How Much Work is Too Much Work?

With many of us students facing the reality that Financial Aid and grants are no longer as much help with paying for our college tuition, many turn to working to help cover the costs of earning a degree. In an article written by Laura W. Perna, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, "Today nearly one in ten, (roughly 8%) of full-time, traditional-age undergraduates is employed at least thirty-five hours a week." Although to most that doesn't seem like a significant amount, the fact of the matter is, those eight percent of college students are working about as many hours a week as their parents do, while still attending school full time.

As I mentioned previously, most college institutions suggest that if students want to work, they should work no more than 20 hours weekly. They also encourage students to work on campus versus off campus.

Having worked an average of 50 hours a week for most of this semester, I agree that there is definitely a limit to how much students should work while in school. From my experience, working too much affected my study habits as well as my health. For one thing, it made me much more irritable, and I had less patience after having to pull all nighters on Sundays week after week. I also was not able to have any free time, which made my weeks go by in a blur, with nothing but work, school, homework and classes. I was unable to do things that most college students partake in.

I also noticed that it was very hard for me to stay awake in a lot of my classes, and I depended on energy drinks and other sources of caffeine to stay awake, which can be very unhealthy. Studies have shown that now more than ever college students have become more dependent on energy drinks and coffee to stay awake and alert through their everyday life. Most of us consume more caffeine than we are actually aware of.

In the chart above, from the Brief Addiction Science Information Source, many students report consuming energy drinks for various reasons, some of which being not having enough sleep, and feeling the need for an energy boost.

It's common for us to feel stressed, or really tired, do you use energy drinks to compensate for a lack of sleep?

The Final Stretch

With finals quickly approaching, everyone's stress levels are rising. We all have that moment when we realize we're completely drowned in essays, final tests, and projects, and it seems nearly impossible to complete everything on time. With the arrival of finals, typically comes the arrival of sunshine, the biggest nemesis to college students during the last few weeks of the semester. While all of the tests to study for, essays to write, and books to read say, "you should just go to the library and work on your assignments," the beautiful San Francisco sunshine says, " the beach is really only a 5 minute drive from campus!"

In class all I keep hearing about is different dates for finals, student-professor conferences to schedule, due dates for projects and essays and the like. What most people don't know, is that I also dedicate roughly 40 hours a week to my job. As the store manager, not only am I given even more deadlines and due dates for tasks that need to be completed, but I also have to stay attentive to the needs to everyone else in our store. When I say I work a full-time job, I really mean "full-time." Just because I leave the store does not mean that I am officially done with work. I'm pretty much on call at any time of day for any situation that may occur. 

 Kayla Hedman, as well as Carley Christianson, there are several different things that college students can do to eliminate as much stress as possible during the stressful weeks of finals, and in general. A couple of things they both had in common was making the time to exercise, as well as eating healthy foods, getting adequate amounts of sleep, and taking breaks to do relaxing things like watching Youtube videos to clear your mind. Those are some of the things that I do already to relieve some of the stress that I encounter during the semester. 

One tip they both mentioned that never really occurred to me was learning to say NO. As a student who also manages a store, I constantly find myself spreading my time too thin, which really adds to the stress of trying to get projects, essays and study guides done on time. Never has it really come to my attention that I, and only I am in charge of how I spend my time, and learning to say no to people when I have a lot of tasks to complete would be wise. Trying to balance a social life, work, and school proves itself especially difficult during finals while I try to still have a social life, keep my store running, and still get all of my school work done on time. Semester after semester, finals week continues to be the most difficult time of year due to balancing a hectic, seemingly never ending to do list. 

What different tricks have you tried or found successful during finals week to manage stress levels?