How to Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance While Earning Your Degree
Earning a degree can be a great step in improving your personal and professional lives. But it can also feel like you’re walking on a tightrope! It can be hard to balance classes, exams, and assignments with work, family responsibilities, and self-care.
Going to school isn’t just about getting a degree; it’s about staying healthy and avoiding major burnout along the way. It might seem impossible to maintain a healthy work-life balance while pursuing your education, but with the right mindset and strategies, you can thrive in your academic and personal lives.
7 Tips for Cultivating a Healthy Work-Life Balance
If you’re not sure how to survive the world of academia combined with work and home life, don’t worry. We’ve got plenty of tips to help you maintain your sanity and your relationships, all while succeeding at school.
Establecer límites
Right off the bat, you should lay down some boundaries for yourself. Learn to say no to outrageous requests of your time, especially to ones that will overwhelm you. For example, don’t plan to study 10 hours straight with only a half-hour break. Likewise, practice saying no to those friends who want you to skip doing your homework so you can go with them to that new pub instead.
Compartmentalize Your Tasks
Learning to compartmentalize your tasks is also a good way to avoid burnout as a student. Try creating mental and physical spaces for different activities. For instance, have a set space and time for studying, for your decompression time, and for hanging out with family and friends. When you separate these areas, you can prevent them from negatively impacting one another.
Manage Your Time
Many of the study tips you’ll find involve time management. Learning how to set reasonable study hours, when to set time aside for homework, and how to submit your assignments on time are all important to your success. That being said, learn to make the most of your time. Try the Pomodoro technique or ask family members for help.
Collaborate
Building supportive networks is a good way to ease your stress and avoid burnout, too. Forming study groups so you can review homework and study for exams together, asking fellow classmates or professors for help when you need it, and remembering to participate in social activities with clubs or your friends are excellent ways to stay connected to others and grounded in your academic career.
Make Your Health a Priority
Making sure your mental, emotional, and physical health is in top form is key to work-life balance. When exercising, eating right, and maintaining a healthy mind get pushed aside in preference for all-night studying sessions, it can be detrimental to your health. Maintaining a nutritious diet, physical activity, staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, spending time outside, and practicing mindfulness can boost overall well-being and reduce stress.
Find Help If You Need It
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you get stuck on a tricky assignment or need a study buddy to prepare for an upcoming exam, ask a friend or family member to help. If you don’t understand some material in your courses, ask your professor or an academic advisor for some one-on-one time.
Make Time to Relax
A major aspect of prioritizing your health is making time to relax. All that stress you’re feeling builds up in your shoulders. Treat yourself to a massage and relax! Or draw yourself a bubble bath. Not into that? How about just vegging out in front of your favorite movie? The point is to release the tension and stress that’s built up from studying so much. You’ve done a lot; it’s time for a break.
Find Your Balance with Excelsior
Finding the right institution of higher education to match your academic goals is important, but so is choosing one that helps you maintain your work-life balance. Excelsior University meets students where they are, academically and geographically, offering 100% online courses students can take on their time so they can fit their studies into their already busy lives. We offer more than 45 degree and certificate programs across six areas of study, so students can choose the path that’s right for them. And with dedicated student advisors, help is only a phone call or email away.
If you’re looking for the right university for you, contact Admissions and learn how Excelsior can help you achieve your goals in the way that works best for you.
