Finding the Balance Between Life and Schoolwork

Balancing your personal life and your schoolwork has to be one of the hardest things a college student can do, and I’m pretty sure every single student can agree with me here. Some of us work full time jobs, have internships, and/or extracurricular activities on top of the piles of homework we get from every class during the week, and still attempt to have even a smidgen of a social life. Our lives revolve around hundreds of cups of coffee a semester, and going to sleep two hours before class starts.

Here is a list of the little tips and tricks that I’ve been learning on how I can better balance my personal life and my schoolwork while studying at Saint Rose.

1. READ YOUR SYLLABUS! I cannot stress this enough! A lot of students ask professors obvious questions that could have been answered by simply reading the syllabus. Trust me, I’ve done it too. Your syllabus has all of the due dates and times on it, so pay close attention. Knowing the due date = no doing last minute assignments because you forgot. It helps you pace yourself and start assignments early if you have the time.
2. Start writing your papers well in advance! The writing center is always there to help with proofreading and editing your papers. It takes less stress away and ensures that you’re handing in good material.
3. Put due dates from online classes on your phone’s calendar. Let’s be real, most of us are on our phones 24/7/365, so what better way to remind yourself to start something important than to set an alarm on your phone? Most smartphones give you the option to alert you about an upcoming event days in advance.
4. Give yourself a day off. I know. This may sound impossible to some, but everyone is capable of taking a day off from work, schoolwork, etc. and just focus on themselves. Go to a movie, grab dinner with some friends, or just have a girls/guys night in (do those even exist?). Human interaction outside of work and/or school is a good way to keep you even the slightest bit sane.
5. Keep yourself organized. One of the big mistakes I made as a freshman was having one folder for all six classes that I was taking, and boy was that a huge mistake. I couldn’t find what I needed when I needed it because my papers were all mixed up. Invest in a good accordion folder to keep all of your papers separate.

Good luck!