in retail, you are unlikely to be so lucky. Use calendars, planners, and other tools to keep track of all your responsibilities and make sure you never forget or miss anything.

2. Delegate Some of Your Work

It is often said that the key to managing one’s time is in knowing when to delegate some of your work to those better suited to do it. It is just as true for students as it is for all other people. While you may want to write your own essays (at least if you are reasonably good at this sort of thing, otherwise feel free to hire writers to help you out), it may be a good idea to hire somebody to edit and proofread them.

Being your own corrector, editor and proofreader not only takes a fair bit of time; in addition, you are unlikely to do as good a job of it as a professional paper editor who provides this sort of service to make a living. When you look for mistakes and flaws in your own paper, you are much more likely to miss something than somebody who sees it for the first time. So do not hesitate to look for help online the next time you write an essay – there are plenty of services where you can hire such specialists cheap. For more details, check Bettertxt where qualified writers and editors are available round the clock.

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3. Prioritize

Be realistic – there are many things to do, and you will never find enough time and energy to do everything on your agenda. It’s no doubt that you would like to hang out with your pals, go on a date, check out some new Netflix shows, or simply take a nap during the day. But the truth is that you have to choose what is truly important for you right now and make a correction or two every now and then.

Prioritize the most important things as well as the tasks that are due in the short term while giving yourself enough time to prepare for what you have to do to complete long-term jobs. If you get those tough assignments, you will have more time to focus on less challenging assignments and succeed academically, as a result.

4. Keep Away from Distractions

Distractions and procrastination are huge time wasters – and in addition to eating up the time you can spend doing something useful, they are not particularly pleasant to engage in and of themselves. It is much better to do the job and take well-earned time off later on than to spend time procrastinating and thus neither doing what you have to do nor doing anything pleasant.

That said, it is much more effective to remove the possibility of distractions than battling the temptation every minute. Make it difficult to engage in your favorite distractions. Turn off your smartphone and put it in a different room. Use tools like RescueTime to block access to the sites you tend to browse mindlessly when you are bored. Put on noise-canceling headphones to get away from external sounds. Keep in mind that the more effort you put in your work today, the better results you are going to have tomorrow.

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5. Learn to Say “No”

There is one word in the English language that can dramatically increase the amount of time you have to do things that matter, and this word is “no”. You are not obliged to waste your time on people, events, and things that are not essential for your life.

Do not go to that sale if you are not sure it will offer something you truly need. Do not waste a minute on a website that does nothing for you but steals your time. Do not go to a party unless you truly want to. It’s no doubt that life is full of unexpected issues, and sometimes something really urgent might pop up on the list. However, most of the time, saying to the other ‘distraction’ is the best way to go.

While keeping the right balance between work, studies and social life may seem like a tough call, especially if you do not have much experience in this field, it is totally doable – you just have to truly want to do it.