When balancing college life, there are generally three things you have to juggle: good grades, enough sleep, and a social life. A lot of people say that you can only pick two of those three in order to have a successful college experience. However, with these helpful strategies, you will be able to manage making good grades, having an active social life, and even getting enough sleep.
1. Prioritize
The best way to balance enough sleep, good grades, and a social life is to prioritize. You have to decide what is most important for you. Tests fall pretty high on the priority list because grades are usually dependent on them. Therefore, if you know you have a social event happening on Thursday and a test on Friday, then it is probably best to stay in to study and get rest the night before.
2. Time Management
There are going to be those times that you just HAVE to go out to see that cute boy you’ve been crushing on or just to have a night with the girls. That’s where time management comes in. The key to balancing social life and school work is strategizing when to study and when to go out. Studying a little bit each day makes a heavy study load less intimidating and stressful.
3. Make To-Do Lists
Another strategy for staying on top of your work is to make to-do lists. Haley Arnieri, a junior at the University of Illinois, swears by to-do lists: “it is so helpful to visualize everything you have to do in a list and so satisfying to cross things off as you go”. It helps to reduce anxiety just by writing out what you have to do and it makes you feel like you have made steps towards productivity.
4. Give Yourself a Day
So, you’ve got the grades covered and have made the time for a social life… but what about sleep?! It is always important to give yourself a day to relax and catch up on sleep. If you have the ability to just skip class one day then do it. According to an article on Forbes, taking time for a mental health day is very beneficial for a person. “It’s well documented that stress inhibits the creative process — humans in fight or flight aren’t thinking about new ways of doing things, they’re just trying to reduce the pain of stress and overwhelm,” said David Butlein, Ph.D., BLUECASE Strategic Partners. Therefore, an important way to staying productive is staying stress free and rested!