Time Management

It seems there is somewhat of a thin line between benefiting from learning to balance work and school, and working too much which leads to grades suffering. That threshold is an average of working 20 hours a week at an on-campus job. As Kim Clark reported for US News, working no more than those 20 hours a week is a good way for college students to learn time management while also putting some extra money in their pockets. Working while in college can help better gear you to work with different types of people in group projects and in the future, as well as help you network with others in your same field of study.

Though there are many pros to adding in a few shifts of work to your busy school schedule, there are some cons as well. One, is that it is very easy to become overworked. Taking extra shifts to earn more, and some students even work multiple jobs to support themselves while in college. Soon going to classes becomes rare, and getting assignments done on time becomes harder and harder to incorporate into an already hectic schedule. Working while being a full time student can help you become a more well rounded person with the experiences you'll get working with people of different backgrounds and work ethics, but it can also easily take the spot as your number one priority, leaving school as a second priority.

For some of us working is a necessity which means that even if it did become too stressful, there is not much leeway for the person to just quit their job and focus on their studies. They simply have to continue working anyway, which one could argue would help the student learn to manage their time better. But there are the scenarios where the overall outcome of working while in school does more harm than good. Although studies and research have found that there are many positive benefits to balancing work and school, many students are simply too tired, and miss out on a lot of the things they could be doing on campus for work.

Scholarships.com offers some tips for time management for college students here.

Walking around campus, or even just at my own place of work, there are times when you can see school and working to support yourself takes a toll. Some of us pull all nighters on top of work and attending classes to get assignments and projects done, which can lead to being less than alert during classes. Several times I have found myself fighting to keep my drowsy eyes open during class or even during an exam that I had just spent the whole night studying for.

Learning to balance time between work and school proves to be a huge task, but as I finish my first year of college, I feel that working and going to school full time has proved itself a challenge that I can say has taught me better study habits. Seeing the outcome of not studying properly or adequately for a test has shown me how much better I feel when I devote a good amount of time to an assignment and receive a good grade on it.

If you've also experienced this same struggle as a college student, what habits have you formed to help manage your time between working and going to school?