Description: Maths and Science tutor Ashaiyini shares her tips and advice on how to balance both life and study simultaneously.

For many students, finding the sweet spot between balancing life and study when met with a busy school or university schedule, has been a real struggle. I have experienced this myself in the past whilst balancing life and studying medicine at university. Sometimes we prioritise our academics at the expense of our social life with the aim of achieving our best in exams and assignments. We experience burnout where we develop poor physical and mental health from extreme exhaustion thus can’t tackle constant demands.

I’ll be offering some of my best tips which have helped me so much and will definitely help you too

To do lists/ Plan a schedule:

I’m sure you’ve heard it several times: ‘Start early’, ‘Don’t leave revision till a week before the exams!’, ‘If only I had more time, I would have done so much better.’

I can put my hand up and say I have said this before. When we have several exams across the whole of the academic year it can feel overwhelming with the urge of leaving it for now and dealing with it later. But your best option is to get a calendar and write out the dates and names of the exams. Include all your commitments like going netball every Sunday, family movie night on Fridays to get a good idea of when you can and cannot study.

You’ll instantly realise how much time you have and how you can split your time equally for all the tests that you are faced with. To-do lists have been a lifesaver for me! The night before, I write out all of the tasks for the day ahead. This made it much more manageable for the next day and it keeps me mentally focused.

Time for yourself:

You must make sure to make time for friends, family and most importantly time to look after yourself. Getting a good night sleep every day is extremely important. It helps with reducing stress, improves your memory and productivity. Try and find some time to exercise, this can be 30 mins walks, hitting the gym when you can or following home workouts on Youtube!

Ask for help and reflect:

This is incredibly important. When you feel as though you are struggling to keep up, procrastinating too much and not working enough, please reach out to your schoolteacher or personal tutor. They are there to give you advice on how to balance life and study. They’ll sit with you and help create healthier habits for you to try and incorporate into your life. In order to reach out for help, you must be aware of your feelings. Try to reflect at the end of every day or week and ask yourself how you felt. Where are you constantly worried? Did you smile today? Was I too harsh on myself?

You will definitely find the balancing life and study starts with you.

You are in control, please remember that!

By tutor Ashaiyini