Nowadays, most of the younger generation chooses to combine study and work, as it gives more opportunities in the future and allows them to feel independent. But in reality, it turns out that this is not always as easy as it might seem at first glance. I personally felt that combining work and study, even online, is not at all easy. In this blog, I have collected my thoughts on this topic and want to share them with you.
Own experience
When I finished secondary education, I had a choice: either to go to higher education or look for a job. The ideal option for me was to find a place of study that offers distance learning. This way I could combine both study and work.
Luckily for me, our university of applied sciences turned out to be such a place. This way I was able to keep my job and also get a place of study.
At first, it didn’t seem difficult to me. Since I work in the tourism industry, by the time I started studying, our tourist flow was no longer so strong and I could easily combine work and study. But now, with the beginning of the new school year, I realized that it’s not so easy. Even though many assignment deadlines are given for a week or two, I stopped being able to complete them on time.
The main reason for this is work, as there are more responsibilities to prepare for the season. Another problem is that my first priority is work, because losing it would cost me a lot. So I often put my studies on the back burner. The second reason is family difficulties, from which, unfortunately, we are not protected. So by now I am completely “lost” in my studies and sometimes I don’t even know what to do first.
How to figure it all out?
Because of the situation I found myself in, I had to think seriously about how I manage my time and how I actually balance work and study. Here are some tips I found.
- Balance your time and distribute it correctly. For example, the Eisenhower matrix can help with this. Here’s how it works https://www.productplan.com/glossary/eisenhower-matrix/. That is, you need to draw or imagine 4 squares. First quadrant (upper left): urgent and important. Second quadrant (upper right): important, but not urgent. Third quadrant (lower left): not important, but urgent. Fourth quadrant (lower right): neither important nor urgent. Then you just need to complete the tasks in order, starting from the most important and ending with the less important.
2. Make a realistic plan for your studies and organize your workspace correctly. That is, you need to set aside time for yourself when you can study. This could be early morning, lunch breaks, or evenings after work. It is also important to arrange a quiet and comfortable place for yourself where no one will disturb you.
3. Don’t try to tackle everything at once, but do the tasks sequentially, in order of their importance. That is, don’t try to do everything at once and cover all the material at once. You can also use the “Pomodoro technique”
No panic just keep going!
In a situation where you have a lot of responsibilities and things to do, it is easy to panic and get stuck. For example, this happened to me. I had no idea where to start and it seemed to me that I could do nothing and that I would not succeed. Also, because of the number of unfinished tasks and upcoming deadlines, I began to scold myself for not completing the tasks on time. I will say right away that such an approach will not help you, but will only make the situation worse. You need to understand for yourself that different situations can happen in life, and that the main thing is not to lose heart. Despite the fact that the number of tasks may be large, they can always be solved.
You also always need to remember about rest. When you combine a full-time job and study, there is not always time to rest. Or sometimes you want to rest more because you work a lot and at such moments you want to put your studies on the back burner. At such moments, it is important to properly allocate time and, for example, instead of watching a long film during your rest, watch a short video. It is important to give your brain a rest.
Here is the material that i used as a base: https://ourblogs.aalto.fi/more-than-the-degree/how-to-manage-full-time-work-and-studies