Life is a Balancing Act

Gillian Lopez
Management Career Consultant

Balancing work, school, and extra curricular activates

I never understood how precious time was until this year. Being a third year management student, with a part-time job, and a leadership position in my sorority can be very busy at times, but it truly helps when I manage my time wisely. Finals are just around the corner and as a planner I like to balance my responsibilities. Although finals are my main priority, I also need to maintain my work responsibilities as well.  These are a few techniques that help me balance my school, work, and personal activities during finals and throughout the entire school year.

Schedule your month and your weeks

Having a planner or a calendar in your phone is a great way to organize and remember important dates such as midterm days, assignment due dates, or even work meetings. At the beginning of each month I like to write down important dates in my monthly calendar. This helps to plan around my weekly and daily schedules in the near future. Every Sunday evening I like to plan my week by the hour implementing homework and class times, office hours, and so forth. Then I would plug in my work times, following extra curricular activities. I also include breaks to maintain a healthy wellbeing. Planning by the hour helps me stay on track and focus. It also prevents me from working too long on just one assignment.

Prioritize

If you have a busy schedule, it really helps to prioritize things that are important. Every student’s priorities will differ, but my number one priority will always be school and my personal wellbeing. Working for the Career Services Center is my second priority because it is a job that contains great experiences and many opportunities that are preparing me for my future. When working on assignments I like to do my priority assignments when I feel most energized. During my breaks I like to do my sorority responsibilities such as making crafts or sending emails because I personally find them fun!

Bit size career activity while in school

Although I currently have a job I’m also looking for a 2013 summer internship. Finding a job can sometimes take awhile so it’s important to frequently checkout job postings in order to stay up to date. Even though my weeks can be very busy, I still make time for job-hunting. To keep things organized, I created a folder on my desktop to hold jobs that I would be interested in. If I didn’t have time to read the job description at that specific moment, I would save the link to read during my breaks or down time. It is a high priority for me to find an internship this summer so sometimes I may have to readjust my schedule and priorities in order to make time for my application especially when due dates are near.