Many students interested in the development of their careers work in parallel with the studies. This is the right decision because it’s very important to acquire a professional experience that will come in handy in the future. However, at the beginning of the academic year, the double burden exerts great pressure, many organizational difficulties arise. To avoid troubles, you need to plan your semester in advance. In this article, we will tell how to compile a study strategy and use the time as efficiently as possible.
Contents
Options for combining work and study
Let’s consider the formats of the labor and training which will help you to spend the semester productively.
Work at home
This is a very convenient option which is great for such professions as a translator, tutor, designer, programmer, and copywriter. The work at home is attractive because it does not require spending time and money on transport. In addition, many people say that at home it is easier to concentrate and perform the task than in the noisy environment of the office. But there is also a disadvantage. Working in the office, you observe the labor of other specialists, better immerse yourself in professional activities.
Transfer to the evening department
For many students, such a regime is a salvation. Although in terms of knowledge depth, the standard form of training goes forward. Prepare for the fact that your day will be saturated to the maximum. In the morning you’ll go to work. After a busy day full of events, meetings, conflicts, emotions or physical exertion you’ll go to an educational institution to continue absorbing information for several hours. At the same time, your head can be clogged with work issues. Before going to bed, you will have to do the homework, read the special literature and write a coursework.
Such a schedule helps to develop endurance, the ability to work in multitasking mode and combine several tasks at a time.
Work with a flexible schedule or shifts
You may choose the profession of a sales consultant, assistant manager, promoter, photographer, barman, waiter, call-center operator, etc. This option is convenient because you can plan your time taking into account classes and ask the colleagues for the substitution. But in the case of work on a flexible schedule, you will have to be very flexible too – quickly respond to changes and adjust yourself according to them.
Work in the evening
You can negotiate with the employer about work with half salary. This is convenient because during the day you will attend lectures and then go to work in the office. But sometimes classes at universities end at 5-6 p.m. Think properly what lessons you will have to miss and whether you are ready to do it.
Many students work in their own educational institutions after lectures as laboratory assistants. Such activities allow them to understand the scientific subtleties deeper.
Internship
Many companies and universities organize internships for students. This is an excellent chance to work in a good organization, to study the activities of different specialists from within, to understand whether certain profession suits you and to represent yourself to a potential employer. Usually, universities willingly support internships of their students in companies. But keep in mind that trainees are not paid wages in many enterprises. At best, they get a small stipend. So you should be prepared for this.
Principles of planning
Now let’s consider some principles that you need to adhere to compile a schedule correctly in case you don’t want to use admission essay writing service in the nick of time .
Precaution
Surely many people are familiar with this situation: 30 days remain before the exam and we get 30 tickets. We have to plan a reading strategy. First, it seems that one ticket a day can be learned easily. But when 15 days remain, we still don’t start to prepare. However, 2 tickets a day can also be learned without much difficulty. On the 20th day, we already have 3 tickets a day, on the 25th day – 6 tickets a day. So gradually we approach the last day and terrible night before the exam. The same applies to writing course works and diploma papers. It is a known problem when we try to delay a certain negative event.
Precaution allows organizing the preparation for exams competently. Try to plan your month in advance: working time and days off, important events, deadlines for submitting essays and articles. Think out the upcoming week with special care: write a list of things to be done for each day, mark the time frame in your diary.
Events fixing
Do not keep everything in mind. You may fix important dates and tasks in a notebook, diary, an organizer on the mobile phone or a special program on a computer. Due date planner will graphically represent your workload with the deadlines of all events.
Parallelism of actions
It will be useful for you to master the ‘sandwich’ technique: when you are busy with something that does not require active involvement and strong concentration, in parallel you may do some other things. For example, on the way from the university you can read a book, rewrite lectures and learn foreign words with an audio recorder. If you are going to a cafe with a classmate, ask him for the help with English homework. So you will have a productive and pleasant rest. It is very important to be sensitive to situations when time can be filled with several actions simultaneously.
Flexibility
You need to be flexible and respond to changes in a daily routine. If the scheduled meeting with friends is postponed, use your free time for self-development: read books, go to a museum, watch time management training, and call old acquaintances. Change your plans if possible. Remember that compiled list of actions is one of the variants of events development that can be corrected in the needed direction. The main thing is to appreciate your time and fill it with useful things.