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As an engineering student, you may have to do few things at the same time: work, study, recreational and other activities. The study can eat most of your time, which means work can deprive you of having free time to do other things. Still, it is possible to work and study if you are doing an engineering course. However, creating a healthy balance can make things much more tolerable and less stressful, which you will learn in this post.
Creating a work-study balance as an engineering student is to anticipate the workload and priorities your tasks. Creating a healthy balance is to be a good planner and understand your limits. Essentially, you aim to be more efficient at doing things to spend less time fixing your mistakes and more time finishing your tasks.
The truth is that work and study can be stressful sometimes, especially if you have to work long hours, making you fall behind on your study. However, it is also possible to do both and create a balance that can still allow you to perform well in your degree. Therefore, you need to learn to be more organised and follow few rules to guarantee your success.
7 Tips To Balance Between Work And Study
1- Plan your week
Planning your week can make things more structured and enable you to finish things on time. If you know how many days you will work that week, you can plan how much you will study. As an engineering student, you must find how many hours you spend on each subject in a week. You can obtain that information from the subject outline under expected hours of study or speak to your lecture for that information.
It is essential to know that the expected hours are an estimate and do not necessarily mean spending the same amount of hours on that subject. It might take you more or less depending on your ability to learn things. The important thing is to know how many hours it takes you to do your weekly study and plan to fit your work and other activities. Do not try to fit your study around your work, but fit your work around your study because the priority is your degree.
2- Request to Work on a fixed roster
This one can make your life much easier. So you do not have to shuffle things because your employer wants you to cover a shift urgently or a roster that changes every week that make you juggle things and possibly overwork yourself. You want your work to fit around your study, not the other way around. Therefore, it is critical to request a fixed number of shifts throughout the week to work in.
Make it clear to your employer as early as possible, and do not be afraid to explain yourself because you have unique circumstances. Be direct and genuine, and try not to please your employer by doing extra shifts while you have few assignments due on the same week. This can make work much tolerable and give you more time to focus on your priorities.
3- Use your time wisely
If you have managed to plan your week and work on a fixed roster successfully, you need to get down to work and learn some complicated things about your course, which means you have to use your time wisely. Do not waste time doing unnecessary tasks and get straight to the learning. The more you learn, the quicker you can progress in your course.
Procrastination is one of your biggest enemies and is what usually make you fall behind. You need to understand because you have a job, it can sometimes take more than half the hours of your week, you do not have time to procrastinate or spend all day watching Netflix. The balance starts by understanding how much time you need to study. This will ensure you are not nor overworking yourself and taking your time to understand and learn things.
4- Start your assignments early
Starting your assignments early gives you three benefits: knowing what you have to do before everyone else, asking questions for early feedback, and submitting your assignments early without stressing too much.
Starting early, you are less likely to get low marks and less likely to miss a deadline. You will have the advantage of getting feedback from both your lecturer and other students, eliminating mistakes in your work. Since you are busy with work, you can be assured that you have taken every possible action to eliminate unforeseen requirements in your assignment.
Therefore, note down all the assignments and exams dates on your calendar so you will know exactly when they are due and when you will start preparing for them. This way, you will not miss any deadlines and stay on top of things.
5- Measure twice, cut once
People who work and study think that they can get things done by working faster; that is why they multitask and joggle few things at the same time. However, this usually results in a disaster because of the sheer amount of errors they make trying to finish their tasks. Sometimes they might have to start over just so they can get things right.
The thing you need to understand is that you can work faster by working slow. Measuring twice and cutting once might take longer to finish something, but because you checked twice, you ensure you have not made a mistake, making you move forward quickly without coming back and fixing things.
Our brains are single wired, which means that we can do one task extremely efficiently without errors instead of doing two things together with poor quality. As an Engineer, you must aim for the quality, not the quantity with poor quality. As a student who works and studies, you really do not have time to come back and correct mistakes you made because you have done them poorly in the first place. Therefore, aim to do things once, without errors.
6- Request for time off during exams
Exams can be difficult and stressful. Taking time off work eliminate one obstacle and give you more time to study. You do not have to deal with work while solving and practising complex mathematical problems for your exams. As said earlier, your course should be your priority, not your job. Requesting time off ensure you are giving yourself time to focus on what matters without overworking yourself.
Try to communicate this issue to your employer at the start of your semester. Explain how many subjects you are doing and why you need time off. This way, you give your employer a heads up and make it easy to approve your leave when you get your exam timetable. Do not leave this detail to the last minute because it will make it difficult for your employer to give you the leave, especially if there is no one to cover your shifts.
7- Do the right number and combination of subjects
Most universities have a course plan for students to do their courses. It is usually recommended to stick to that plan as it offers a balanced workload with technical and communication subjects. However, because you work and study, the study load might be more complicated since you are a full-time student with a job. If you can manage to cope with the load, you can finish your course on time.
On the other hand, if it is too stressful, you can try to do fewer subjects in a semester or do simple elective subjects along with your core subjects. However, you need to know, if you deviate from the university study plan, it might take you longer to finish your course. Therefore, try to experiment with your ability to handle a full-time study and make your decisions from the experiment. Sometimes it can be less stressful if you reduce the number of subjects you do to not overwork yourself.
FAQ
Can you even work while studying if you do an engineering course?
In general, you can work and study as an engineering student if you plan your week well, priorities your workload, spend less time doing unnecessary tasks and fit your work around your study.
Can you maintain good results while working part-time?
It is totally possible to maintain good results if you study full-time and work part-time if you work on a fixed roster without extra shifts to focus more on your study.
What type of work should I be doing while being a university student?
In general, there are two types of work you should be doing as a university student. First, work that is close to or within your major, which gives you experience and offers you exposure to the workforce. Second, jobs in sales or retail can boost your communication and people skills.
How much time do engineering students spend studying?
On average, engineering students require a minimum of 30-40 hours a week to stay on top of their course. That time is needed to attend classes, write your notes, prepare for your assignments and practice for exams.
For every hour spent in a class, expect to spend the same time studying. Therefore, if you are doing four subjects with two classes for every subject that goes for two hours per class a week, then you should expect to do at least 32 hours of university work (8x2x2=32 hours). However, this can take longer if you factor in your assignments and exams, easily taking your study time to 40 hours a week.
Will I get time to do other recreational activities if I work and study?
You can do recreational activities if you find the right balance between your work, ensure that they do not collide with each other and free yourself to do that activity on a specific day and time during the week.
Will I still maintain a balanced university experience if I work and study?
Maintaining a balanced university experience is possible if you go to university at least two days a week and be involved with at least one university club, enabling you to form new relationships with other students.
How many hours should I work if I am doing an engineering degree?
It is recommended not to do over 32 hours a week or three days so you can still have time to attend classes, self-study and prepare for your assignments and exams. Doing longer hours can stress students and make you fall behind in your study.
There are 168 hours in a week. If you take out 15 hours every day on sleeping, eating and other activities, and 32 hours spent on work a week, you are only left with 31 hours in a week to study, which can be extremely stressful if you go over (168-15×7-32=31 hours).
What to do during the final exam period?
Try to take time off work, social and recreational activities and spend as much time studying. This way, you are not wasting time, are less stressed, and focus your effort toward your exam.
How can I get over stress while studying?
Stress happens when you have no clue how to finish something or think you do not have enough time to do it. You can get over anxiety by studying consistently and preparing well for your assignments. In general, you can cope up with stress if you plan things ahead.
