How to balance life

1.

Find out the maximum number of hours you can sustainably do week after week for at least 3 months without burnout - for me, this number is 60 hours

2.

After finding out the max hours per week, deduct 8 hours of sleep per day, deduct 1-2 hours for daily tasks (e.g. wash, eat, dress, chores, etc.), deduct time for gym or workout, deduct commuting time, deduct grocery shopping time, and deduct about 1 hour per day for slack

3.

Whatever time you are left is the time that you have for study

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Study smart as opposed to study hard (you need both, but prioritise smart over hard) - look to see how people who completed your course studied

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Use productivity, CRM, and calendar apps to time and organise your work and personal life (so long it doesn't violate GDPR for your work)

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If there is a lot of admin work and you have substantial income, consider hiring a virtual assistant to work as your PA if necessary

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If you have problems setting up some sort of schedule, consider using AI (e.g. Notion, ChatGPT) to set up your schedule (will need you to be very specific and include a lot of detail)

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Only dip into your email inbox 2-3 times a day max - constant multitasking is not only unhealthy, but a deterrent to productivity

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If your work involve a lot of typing or reading, consider picking up skills to speed up your work e.g. touch typing to improve typing speed and speed reading

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If you drive a fair distance to work (no alternatives around this), then consider listening to audiobooks or recordings of your notes whilst you drive (rare occasions when multitasking can be beneficial).

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If you live more than 30 minutes away from work (be it drive, bus journey, train journey, walking, etc.) , consider getting a place closer to work

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If you could, work remotely until you have at least finished your studies

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Try not to multitask and instead cluster similar tasks together

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When reflecting on what you do at the end of the day (if you don't do this already), track your productivity and what you have accomplished - use a diary for this. Track the time spent as well.

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Have study and gym partners - working with other people/groups tend to build on synergy

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If you cook your own meals, cook everything for the week together and cook as much as you can at once - clustering your tasks; the fewer cooking sessions, the better

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Set up a routine and make sure you stick to it until it becomes a habit - usually takes 21 days for it to become semi permanent, and 90 days for it to be almost permanent.

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The first 4 hours of the day after you feel the most "awake" is usually when you get the most done/have the most willpower (if you are a morning person for example, the first 4 hours you wake up is your most productive; if you are better in the afternoon, the first 4 hours in the afternoon are the best for you; etc.). Prioritise the most difficult and time consuming tasks during these hours, and then allow yourself to do the less mentally taxing tasks during other hours.

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Organise your tasks according to what is urgent (or not) and what is important (or not) - see Steven Covey's matrix. The tasks that are not urgent and important are your top priority right after your urgent and important tasks. Any tasks that aren't important, try to find a way to delegate/outsource or say no to.

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If the task is repetitive, try to see if you can find a way of automating it or at least organise it in such a way where you can go through the work in the least amount of time possible. If it's something you can make AI do for you, so much the better.

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Where possible, try to get gym equipment at home so you won't need to go to the gym often - saves you money as well unless you need to heavy duty equipment

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Schedule your down time, because if you don't you won't have any

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Spend 5 minutes at the end of your day planning for tomorrow. Hold yourself accountable for what you achieve tomorrow and reflect around the same time tomorrow prior to your planning. Reflect daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Keep note and keep track of your progress.