Shaniya
What's a good way to balance your life?
I would like to think I know how to balance my life but I would like to see others strategies on how to balance school and social life. #college-freshman #personal-development #college-advice #work-life-balance
3 answers
Johannes Myers
Johannes’s Answer
Hi Shaniya,
Great question! I still haven't found someone who has truly mastered the art of time management, as life seems to constantly throw things at us we did not anticipate :) Looking back on my time at school, I think it's really important for you to be as intentional as possible about what you spend your time doing. In other words, don't do anything unless you have DECIDED to spend your time doing it. Another strategy I have found extremely helpful is planning out my daily time spent on different activities. For example, on a typical day in college I planned to spend my time as follows:
- Sleep: 6.5 hours
- Meals: 1.5 hours
- Class: 3 hours
- Studying: 6 hours
- Working: 4 hours
- Friends: 1 hour
- Exercise: 1 hour
- Music: 1 hour
The really important next step is to actually put those different items on a calendar. For example, sleep from midnight to 6:30am, breakfast from 6:30-7:00am, etc. Then you can hold yourself accountable as the day goes on.
It's not a perfect system, but it helped me. Most importantly, don't waste time! If you're really stressed and don't know what to do, instead of feeling overwhelmed, just do something.
Best of luck!
Your answer is great Johannes, thanks so much for sharing your expertise! At this moment there are more than 800 unanswered questions so I wanted to encourage you to keep going! So many students will benefit tremendously from hearing from you. Keep up the great work!
Jordan Rivera, Admin
COACH
Rachel Resnick
Rachel’s Answer
<span style="background-color: transparent;">You have to set a routine for yourself and stick to it for the most part. Once you get into the groove of a routine it will be much easier for you to manage your time and have enough time for everything you need to do (including relaxing). Make yourself to-do lists on a weekly basis, use Google calendar or a planner to keep track of events, deadlines, and due dates. In addition to setting a routine and sticking to it, plan out relaxing activities into your day. Or set aside a time, after everything is done for the day, that you can have "me" time. I have also personally found it essential to not only find time for myself but also make use of that time in a way that is best for me and my holistic wellness. I have found the HeadSpace app to be an essential tool in helping me relax and generally feel more relaxed throughout the day, Guided meditation, even if you have a busy schedule, will make you feel more at ease and relaxed throughout the day as a whole (not just when you have the time to relax and focus on that "me" time).</span>
<span style="background-color: transparent;">Set a routine.Use Google Calendar.Set aside Me TimeWrite weekly to-do lists and use a planner.Find a peaceful and restful activity that will help you feel relaxed.</span>
Allie Hammel
Allie’s Answer
I have spent a lot of time educating myself on how to have work-life balance. I have two small children and a husband that travels often for work and I have a full time job that is demanding and sometimes requires travel too. I went into this idea of work-life balance that it would always be equal, that my work and home life would have equal parts of me. I kept trying to adjust to this 50/50 split and it just wasn't working. I attended a women in leadership training and the speaker spoke to work life balance. She said you will never have it - at least not in the way we tend to think of it. She spoke to how their will be times in life where family/home need more of our time and we will need to switch the scale to have less time in work and that there will be times where work will need more of us and that our families and home life will get a little less. The key to being successful is understanding when those shifts need to happen and to know that's ok. The flexibility and the ability to notice when a shift needs to happen and the willingness to speak openly with your family and employer on what is going on will drive success in navigating work life balance.