How to balance work and study
For a lot of us students, we need a part time job. I have had one since I was 15 and it can be really hard to balance along with my studies, but I can offer some top tips I’ve learnt over the past 6 years.
Probably my number one tip is to learn to say no to those extra shifts when you need to meet a deadline or are busier. Money is tempting and it feels like you’re always a little broke as a student, I honestly still struggle with this as extra shifts aren’t always available but when you have exams coming up or a big deadline, save yourself the stress and all-nighters – just say no for now. I have done this so many times and I usually end up having to ask for an extension or turning in work I wasn’t proud of so be smart about expecting extra shifts and if your work is flexible, try not to work at all around big deadlines.
If you can, have a flexible job where you can pick what jobs to sign up to or what days you want to work. This can be agency work or working for the university as a student ambassador which you can read more about on Eve’s blog here. These kinds of jobs are perfect for students as you don’t need to pick up any shifts around your exam seasons, so you’ve got all that time to focus on your studies.
If you have a regular part time job, try asking your boss to shorten your hours or even swap or cancel shifts around your exams. When I worked at Tesco as a teenager, I would book holiday time around my exams so I could focus on my A levels properly.
More general advice is to find out what your timetable is at university before joining and apply for jobs around that. If you have any days off, working on those days can be a good idea as then you have the weekend to rest and catch up on any assignments you missed that week.
Would you consider becoming a student ambassador with all the flexible hours and shifts available?
Vee (Kingston rep)
Probably my number one tip is to learn to say no to those extra shifts when you need to meet a deadline or are busier. Money is tempting and it feels like you’re always a little broke as a student, I honestly still struggle with this as extra shifts aren’t always available but when you have exams coming up or a big deadline, save yourself the stress and all-nighters – just say no for now. I have done this so many times and I usually end up having to ask for an extension or turning in work I wasn’t proud of so be smart about expecting extra shifts and if your work is flexible, try not to work at all around big deadlines.
If you can, have a flexible job where you can pick what jobs to sign up to or what days you want to work. This can be agency work or working for the university as a student ambassador which you can read more about on Eve’s blog here. These kinds of jobs are perfect for students as you don’t need to pick up any shifts around your exam seasons, so you’ve got all that time to focus on your studies.
If you have a regular part time job, try asking your boss to shorten your hours or even swap or cancel shifts around your exams. When I worked at Tesco as a teenager, I would book holiday time around my exams so I could focus on my A levels properly.
More general advice is to find out what your timetable is at university before joining and apply for jobs around that. If you have any days off, working on those days can be a good idea as then you have the weekend to rest and catch up on any assignments you missed that week.
Would you consider becoming a student ambassador with all the flexible hours and shifts available?
Vee (Kingston rep)
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