6 Tips for Balancing Student Jobs and Leisure Time

How do you balance student work with leisure time while still having a life?

You've probably seen many memes about this, and you've pondered how to have time for hobbies, sports, and other leisure activities, as well as time with friends, without losing all your hair or having a nervous breakdown while juggling a student job and university. Mastering time management is a crucial skill, and it's important to know how long tasks will take you. Our brains are generally bad at estimating this accurately, but practice can help a lot. Track how long things take you for two weeks, then draw your conclusions.

1. Break Up Your Day to Effectively Use Your Free Time

You can name the blocks "before lunch," "before dinner," and "before bedtime," but you can also choose other divisions that you like. This mindset can help with procrastination; for example, if you didn't do anything on Saturday morning, it doesn't mean you've lost the whole day. You still have two more chances that day to be productive. Long activities—like student work, violin practice, exercise, drawing, etc.—still leave time before lunch or after dinner for other tasks. Meals—since you have to eat—are also an opportunity for socialization, whether you go out or meet in your dorm or apartment. Viewing your day as blocks of time makes you more efficient than seeing those 16 waking hours as one undifferentiated mass, as you know you need to start another task after finishing one.

1. Make Efficient Use of Your Free Time

Fill in the gaps! Ideally, don't start your activities in the middle of a block, like in the middle of the afternoon or at 9 PM. If you have no choice, try to fill it with tasks or studying, or perhaps a lunch or coffee with friends that fits.

1. Group Your Activities

This time management tip really depends on your personal preferences. You could pack all your classes into Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, so from Thursday to Sunday, you can do what you like: student work, studying, exercise, etc. You might not be able to change your class or exercise times, so try to schedule all other activities on your already busy days. While this can be exhausting, it can free up much of the rest of your week. If you prefer to spread your commitments throughout the week, that’s fine too.

1. Maximize Your Downtime

Use the downtime, such as hours between classes or while commuting and waiting, to read your notes. It may seem like just a moment, but every minute spent productively is valuable since it all adds up to leisure time! Of course, when it’s time, you can put aside the studying or work and be present in the moment.

1. Prioritize

You can't go to every party in the world, and it's impossible to attend every event, especially while juggling a student job and university. Record your tasks and their deadlines! You don’t need any fancy app; a free Trello board works as an online notepad, but a simple notebook is also fine. Divide your tasks into A (must do), B (should do), and C (would be nice) categories. Start your day with A tasks, then move on to B, and C can wait. You can also combine these letters with numbers: 1 (now), 2 (soon), 3 (sometime), or just use the numbered system, marking deadlines with the number three.

1. Be Flexible

The world won't collapse if you don’t perfectly allocate every minute, or if you neglect your tasks one day, as long as you can get back on track the next.

1. Self-Care

Participate in group activities, which also checks off a lot of your social needs in leisure time, and you don’t have to study alone. Don’t forget about adequate rest and quality me-time, as being tired makes you less effective and poses health and mental hygiene risks. Remember, if you take a 9-hour break on Sunday, don’t beat yourself up about it; you can use the post-dinner block or the next day for studying.

Time management improves with practice. If you’re inspired to try it out, check out our current offers!