Workplace kitchen at the beginning of the working day (Photo Sami Niininen)
Combining studies and work can be difficult. In this blog i want to think about how we could coordinating these.
Coordinating work and studying can be challenging for many. In this blog, I want to tell you how I managed to combine working and studying and what kind of preparations it requires.
It is often said that part-time work and flexible working hours would be the most suitable option for a student. Studies sometimes take up more resources and there is therefore less time left for work. Often, when exam weeks or important deadlines approach, studying takes up all the time. That is why it would be good for the student’s employer to take this into account when planning work shift lists (Tuudo 2022).
Fortunately, nowadays there are many ways of studying.
Previously, students had to come to school and spend hours a week there. I completed my last studies in addition to work, going to school about once or twice a month. During these times, when we went to school, in addition to theoretical studies, we had a lot of grouping with classmates. However, the progress of the studies, even though it was supervised, so to speak, was largely our own responsibility. This was challenging for me, and I decided not to study any more for a long time.
After all, this “long time” was two years!
In some cases, the work may correspond to one’s own field of study, or it may be something completely different. Jobs in commerce and the restaurant industry are often the most suitable jobs for students. This is because there is a lot of gig work in these fields and especially evening and weekend shifts (Tuudo 2022).
I work in the restaurant and my work as a chef is often focused on the evening. That’s why I was happy when I found my current studies and realized that you can complete them completely remotely! Since my work takes place in the evening, morning studies are the best way for me to study. In some cases, of course, you must bring your studies to work and try to balance between these two things. In these situations, finding a quiet space is important, and I have often made myself a study space in the meeting room.
So why should a student go to work?
The period of study is a very difficult time financially for many students because the study allowance and housing allowance do not cover all the costs incurred while study. This is certainly the biggest reason why students work alongside their studies (Tuudo 2022).
Since you can study at almost any age, students’ life situations are very different. Someone may even have a mortgage, a family, children or even a car. So many things affect a student’s life and force most of them to work alongside their studies. This happened to me too! Since the apartment and the car must be paid for, I also had to think about school while thinking about work. Since I work 112.5 hours per three weeks, the time left for going to school must be taken out of the so-called free time.
Does combining these create challenges?
Although there are advantages to working alongside studies, it can be very challenging to combine work and free time. If you work too much, your studies may be delayed, suffer or at worst be interrupted. You should also find time for recovery and rest, if you don’t find it, the risk of burnout is high (Tuudo 2022).
At least for me, balancing studies and work has been really challenging at times. Fortunately, you can listen to a large part of the school’s lectures afterwards. And in this case, the fact that we ourselves must do more because of the school’s progress has been a relief. It is of course a big responsibility, but it was also a relief.
To find free time, you can use, for example, the instructions in the following list.
- Plan your time use carefully, then it will be easier to control when is the best time for work, recovery and studying.
- Tell the employer when you are available to him and when you focus on your studies.
- Define your own limits, you yourself know best when your resources are sufficient for studying and working.
- Choose the best techniques for studying and use the time allocated for it efficiently.
(Tuudo 2022).
Each of us has many ways of combining work and studies. And of course, not all ways work for everyone, so it would be nice to hear what you think is the best way to combine these and find free time.
The following video also has good tips on how you can succeed in this.
What are the best ways for you to combine studying and work?
Sources:
Tuudo. 2022. Students already work hard during their studies – tips for combining studies and work. Referred on 19.09.2023