Being a working student is never easy. You have to learn how to balance your time between work, social, and academic work. I have been into that kind of situation countless of times, where I come to work, with a lack of sleep because I have to study after school and upon coming home. With less than eight hours of sleep, more like three to five hours of sleep. Sometimes, I want to just have full time in studying, because, every law students and lawyers knows that, law school is unforgiving.
Nevertheless, since I am already working at a law firm, and I am starting to know the nooks and cranny of how law life really is, and with the guidance of a good law practitioner, I can't let go of this job and school where the light of my goal is within reach one step ahead.
Better Time Management
Being a working student, one should have a better time management skill, If there is a tip that I could give to my fellow student, who have trouble managing their time, maybe I can help on what I should do to at least survive law school - getting good grades, for your social life, and being efficient and effective at the same time at your work.
1.) Setting a Realistic and Attainable Goal
Staying focused and prioritizing what is the most important. Every decision you make should depend on your actual abilities. For example, don't try to fully load yourself in class just to keep up the pace of other students. Know that you are working differently from a full-time student. In my part, I enroll about four to five subjects per semester depending on how heavy and important those subjects are to make sure that I learn as much as possible. Trying to be a full-time employee and student at the same time will only make you burn up quickly, which is not advisable.
As much as possible, record your goals and what are the finished one, and make sure that your goal is attainable. Your record of your achieved goal, no matter how small it is, will give you a better look of your progress, your strengths and weaknesses, as well as the boost of confidence that you need.
2.) Make a Flexible Schedule
2.) Make a Flexible Schedule
Making a schedule can be tough, sometimes, work-related trips can change the whole plan. What you should do is make a flexible schedule, and be flexible on yourself too. The schedule, being flexible as much as it can, should contain every activity required of your day. Once you have it all jot down in writing, figure out what can be shuffled and what should stay put. The time between work and your social life can be used for study and homework, as an example, but don't sacrifice too much. Don't forget to communicate your schedule to your family, employer, friends and loved ones. Once everyone knows your schedule, things should start to run smoothly.
But a piece of advice, at first, it will not be easy, but as the time goes and the people around you started to recognize it, it will be the start of your worry-less schedule.
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3.) Plan Wisely and Effectively
Know all your schedules, what you have to do, your responsibilities and well, how you want your day to go by. Allowing your time to process and list down all the things you need to do is one of the crucial things that you have to do if you really want to have a better time management in your hands. Doing so can help you clear things that not need to be done.
What I do, is that I jot down all the things I have to do and want to do a week before, so that my mind is already set and all I have to do is check that list every start of the day. It really helps me to get my mind to be set and remember more things that I have to do.
In your planning stage, what's important is that you have a pen and paper so that you could list them all down, and remember them. I do this every Sunday before going to bed and it makes me relaxed that all of the things that I have to do for the following week are out of worries because I plan things beforehand, rather than getting stressed out by not planning.
Health is the Greatest Investment
Now, despite being busy with all your set plans and activities, remember not to overwork yourself. And the best investment for your future is your health. Sleeping for a good whole night sleep, keeping track of your diet, and taking a lot of exercises from yoga to your classic gym style fitness will help you make sure that your investments are protected and is working for you.
If you are like me who works a full 8 hours a day and a class at night every night, then I suggest going really physical every now and then. A little 1-kilometer work can help every day. For me, at least, I walk around 2 kilometers from work to the train station to get some exercise and it helps me to still get some despite having a busy schedule.
As for diet, I also make sure to eat homemade once that I prepare and with varieties of fish, meat and vegetables. Drinking multivitamins also help. Three liters of water keeps me hydrated all throughout the day. By drinking water of three liters, it gives out a lot of benefits, not only by hydrating me but making sure that I boost my immune system, and improving my mental and physical performance.
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Do Not Procrastinate
One of the things that make human life miserable in today's age. Also, guilty of this sin, but, there is a trick that is effective for me that I can share you, and you can try it out if you wanted and see if it is effective.
1.) Prepare and Just DO It.
If there is something to be done, just do it. And do it until you are finished, don't think about anything else. It helped me to get things done, from digesting my cases, reading long chapters of books and doing house chores after work. True, that after work, everyone gets tired and seem to want to relax a little, but as a working student, you doesn't seem to have that. What I do is that I trick my mind to work. Even in a tired state, drinking tea before studying and then preparing my materials makes my mind go into work mode.
See, if you wanted to do something and it seems that your mind is saying that you should rest a little, the thing is, when you start doing something that relates to working or studying, and then a little more push from yourself to do something, that makes you think that you are already working and wanted to finish it.
But what if you are prepared to do it, but still your body wanted to have a little rest? Then stop thinking about it and just do it. If it still makes you want to procrastinate, then continue working and studying. Until you realize that you have finished the job. Honestly, it will take a lot of willpower at first but when you're getting used to it, then it will make your life easier.
2.) Once You Started It, Finish It.
Do it and finish it. If you started something, common sense and logical explanations dictate that you ought to finish it. You see, we have a guilt that makes us feel bad when we do not finish things. Make your life easier, by finishing something once you have taken the first step.
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But let us not fool ourselves, not everyone can finish a two thousand pages in a single seating. A progress can be called a progress even if it is small steps towards finishing it.
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