- Setting boundaries between your work life and academic life
This is a crucial step in establishing the balance between your responsibilities at your job and in your classes. When I first was hired at my current restaurant job, I did not have a set schedule that worked with my class workload. Because I was hired in the summer, my work availability was set at four shifts a week, any day of the week. As the semester began, I quickly realized that in order to stay remotely on top of my schoolwork, I had to have Sunday night off to get prepared for the week. After changing my schedule, catching up on studying and assignments became much more manageable.
- Having a job without long, late hours
I have noticed a huge difference in how I feel mentally when I have a job during the semester with a closing time that is relatively early. You are able to get home, unwind, and do some schoolwork without it being midnight. While it can feel stressful to go straight from school to work in the daytime, it definitely helps with managing having time to work on school assignments. You can get more sleep, which increases productivity, and you have the evening to work on assignments after your shift.
- Create a priority check list
At the beginning of each week, list your shift times and days, along with the most important tasks or assignments for each day. This has helped me tremendously in being able to see ahead and what each day will bring. I list the most important things I have to get done at the top, and then the rest of the tasks in descending order based on how urgent they need to be done. This way, I can stay on top of my work and see everything on the to-do list without feeling overwhelmed.
- Allow yourself to sleep
A big struggle I have been trying to manage is whether or not I should stay up after my shift ends to get done what I couldn’t during the day because of classes. I have found that staying up until the middle of the night to complete assignments or study is way less productive than going to bed and waking up a bit earlier to get organized. When you are tired, it makes the work harder to do, as focusing is more difficult. When you stay up late trying to complete your checklist, waking up is so much harder and it ends up repeating the cycle of trying to catch up on sleep while being exhausted in the daytime.