How students can maintain life balance

 As a college student, there are very many things on your plate. You have academic, home, and personal priorities. There is pressure to hand in assignments on time, pass examinations, and seek internships, and part-time jobs. You also need to maintain personal relationships. All this may be stressful and might be difficult to strike a balance between the many priorities in your life.

 At times, you might give much attention to some of your priorities at the expense of others. All your priorities are important to you and are interdependent; therefore, lack of enough attention to some of them may affect others and your life generally. It is therefore important to balance your time and energy and give the necessary attention to various needs in your life. This article outlines ways you can maintain a life balance as a student.

1. Prioritize your relationships

 Splitting your time between your academics, internships, and part-time jobs is so demanding that at times you lack time to hang out with friends, partners, and families. This hurts your relationships in the long run. You should make some time to socialize with these people which will help you nurture meaningful relationships. Set aside time for visiting friends, hanging out, and sharing your progress in your other tasks. This takes off the stress associated with academic work.

2. Schedule academic breaks

 Studying non-stop causes fatigue and academic burn out which might be harmful to your health. It is important to take breaks to recharge your batteries. During breaks, you can take a nap, listen to music, or read a novel. You can also use your break time to exercise your body at the gym or by jogging.

3. Create a task calendar

 To allocate time to your various tasks, create a calendar outlining your different tasks and the time scheduled for each. This will help you remember what you are supposed to do at specific times.  Google Calendar is an excellent tool to schedule your tasks ahead of time. You can also set reminders to alert you of upcoming tasks to help you plan accordingly.

4. Seek help

 If you are finding it difficult to maintain a life balance, you may seek help from your teachers or professionals. A psychologist might be helpful to provide counseling about managing your time to ensure life balance.

5. Do something unrelated to school

 Setting time to do tasks unrelated to school helps you calm the stress from school and recharge. You can go hiking, dance classes, yoga, and swimming, among others. Taking quality time away from school will help you meditate, refresh, and recharge.

6. Mental and physical health

 Your demanding academic life might take a toll on your physical and mental health which affects your productivity in school and hinders you from allocating enough time to other activities. It is therefore important to check your health to stay fit and productive.

7. Writing your journal

 You may write a journal to let out your feelings about your academic life and how it affects your overall life. Documenting your feelings in a journal will help you reflect on what you are doing right and wrong. This will help you make future adjustments to how you allocate your time.

 Academic life is demanding and needs much of your attention. However, other areas of your life are equally important and also need your attention. You need to attend to home chores, and your personal health, and think of your professional life after school. You should therefore find a way to balance your time to manage all these tasks.