How to Juggle a Job as a Full-Time College Student

Welcome back y’all! As I’m sure you all know, college is not easy. It’s especially not easy juggling any sort of extracurriculars or jobs. I’ve had a job ever since freshman year and working plus going to class and a lot more hasn’t been easy, but luckily, there are a few things that I’ve learned to do in order to make it a bit easier.

So today on the blog, I talk about how to juggle a job as a full time college student!

1. Shoot for an on-campus job

One of the easiest ways to juggle a job and college in my opinion is to definitely work somewhere on campus. Whether it is a job in your school’s administrative offices, the dining hall, or some other place, bosses on campus usually get it. You’re in college, trying to make some pocket money, or pay for food or your rent.

Many off-campus jobs can attempt to schedule you during class time, or for late night shifts when you have early morning classes. Of course, on-campus jobs can be like this as well, especially around finals week. However, if you’re up front about your schedule, they will almost always work with you.

2. Use a planner or calendar app

If y’all could see my Google Calendar during the school year, you’d probably a) have a heart attack or b) sadly relate. I have at least three or four calendars active at one time, one for work, for my class schedule, and various other things. Without my Google Calendar though, I’d be helplessly lost.

If you’re not a fan of mobile apps, try a physical planner. Either way, writing down your work schedule in a weekly or monthly planner (especially if your schedule is pretty static), along with your class schedule and other clubs, Greek orgs, or sports teams will minimize how many conflicting activities you have.

Speaking of conflicting activities…

3. Know when to give something up

Sometimes, you just have to give something up. For some people, it can be impossible to juggle a lot of obligations. If you really need money, giving up a club or activity might have to happen so you can work at job. If your life doesn’t depend on a job, but you’re just doing it because you’re bored or have nothing else to do, maybe you don’t actually need a job, but an organization instead.

There are plenty of events and meetups with friends that I’ve had to skip out on because of work. At the same time, there have been a few times where I’d take a day or two off work to catch up on school work or just take some me time.

Whether it is potential memories or hours on your check, having a job is not without sacrifices.

4. Take advantage of breaks

By the time I’m getting off work many shifts, it’s 30 or 45 minutes until my next class. Since it is obviously not enough time to go back home and relax, I take advantage of this short break to look over my notes, start on homework (I often carry around my laptop just for this reason) or look at some notecards.

If you’re lucky enough to have an office job, often times your whole shift has a lot of down time. If you work in retail or some other job, take advantage of your lunch breaks to get a bit of studying or work done.

Those 30 minutes will definitely add up!

5. Balance your work hours and class hours

Please don’t be that person that thinks you can take 15+ hours in school along with a 30-40 hour work week. You won’t be able to handle it without something suffering, typically your mental health, grades, or work performance. Personally, I take 15 hours just about every semester, but only work up to 20 hours a week, usually 15-17 hours. Spread out over five days (I don’t work weekends) I still have time to relax as well as do other extracurriculars.

If you do want to work a full-time job, less than 15 hours would be ideal. School costs enough as it is, so you wouldn’t want to repeat a class you didn’t do so well in because you were so tired from work that you couldn’t concentrate!

6. Sleep

I mentioned this in my last college themed post, but sleep is SO important! Juggling a job and school will likely result in a lot of sleepless nights, so whenever you can get sleep, you should. It might seem silly to keep on saying this, but you’d be surprised how fatigued college students are because they’re studying late or up working on projects until the crack of dawn.

Sleep is essential for success.

While some people are fortunate enough to not have to work their way through college, many aren’t! Hopefully these tips are helpful for you as they were for me!

Do you have any other ways of juggling a job in college? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,