One of the most difficult challenges facing college students is how to juggle schoolwork with the demands of a job. One study indicated that half of full-time college students have jobs. Three out of four part-time students have jobs, according to the same study. A solid majority of those students indicate they deal with some level of stress related to balancing those two time- and energy-consuming demands.
That’s not even considering other demands of a full life, such as friends, family, hobbies and recreation.
Yet, many students don’t have a choice if they want to continue attending college without running up strangling debt or facing an inability to pay for housing, food and other necessities (not to mention a social life). They can’t attend school without earning money.
This not surprisingly can lead to a great deal of stress that manifests itself in depression, anxiety, and other forms of instability. Counseling service are kept busy dealing with this fall-out of overwork at our nation’s colleges and universities.
Protect Your Mental Health When Working and Attending School
Consider these factors to protect your own mental health when trying to balance school and work.:
Don’t overdo it. You probably have a good idea of how much you can work a job without it interfering with your schoolwork, sleep, family and personal relationships. Some college counseling services advise that students not work more than 15 hours per week. If you absolutely need more money than 10-15 hours of work can supply, at least try to schedule classes that will make more work feasible. Some of these options include avoiding taking more than one difficult class per semester, selecting remote classes if they’re available (to cut down on travel time to and fro), or finding another source of money, such a grants or scholarships. Going to classes part-time rather than fulltime might be a last resort.
Find a way for your job to complement your academic pursuits. Of course, the easiest and best way to do this is if your job is a paid internship. These aren’t always available, unfortunately. Absent a paid internship, figure out ways to sharpen certain skills at your job that will lend themselves to the career you’re preparing for. Examples could be math or computer skills, writing and editing chops, leadership and management skills, or your ability to work cooperatively with fellow employees. Get something out of your job other than the meager pay that it’s likely paying you.
Make sure you leave sufficient time for yourself and your fundamental needs. If the time that your academic pursuits and job are consuming doesn’t leave you enough time for healthy eating, adequate sleep, productive exercise or healthy interpersonal relationships, you need to adjust what you’re doing. If you’re not sure how to do that, it might be a good time to schedule an appointment with a mental-health counselor at your university or college. They have seen this before and can provide constructive advice on how to juggle school and work without hurting yourself mentally or physically.
Develop a plan for dealing with stress. You can cut down on the stress of overworking yourself by following some of the suggestions above. However, if you are still feeling some residual stress – and who wouldn’t? – there are strategies you can take in your life to further reduce that stress. Some of them include meditation, exercise, getting together with friends, cooking a gourmet meal, or reading a book for fun. Something as simple as taking a brisk two-mile walk every day can lessen the anxiety while providing good exercise.
But I Don’t Have the Time!
“That’s precisely why I’m stressed,” you say in response to the aforementioned stress-reduction ideas. “I don’t have the time to do any of those things!” Good point, though most of those ideas aren’t really that time-consuming. Give it a try and you might realize that one or two are doable.