The double shift in the lives of young people between 19 and 24 is more common than we imagine, leading many to try to understand how to balance work and study every day.
According to the most recent study by IBGE (the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), in 2019, 48.3% of university students had routines divided between work and study, which is equivalent to 2.6 million people who give up their time and are overloaded with tasks and physical and mental strain.
But besides young people, many adults already established in the job market have returned to the classroom and are stretching themselves to balance both workloads. Although facing this every day is a big challenge, investing in your studies is the best way to build a better future with great opportunities.
Even though it is a difficult and exhausting routine, there are still strategies that can make your life easier right now and help you balance work and study. That is why, in this article, we have put together some tips for you to put into practice, make the most of this phase and take better care of yourself.
5 tips on how to balance work and study
The decision to work and study goes beyond a simple choice; in fact, most of the time it is a necessity. Being financially responsible for yourself takes a lot of effort to cover household bills and college expenses.
But this routine does not have to be so draining; just work on a few points and you will know how to balance work and study. See the tips below.
Take care of your sleep quality
First of all, your health always comes first, both mental and physical. And the number of hours you devote to rest strongly influences your productivity and how you behave during the day.
Skipping sleep to meet work or study demands is neither healthy nor productive for you. In fact, for your brain and body to work well you need at least seven straight hours of sleep.
So do not despair or harm your health by giving up sleep; it will not help you figure out how to balance work and study, it will only get in the way.
Technology on your side: use tools to get organized
Did you know that there are several apps available for free in your phone’s app store that can help you organize your routine better? We have put together three suggestions so you can be aware of them and pick one, but there are countless platforms.
-
Trello: available in mobile (Android and iOS) and desktop versions, the app offers an overview of several projects and boards within each project. It is generally used to manage a team, for example, but it can be used to manage your personal tasks, with priority and theme labels.
-
MeisterTask: also available in mobile (Android and iOS) and desktop versions, this tool is also widely used for project management and to optimize teamwork. Like Trello, this platform can also be used to better organize both your personal and professional routine.
-
Google Calendar: Google offers countless tools to make anyone’s life easier, but we want to highlight Google Calendar, which can be key to your organization. A smart and dynamic calendar, where you can view days and months quickly and identify free and busy days.
You do not necessarily have to choose just one; you can complement one tool with another, fitting your main commitments into the calendar and using the others to organize your personal and work demands.
To learn how to balance work and study, invest some time in this organization and you will see how your routine flows more smoothly.
Do not do both at the same time
Even if, between one demand and another, you have spare time to finish that college assignment or that pending work task, do not do it.
Knowing how to separate the moments of dedication to both studying and work is essential to being more productive in both areas. Your mind needs to be 100% focused on the content so that you absorb it and do it in the best way.
When you just “sneak away” to do something that is not the focus of that hour, besides the possibility of mistakes in the process, you will not actually learn from what you just did. In other words, this is a big trap for anyone who wants to understand how to balance work and study.
Have free time: have fun!
Do not think for a second that the time you spend having fun is wasted time, because it is not! Moments of relaxation are as important as those you devote to studying or work.
And besides, they are extremely important for you to resume your obligations where you left off with more energy than before. It is clear that our lives have sped up absurdly in recent years and we are heading toward a reality where moments of fun bring a sense of guilt. But that is not how it is!
Workaholics, people who are addicted to work, are increasingly in the spotlight and gaining prominence, and that is not healthy. After all, we know how to balance work and study. Even how to avoid falling into traps.
To give you an idea, in the last year searches for the term on Google increased by more than 250%, according to Google Trends. That is, many people identify with the ideology of working compulsively.
Give your mind a break, rest, have fun, read a book, watch a movie or that series that has been on your list for a long time. Take care of yourself first, of your mental health, and then focus on work and studies.
Know when to say YES or NO
Last but not least, knowing how to balance work and study also means knowing how to say yes or no to some everyday situations. At work, there is always a demand at the end of the day that will keep you past your hours and make you late for college, so you need to know how to filter emergencies and say ‘no’ in those moments.
The same goes for college, where there are many group assignments and you can overload yourself in some way, taking on too many tasks. You need to be responsible toward your classmates and yourself, respecting your limits and capacity; to do that, take on demands that you know you can finish, without letting your team down.
Creating strategies to balance work and study is essential to get through this double-shift phase in the best possible way. So do not skip getting organized and putting the tips in this article into practice.
Save this article and send it to your friends going through the same situation! Take the chance to leave your own strategies on how to balance work and study in the comments below. 😉
