Building a side hustle but finding it hard to juggle between work and studies? Here are 3 simple tips to help you manage time in college like a pro!
3 tips for balancing work and studies in college without losing your mind.
Hey folks!
Let’s talk freelancing today.
Specifically… freelancing when you’re a sleep-deprived college student struggling to maintain minimum attendance, get decent grades, and build a side hustle.
And as a fellow gung-ho college kid working on the side –it’s a lil hard, I get it.
It’s been two years since I started freelancing along with studies, and over time I’ve found some ‘time management hacks’ that save me tons of time and stress, and help me strike a balance between sleeping, working, and having a good social life.
So if you’re cruising the same boat…
Huddle in, this blog is for you 🙂
I’m gonna be sharing 3 tips that’ll help you manage part-time work better as a college student -without losing precious sleep (or your sanity).
Ready? Let’s dive right in.
TIP #1: Prioritise what you need to do on weekends
Alright, let’s be realistic folks, there’s so much to do, but not enough time to do it all.
Or as the OG productivity consultant David Allen put it,
“You can do anything, but not everything.”
I won’t say cancel all the cool plans you get invited to and hunch over your laptop to meet deadlines.
I will advise you to prioritize smartly…
Finished all your work by Thursday? Spend the whole weekend exploring a new hobby, going to parties, or reading a new book snuggled in a cozy corner (if that’s more your thing).
Discovered a new freelance gig that could help you level up immensely? Maybe you could skip the Saturday brunch with friends and build something cool instead.
Basically, it just comes down to experimenting until you can strike a balance between work and fun (brownie points if you can find an overlap between the two!)
I personally achieve this by immersing myself 100% in one activity for some days.
For example: This week I will spend all evenings exploring freelance gigs.
Next weekend I’m gonna sleep for 10 hours a day to catch up on sleep.
Coming week I’ll focus on creating content for my linkedin profile.
…and so on.
P.S. If you’re curious you can check out this cool article to read more about immersion: https://zenhabits.net/zenwork/
TIP #2: Work in small chunks of free time
For the most part, getting more done just comes down to working in short periods of time throughout the day.
And it doesn’t have to be work work too, ya know?
Just finishing up low-effort tasks like answering texts, checking your mail, or even just making a mental list of work to be done later in the day adds up to save you a lot of time.
This would especially be useful for those of you who have to commute long distances for classes (just day scholar things T_T), or end up scrolling through memes during lectures. (hey, no judgement xD)
Just try using these mini-breaks throughout the day to finish up small stuff -you’ll be surprised at how much work you got done without even realising!
P.S. I found this cool article that talks more about this, check it out! https://jonathanvieker.com/use-small-chunks-of-time/
TIP #3: Get comfortable working on multiple devices
Before I share the last tip,
I have a confession to make…
For the longest time, I couldn’t write anything longer than 3 lines on my phone. (I’m a copywriter!)
The frequent notifications, distracting apps, and the urge to keep checking messages, combined with an overall dislike for typing on a small screen made it impossible for me to write well on my phone.
But this changed when offline college started.
I had to whip up content, answer emails, draft important messages -often on short timelines or when I was in college without a laptop. Eventually, I became comfortable writing on my phone, tablet, paper, and even on my college desk xD, simply because I had to.
And if you too are a full-time freelancer with a college side hustle… believe me when I say this -being able to write (comfortably) on all devices is a game-changer.
Once you stop being dependent on your laptop for work…you can get stuff done on the go and save tons of precious time.
Working on the go is the one thing that has helped me immensely manage work better alongside college.
And I hope these three tips help you do the same.
And now that we’re done…
Let’s sum up, shall we?
Here are the pointers we talked about today:
- Use small chunks of time to finish up mini-tasks
- Get comfortable working on all devices -especially your phone
- Prioritize to make the most of your weekends.
That’s it for today folks!
I hope these tips make it easier for you to walk the rope between work and college 🙂
Now I’d love to hear from you:
Have you personally used one or more of these tips to save time while working?
You can also comment down below a tip you love that we didn’t mention 🙂
And until next time, keep learning!