With contact hours at the university averaging 9-12 hours (some students having as little as four) and no 9-to-5 schedule, finding the perfect ‘work-life balance’ can prove somewhat tricky. It’s easy to fall into the trap of sleeping in, skipping lectures or taking yourself on a random excursion ‘just because you can.’ But as a fourth year, I find you can also swing the other way and spend every waking hour on your dissertation, not leaving the library, and before you know it, you haven’t spoken to anyone but your advisor for a week.
Whether you fit into one of these categories or somewhere in between, it’s safe to say that finding a work-life balance at uni isn’t easy. There isn’t one perfect way to schedule your day; everyone’s lives are different, and as long as you’re happy and meeting your deadlines, that’s all that matters. However, if you’ve recently found yourself in a bit of a winter rut and want a few tips and tricks to help manage your time in a way that’s more aligned with your goals, then look no further!
If you’re doing a little bit too much life:
- Make a realistic to-do list — I don’t think it’s realistic to expect yourself to do everything in the space of 24 hours. Write down all the things you need to do, pick the top 3 priorities for that day and then start with the easiest or quickest one.
- Have people hold you accountable — tell your flatmates the tasks you need to complete or make them drag you to the library – whatever gets you motivated!
- Reward yourself — If there’s that one task you keep on putting off, think of something that you really want and tell yourself that once you get it done, you can reward yourself with it.
If you’re doing a little bit too much work:
- Plan to do something nice once a day that is non-negotiable — at the start of your week, organise meeting a friend for coffee or watching a film and stick to it! Once it’s booked in, you can’t go back.
- Don’t work in your flat — I find that breaking up the environments where I work and where I chill truly allows me to switch off from tasks when I get home from uni.
- Sunday is the day of rest — I know this might not be viable every weekend, but try to have at least one full day off a week. You’ll find that if you spend that time truly resting, then you’ll be more productive on the days you are working.
Whether you take on board any of the ideas I have suggested, I hope you take the time this week to ask yourself: how is my work-life balance? And is there anything I could do to make it work better for me?
Photo by Myles Bloomfield on Unsplash.