10 Tips to Balance School/Work/Life for Optimal Success!

Your “Anderson Study & Life Hacks” series

The time is always ‘now’ to take our life to new levels, when we feel that calling. One extraordinary way to achieve our goals is to go back to school and earn a diploma. This empowers us to study in a field that excites us and offers the unique opportunity to take our new-found skills out into workplace in mere months rather than years. But for many of us with families to support, current jobs that help us to make ends meet and financial stresses, goals can feel like pipedreams, and going back to school daunting.

You are not alone. There is a way. And many Anderson College students who struck that balance between studying, working and life, are now living their dreams and can attest to the fact that It Is Possible.

If they can, you can too! Through online learning, using the study tips we’ve offered, and receiving support from our Anderson community, these students found their way. No matter what stage of the process you’re in exploring your options for a brighter future, seeing how it could balance for you, can help you open to the possibilities.

Tap these 10 Tips to Balance School/Work/Life for Optimal Success:

1.Know Your “Why”

As we well know after this past year experienced, life is unpredictable, unforeseen challenges will come our way and it is less about what happens to us than how we respond to what happens. Embarking on a new career, starting school for the first time, or going back after years, will undoubtedly bring about fears and even anxiety. But if you’re reading this or are in the midst of tackling studying while holding down a job and juggling family and life responsibilities, you want something more out of life. You want to create a better life for yourself and those you love, or even others in the world. Only you truly know your “why” for facing whatever comes your way, for the sake of the bigger vision and brighter future.

This “why” is what you’ll need to hold onto as you juggle all that’s required of you. So, know it, think about it, write it down and tape it to your computer or the mirror where you pretty-up in the morning. When the going gets tough, reflect on your reason, gain the perspective you need to keep on keeping on, and why it will all be worth it. Because it will be.

2.Map Your Work and Life Load

Concerns and to-do lists always seem more overwhelming when we hold them in our minds, so get all those thoughts, ideas, worries, items to address for school, work and life down on paper. This is your brain-dump, so you can see it all and then you can begin to tackle one area at a time.

• • Step 1 – unload everything down onto paper (computer)
  • Step 2 – see the categories and organize the info (all your to-dos for home, work, school / your concerns and potential solutions)
  • Step 3 – pull out your school calendar/work schedule/family appointments and enter significant dates into your Day-Timer. This will allow you to begin to form the ideas for a plan (below)

3.Do the Math – From Daunting to Doable

This is the principle that Desmond Tutu talked about, “there is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.” You need to break down larger projects into doable chunks to tackle, so you won’t be rushed at the end and from week-to-week can see your development and have a sense of success. If you have 200 pages to read, break it down into pages per day. If you have a major project due, break it down into the different steps you’ll need to take, and plan them day-by-day, week-by-week. Before you know it, you’ll have achieved what is required, without stress (yes, I just said that).

4.Create and Work your Personalized Plan

Take all those details and organize, prioritize and create a weekly/daily plan of action and calendar it. And then stick to it. Listen to yourself carefully and recognize when your energy is highest and lowest and schedule your tasks accordingly.

5.Set the Tone for Studying

Create a comfy, tidy, inviting study space so your brain knows it’s time to settle down to business. Maybe you’ve got inspirational posters or post-it notes or symbols that represent your “why” on your desk. Put your phone away. Set the tone by lighting a candle (if that’s your thing) or put on instrumental music. Organize your materials. Take a deep breath and dive in.

6.Leverage your Minutes

There are 1440 minutes in a day and a million ways to maximize them. Plan and use your time wisely and you’ll be shocked by how much more optimizing you can do. If you commute, instead of being on your phone, listening to music or the news, use that time to learn via audio or think of ideas for your next paper and jot them down. Use your Notes App often. Instead of turning on the TV, tune into your loved ones, so they feel they have quality time with you too. Get creative.

7.Communicate and Align for Support and Success

To achieve this dream, you’ll need support from those who will cheer you on when you’re acing life and uplift you when moments become challenging. Talk to your family; ask for their help. Speak to your employer and let them know you’ll still be able to commit to what they need from you while you study. Talk to your instructors so they know what you’re juggling and can best support you. Find or create a study group. Goal achievement is a team effort, so enlist yours and trust that they’ll feel honoured to help.

8.Optimize Your Brain by Fueling Your Body

If professional athletes need good sleep, food to fuel their bodies and brains for success and water to hydrate their minds for optimal function, so do you as you hurdle school, work and life tasks. This isn’t the time to get too busy to eat or rest or live on burgers and fries. That is a recipe for burnout. Prep food in advance, bring a water bottle with you everywhere and nap between study subjects or classes. See yourself as a machine of dream-production. You get out what you put in, so put in the best!

9.Affirm and Record

Sometimes we need to fake it until we believe it; sometimes we need daily pep-talks to shift our beliefs and keep ourselves motivated. The most successful people understand the power of self-talk, of affirming what they want, turning up the volume on the positive and releasing the negative and journaling for perspective, with purpose. Learn these techniques and use them for your own success.

10.Celebrate

Never underestimate the power of rewarding yourself for a job well done, or even small tasks done with heart. What we think about grows, so throughout the process of this dance between school, work and life, pause to celebrate the successes small and grand. Get your favourite chocolate bar after a paper is handed in. Go to dinner with family to thank them for their support. Take a bubble bath and read a book that brings you joy. Make a list of things that make you feel happy and honoured and post it in your study space. Check the items off as you reward yourself. You’re worth it. You’re doing extraordinary things … and this is just the beginning!

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Quick Links to Fuel Your Success!

We want to make sure you have what you need to succeed! Check out these reference links:
12 Tips For Professionals Who Want To Go Back To School (forbes.com)
Expert Tips for Working Full-Time and Going to College (learnhowtobecome.org)
11 Ways to Work Full Time and Study Full Time Simultaneously | Cornerstone University
Studying and Working – 10 Tips | SkillsYouNeed
10 tips to set up an effective study space at home | Edology
11 Tips to Balance Study and Part-Time Work – Lonsdale Institute
The Benefits of Keeping a Work Journal | Career Contessa
Know Your Why | HuffPost