Maintaining a school-life balance in college can be difficult, but there are many ways to stay on top of tasks while also taking time for yourself. By creating a schedule, breaking up tasks, and managing your time, you learn how to balance it all.
Starting college can be an overwhelming experience. You’re on your own in an unfamiliar place, have classes to juggle and friends to meet and much more. With few classes to attend each week, you’ll find yourself with more free time than ever, which means more opportunity to fall behind in your class work.
It can be difficult to find a school-life balance that works for you. Luckily, you’re not alone. Every college student, regardless of major, needs to create a plan to manage their time and get their assignments done by the deadline. Let’s go over a few tips to keep in mind when finding that balance between school and life.
Understand How to Balance School and Life
Finding the correct balance in college doesn’t come easy, and one plan won’t work for every student. A well-planned school-life balance comes from experimentation and understanding how much time you’ll need to complete certain tasks. Some common tips that will help you achieve a balance in college include:
- Create a Schedule: Having a place where you can keep track of class or meeting times, assignments or quizzes and extracurricular events will ensure that you don’t miss something important. Included in this schedule could also be scheduled time to work on assignments or take time for yourself. Setting aside time each week to look at your schedule for the next week will make you more organized and allow you to plan ahead for the busier weeks.
- Stick to the Schedule: It’s one thing to have a planner or calendar. It’s an entirely different task to actually use it. This is good practice in disciplining yourself to get your work done or go to your scheduled classes. No one is going to tell you to go to class or submit your work, so maintaining your progress is a goal you will need to keep striving toward.
- Break Large Tasks Up: College classes come with many large essays, projects, and exams, which can feel daunting. Figuring out how to break apart these tasks into manageable portions will set you up for success. For example, if studying for an exam, break apart the content into topic or chapter and assign it a day for review, circling back for one last review at the end.
- Manage Your Time: Procrastination will set you back quicker than you’d think. While taking time for friends and yourself is important, you’ll have to regularly evaluate your time management habits to make sure you’re not putting off large tasks like studying or essays. Additionally, taking note of how long certain tasks take you can help you plan accordingly for the future, freeing up space to have time for activities and friends.
This is not an exhaustive list of how to keep a school-life balance, but it does cover the some of the most important things to keep in mind during college.
The Importance of Time Management for Students
Time management is one of the most important skills that you’ll learn in college. Managing your time effectively will serve you well both in your higher-level classes and your future career.
This skill encompasses more than just limiting procrastination or building time into your schedule to get tasks done. Time management also means prioritizing tasks based on deadlines, the size of a given project and if the project has multiple steps to complete. For example, if you happen to fall behind on coursework, it’s important to prioritize your current assignments that are due in the future rather than focusing on the already late assignments. Once you’ve submitted the upcoming assignments before the due date, then you can go back and work on catching up on your late coursework.
This skill of planning ahead and prioritizing the most pressing tasks will set you up for success in a future career where you won’t necessarily have assignments but certainly multiple responsibilities to take care of on a daily basis.
Setting Boundaries to Maintain School-Life Balance
Maintaining a school-life balance isn’t always easy, and prioritizing your education might mean that you have to say ‘no’ to activities or extracurriculars. Boundaries are a big part of staying on top of schoolwork, and a college campus can surprisingly be a difficult place to stay focused on your schedule.
Setting boundaries on when you’ll go to on-campus events or hangouts with friends will ensure that you have enough time to get assignments and studying done while also taking time to do the things you love. Communicate with your friends about when you’re available to hangout or go on trips.
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