Throughout all my years at college, I was one to check my school emails and updates on a very sporadic basis – having the Mail application open at 1 am, submitting things at the last second. There was even a time where I had to force myself to stop checking my email every 5 seconds and instead set reminders to do it twice or thrice a day, and around that time, that was when I knew I needed to step back and set boundaries between my school and personal life. I find that doing so has helped reduce my stress levels significantly, as I’m not worrying about anything school-related when I should be having fun. Here are some tips that help me, and hopefully they help you too!
- Check your school email at a set time and avoid it during the weekend
This one was a hard one for me to stick to for a while, as mentioned above. Although you might have the urge to check your inbox every 5 minutes to see if someone replied, chances are, they won’t get back to your email hours, if not days, from when you sent it.
Looking at your emails a few times a day (morning, lunch, and evening, for example), or even during specific hours (such as having it open from 9 am – 5 pm, and leaving it until the next work day) is a good way to give yourself the time to be productive and focus on your work, instead of being preoccupied and wondering if there was ever a reply. I also try not to check my email during the weekend for this reason, as most of the time whatever it is can wait until Monday!
Another tip regarding emails that really helped me maintain a good work-life balance is to not have your school email on your phone. Having the Outlook app on my phone made the compulsive checking much worse, and I also feel awkward composing an email on my phone when using my PC would work much better.
- Have a separate work space
Okay, I’ll admit it, working in bed sounds tempting and I may have done it once or twice even in the past couple of weeks, but having a devoted work space that is separate from everything else can help you focus and concentrate on the task at hand. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy: it can be as simple as a desk and chair at the corner of your dorm or apartment that you put your laptop on.
Over time, you might associate a place like your bed or the dining table as places to work rather than relax or hang out, which can be stressful when all you would rather do is sleep. Being able to literally leave your work behind in another space makes it easier.
- Create two “sections” on your computer – one for school and one for personal use
There are actually a few ways to do this, which is why I say “sections” instead of anything more specific. Depending on what you prefer, you can create a separate desktop within your computer (through Launchpad on MacOS, or through the Virtual Desktop on Windows), where one desktop can be solely personal, and another can be for school work. I personally go the extra mile and make two separate accounts on my computer instead, as I have multiple applications that would be more suitable for my personal needs than school, and vice versa.
Before completely separating the two, I can’t tell you how many times I go to check something on Canvas, only to be distracted and open up Amazon in the next tab. Doing so on a “school” desktop or account feels out of place, and I’d imagine opening up Canvas on a “personal” one would be the same way. Just like the other tips, this will definitely help with keeping focused if you choose to do this.
- Remember to take a break!
Although everything else thus far was more along the lines of not being distracted, taking a break once in a while can help! It’s important if you are doing work that is completely online or through a screen, and can help with burnout, especially as the school semester goes on. By not taking some time to yourself every once in a while, you actually run the risk of not being able to separate your school and personal life as you might be worried about everything, like I once was.
Please remember that you deserve some time to do what makes you happy, and it doesn’t have to be schoolwork all the time! Take a 30-minute break to watch an episode of a new show or go for a walk – you definitely do not have to be “on” 24/7. If you are in the same boat as I was with work-life balance, I hope this helps you and thank you for reading!