Do you have free time while in college?

Hi Paige,

Managing the conflicting demands of school, work, and family

Managing the multiple demands of your career, school, and personal life can be challenging, but you can be successful if you keep a few tips in mind:

• Be where you are. Don’t worry about what you aren’t doing. Stay focused on the task at hand—don’t worry about work when you’re in class or studying, and don’t let work or school interfere with spending quality time with family and friends.


• Set a schedule for the week and get organized. Plan segments of time for study, family, exercise, and other tasks that need to get done. - - Experiment with the best times for you to study and how frequently you need breaks. Also, figure out the best place to study where all of your materials are accessible and you can truly focus.


• Reward yourself. You should plan a reward for sticking to your schedule or completing your work before a deadline.


• Remember that you are only human. Nothing will get done well if you are emotionally or physically drained. Plan exercise and creative activities into your week to help keep you energized.


• Use your support system. Discuss your expectations for school with your family and friends. Inform them about your schedule so that they know - when you can’t be disturbed and when they can expect your full attention. Negotiate household duties based on your schedule.


• Don’t focus on getting straight A’s. Since you have already been accepted into graduate school, your focus should be on the learning, not getting 100% on every exam or ranking #1 in your class.


• Have some fun. Make time to enjoy friends and family; watch a movie; or read non-academic books.


• Learn to say ‘no.’ This is not the time to volunteer to run new initiatives at work or assume new family responsibilities if you don’t have to. Just meeting your responsibilities at work, school, and home will be enough of a challenge for now. Remember it is only temporary.


• Know when you need help.

JHSAP can help students cultivate time management, priority-setting, and organizational skills through individual sessions and/or group workshops and presentations:

http://jhsap.org/self_help_resources/school-life_balance/

All the best!

You will need to focus on stress and time management. In order to manage stress you have to manage your time wisely. <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>

Short answer is Yes! You have free time! But, you have to learn some important time management techniques to ensure you have time for school, work, and FUN! A good rule of thumb is for every credit you are taking you are spending you are spending that amount of time in class. If you are taking 15 credits, you will typically be in class 15 hours a week. Double that to have a rough idea of how much time you will need outside of school studying, researching, etc. Add the two together and now you have dedicated 45 hours to school out of 168 total hours in the week. Spend some time calculate how much time needed for work, sleep, exercise, and then you are left with an amount of time you can dedicate to fun.