October 7, 2019, by Shweta

The balancing act at university

More often than not, your time at university will feel like the ultimate balancing act. Between lectures, deadlines and extra-curricular activities, it can all get overwhelming sometimes. And whilst feeling that way is inevitable; it doesn’t have to ruin your time at university. After multiple breakdowns amidst years of juggling medical school, two committee roles and some semblance of a social life, here are my top tips for successfully managing all your duties.

For starters, forget about perfectionism. It is nothing more than a concept albeit one people take too seriously. Learn to accept good instead of great some days and strive for better on others. Let yourself have bad days. Let yourself procrastinate on an email if you have other priorities. If you’re passionate about what you do, you won’t procrastinate forever so don’t equate taking a break to calling it quits.

Secondly, invest in a white board, planner or something else that will help you keep track of deadlines. It can get extremely overwhelming to keep track of emails, meetings, plans and events. Jotting things down on a whiteboard has helped me organise my priorities SO much!

Ask for help when you need it. Two heads are definitely better than one and getting help from friends, tutors or university help lines is so underrated. Be it university counselling to help you with stress or committee members to help with a task; ask for help when work piles up. Not only will things get done efficiently, but they will probably be done better than if you were to rush through all of it by yourself.

Finally, don’t bite off more than you can chew. I’m guilty of this one as well and it’s something I’m working hard to change. With all the exciting opportunities available to you at university, it’s easy to get caught up with too many activities. Remember that you’re better off doing a few things well than many things poorly.

 

Until next time,

Shweta

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