Every overachiever dream of the convenience of working an internship while pursuing their degree program. Besides gaining work experience and an upper hand in the job market, this approach may earn you a monthly stipend to supplement your college budget.
However, many students face an issue when it comes to striking a balance between work and study. Often, students pay more focus to their interning responsibilities at the expense of their academia. This is often detrimental to your career and counterintuitive to your goal of gaining the upper hand over peers.
Ranging from essay writers UK to time planners, there are many ways to strike a work-study balance and ensure progress in both your internship and academia. Read on for the best tips on balancing college and internship to overcome the common pitfalls for interning students.
Tips for balancing between college and internship
1. Prioritize classes
Although an internship is a major plus on your CV, this advantage may be quickly dissolved by poor credits. Ideally, pay the necessary attention to your study, secure decent grades, and thus ripping the most benefits on the job market.
Therefore, your schedule should allocate ample time for study and revision to secure a final quality score. You should discuss your academic schedule with your employer to come up with a work schedule that’s favorable to your education.
2. Have an organized schedule
A schedule is vital in juggling interning and classes without neglecting your commitments. A good schedule keeps you abreast with your assignments while allocating ample time for your social life.
As such, plan a weekly schedule while prioritizing urgent tasks. Your schedule should leave some wiggle room for adjustments and indicate the task to be attended to in each session.
As you plan your schedule, ensure that your classes and interning responsibilities don’t clash. This is why we recommend you discuss your availability with your manager to get flexible working hours that allow for efficient study.
3. Delegate tasks
The semester when you are handling interning, and studying is barely the best time to test your DIYing acumen. With multiple activities on your hands, you cannot afford to spend hours at the grocery and the cleaners.
For this, allocate dry cleaning chores and seek a delivery service for various supplies. You may also consider editing help in academic tasks to comfortably manoeuvre tight deadlines. This help allows you to make the most of your time and to focus your attention on your academic and interning duties.
4. Request for remote work or learning
Commutes to and from your work and school can limit the available time for your study. When possible, consult your internship manager on the prospect of working remotely.
However, this should be a stop-gap solution for durations when you are overwhelmed by your academics. For instance, if you are nearing your midterms or end-term papers, you may request your manager to handle your work remotely, therefore, taking charge of your work and study schedule.
5. Set boundaries
It is vital that you find suitable environments for study, avoiding various distractions to your focus. For instance, avoid the dormitory and get an app blocker to keep notifications at bay as you study.
This will allow you to master maximum focus and concentration in each study session, ensuring utmost productivity. Also, define activities for each session to avoid indulging in multiple activities that impair your focus and concentration.
6. Liaise with your internship manager
Communication is key for managing instances where school and work schedules collide. If an unexpected commitment crops up, consult your manager to adjust your work schedule.
The manager may help you find a go-around for various periods, ensuring that you get ample time for study without compromising your work responsibilities.
7. Seek guidance
As an interning student, you don’t enjoy the luxury of ruminating over a challenging issue for long durations before seeking help. Doing so might offset your schedule, resulting in overwhelming commitments down the line.
Always seek help when you are stuck to manage various responsibilities and quickly stay on par with deadlines. Besides being timely, expert help also helps you to improve your skills and to handle various obligations with proficiency.
8. Get enough sleep
Although working late into the night may seem like a necessary evil for an overachiever, depriving yourself of enough sleep may be detrimental to your productivity. Limited sleeping time results in low productivity the next day and a compromised capacity to focus.
This results in low capacities to comprehend what you study and also reduced productivity in your interning obligations. Ideally, define your sleeping time in your schedule and adhere to the set bedtime.
9. Avoid procrastination
Procrastination is perhaps the overachiever’s greatest enemy. This detrimental spiral may result in piling of commitments down the line, thus, exposing you to tons of stress and risking mental exhaustion.
Before you begin your work and study, culture the discipline to adhere to your schedule, also, consider delegating challenging tasks to overcome the driving forces behind procrastination.
10. Take on small, manageable tasks
Doing too much too often is a surefire way to strain and potential burnout. Ideally, focus on doing manageable tasks in the durations when you are most productive.
Also, take necessary breaks to recharge your focus, ensuring maximum productivity in each study session. We recommend that you gauge the length of sessions you can take without losing your focus and limit each study session to the hours you are comfortable with.
Final Take
Congratulations. Your focus on developing exposure to your field while undergoing your college program speaks greatly about your persistence. We hope that these tips come in handy to help you strike a balance between college and internship.
Also, be keen to find an outlet that allows you to manage stress from your weekly obligations. You could, for instance, try yoga, enroll in a skiing program or find an activity that allows you to interact with friends.
