Uni life is already stressful enough to manage. You have your exams to study for, some extracurriculars to partake in, and maybe you’re also applying for some work experience. But juggling all that while living at home – potentially with parents? Things start to get a little more difficult! Here are some of my tips to balance uni and home life for students not living away.
1. Establish a support network early
Like I’ve mentioned already, uni life can get stressful to manage. Before you think about any other tips to balance uni and home life, I suggest that you establish a support network first. From my experiences, living at home can get lonely sometimes. It can be easy to feel out of place when everyone either lives on or close by to campus. That being said, remember everyone feels lonely at one point at uni!
A support network can consist of people already in your life you can rely on at a hard time. For example, this could be your family and friends from home. At uni, these can be your personal tutor, your uni friends or a wellbeing officer. Having a variety of people to talk to can make both uni life and home life easier. At least each of these groups can help you with a different aspect of your life.
2. Organise your week (realistically)
Doing everything at a specific time is great and convenient, but half the time that never happens. When you live at home, expect delayed transport, traffic jams, construction and more unexpected situations that leave you running to your seminar. Save yourself some trouble by scheduling your week every week. I found that organising my weeks helps me balance uni and home life by figuring out when I have free time to hang out with friends after study sessions and work commitments.
If you’re (somewhat) lucky enough to have consecutive classes on a certain day, see where you could schedule some time to study that day. If something comes up at home, can you study at some point earlier or later? If your go-to study spot is inconvenient, is there somewhere else you could go? Answering these questions helps you in the long run.
3. Create a self-care routine
Studying at university can become draining very quickly. In fact, academic burnout is common among students. So, when you balance uni and home life, take some time for yourself throughout the week with a self-care routine. Some find journaling can help let out some steam after a bad week. Others find it easier to sleep using apps such as Headspace or Calm. Whatever it may be, create relaxing routines that help with physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. Remember: small breaks can make a big difference in the long run.
4. Make mealtime simple and easy
Home comforts are a big benefit when living at home. But remember how I said those commutes might be difficult? It’s easy to skip out on meals because you feel like you don’t have time to make something. However, you can save time by making mealtime easy. You could meal prep one day and create meals for the next few days. You could also learn simple recipes that keep you full and satisfied. Always remember to make some time out of your day to eat. A healthy, balanced diet helps you stay strong against sickness (which will be the last thing you need during exam season).
5. Celebrate small wins amidst the chaos
Finally, and most importantly, keep positive when you balance uni and home life. Cheesy as it sounds, allowing yourself to be happy over something small really boosts your mood and motivation. Got up early to study? Of course you should treat yourself to overpriced coffee! Went to that lecture? Catch up with notes later and watch that latest episode on Netflix! And all those exams you’ve finished? Time for a night out with friends! Think of ways you can treat yourself when you’ve completed achievable goals.
It’s very important to remind yourself of the smaller victories. It means when you do have a big victory, it’s all that more satisfying when you’ve worked hard throughout the year. Get your family involved, bring some friends along to celebrate. Think this way: it’s your world and we live in it!
