Campus Connection

More and more graduate students (myself included) find themselves juggling school with work and family. This can be very challenging and stressful, especially in single parent or single income household. But the more responsibilities you have, the more important it is to be able to keep your cool and maintain focus and motivation. I have come up with some tips that have helped me successfully handle all of my commitments and would like to share them in the hopes that they will help you too.

• Take care of your health. Don’t think of this as being selfish, but rather think of this as an investment in your ability to fulfill all of your responsibilities. After all, if you are feeling sick, you won’t be able to study, work, or care for your family very well.
• Create a schedule and stick to it. Make sure to keep track of your study time, household matters, and personal business.
• Have a cut off time for phone calls. Catching up with family and old friends is important and very nice, but you have to set some limits. If you think a conversation might run long, either plan for it ahead of time or try to break it down into a few smaller ones. There is nothing wrong with telling someone: “I have to go now, but I would love to call you back in a couple of days so that we can finish catching up.”
• Designate daily family time. This can be anything from eating dinner together without interrupting phone calls to going for a short walk with the whole family.
• Relax. If you have a busy day, take 5-10 minutes to close your eyes and practice deep breathing – meditation and prayer always help me start and end my day.
• Plan some “me time.” Whether it’s working out or going for a stroll, reading a secular book or taking a bubble bath, styling your hair or getting a manicure/pedicure, just make sure you do something enjoyable for yourself on a weekly basis. Personally, I find it very important to workout 3 days per week and make sure to plan my schedule around my gym days.
• Rest.  Get at least 7 hours of sleep.  You will not be at your best if you’re tired.
• Eat nutritious meals.  It can be tough to avoid fast food, especially when you are stressed and crunched for time. To minimize the temptation to eat out when you’re busy, try to find simple, nutritious meals that require little preparation and cook food for the week, rather than just for one day.
• Maximize your resources. Allow your family (kids included!) to help around the house. Involving everyone will not only cut back your workload, but can be a great way to bond and spend extra time together.
• Write down all important dates. This includes exams, papers, class meetings, and appointments.  These dates can accumulate quickly, so you shouldn’t rely on your memory alone. Instead, use an electronic reminder tool if you always have your laptop or blackberry on hand or a good, old, paper calendar if you are not technology savvy.

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