<p>I got a job at Walgreens back in June and have been working 2 days or 8 hours a week for the most part since. I’m gonna be starting my second year of community college in a few weeks and I’m worried that I wouldn’t have time for play because I feel I maybe too busy doing school work and my job. Plus, this is going to be the first time that I will work at my job during the school year. I’ve never had a job during high school and my first year of college, except one time in the summer of 2008 for 2 weeks. And, I’m taking 4 business classes and 1 meteorology class in college this semester, which I worry that its gonna be tough.</p>
<p>So, for all college students who have jobs in college, do you have time for play? How do you balance college work, a job, and play?</p>
<p>8 hours a week is almost nothing. That should hardly impact your schedule - just tighten it. Let’s face it, you probably spend eight hours a week sitting in front of a computer screen not even accomplishing anything - just cut back on that and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>I still had (minimal) time for play this summer when I was working between 50-70 hours a week at two different jobs. I will be hopefully working 5-15 hours a school week this year, and worked about 5 hours a week last year for lack of hours available, but I had more than enough time to hang out with my friends and have a good time even on a 17 credit courseload. Basically, it’s not a big deal, you just have to manage your time well.</p>
<p>I actually really like eating ice cream in the winter. Adrenaline rush of eating ice cream and standing outside in a t-shirt in 25F weather is awesome.</p>
One thing I’ve found is that if you do homework/assignments/etc. as soon as possible (as in, immediately after class/food), and of course do your job on time (10 hours a week should be easy), you should find that you actually have quite a bit of play time. It’s when you put off work when it seems like you have no free time, because you always have the burden of knowing you have stuff to do.</p>
<p>You also have to be aware of when you are wasting time.</p>
<p>After homework, and your job, and of course sleeping & eating, what is important to you? You may find you have plenty of time for friends, movies, frisbee, or whatever, if you schedule activities that you like instead of mindlessly spending time in front of the computer.</p>
<p>one should not spend all of his time to his job, study. Walking with your friends may be a good thing where you should not count the time. And to balance your life rest is obvious.</p>
<p>“It’s when you put off work when it seems like you have no free time, because you always have the burden of knowing you have stuff to do.”</p>
<p>Huh, I don’t have that problem because I know I will get it done. I always have work to do on the weekends, but I’m able to go out at night without a burden. I don’t obsess about work, because I always get it done and have never needed to pull an all nighter or anything. I don’t think most people walk around all the time thinking about school. Do your work when you can, but don’t worry about putting off 3 or 4 hours to go out. You really won’t have an issue if you are only working 8 hours a day.</p>
<p>8 hours a week is nothing imo. Just be smart and make sure you don’t waste free time. I generally work 10+ hrs a week and party a lot but also focus on my school. Just make sure you don’t waste time when you could be doing work. Maybe go to the library after class (by far the best place to be efficient imo) and do hw.</p>
<p>If you’re going into engineering, don’t try to balance work school and play. Work is significantly more important than play. Join one social club/activity and stick to that to meet friends, but don’t try to balance the two. They’re polar opposites.</p>
I know, I’ve put off work myself and it’s ok. Still, if you do it as soon as possible, it’s like a breath of fresh air, unconsciously - it just feels better, for me anyway. Of course nobody is saying you should do homework immediately without exception - like canceling going out, etc. just to finish work a few hours earlier. Just that your schedule will probably be more efficient if you do work as soon as reasonable.</p>
<p>“If you’re going into engineering, don’t try to balance work school and play. Work is significantly more important than play. Join one social club/activity and stick to that to meet friends, but don’t try to balance the two. They’re polar opposites.”</p>
<p>^ Why? It’s college. And it’s not like engineering majors aren’t allowed to have any fun. Lighten up. Even my mom went out and had fun when she was in Medical School. It’s perfectly doable and doesn’t clash at all, because having fun is part of human nature. If you have no desire to have fun or do not allow yourself some play time, you must be a robot.</p>
<p>I think it’s insulting to the OP when you all say “8 hours a week is nothing.” My roommate went on work study 4th year and did 10 hours a week and it was a significant change for her.</p>
<p>I’ve worked 2 jobs for 3 years of undergrad (just 1 job my first year). I balanced it by taking lower course loads, making sure I had Fridays off to relax or catch up, and carefully choosing my social activities this year when I couldn’t cut my course load. It kind of was a bummer to have to drop certain social groups, but I changed them out for things that better fit my schedule, like eating lunch with friends (you have to eat) versus a late night club meeting when I was too tired for that. You’ll quickly learn what your limits are. If it makes you feel better, I did NaNoWriMo last November while working ~10 hours at one job and then teaching a night class was my other job. I just made myself get everything done by 9pm so that I could write for an hour before bed at 10 (I had 8am classes every day Mon-Thurs as part of my education program). I was much more on top of everything then than in the spring actually!!! The more structure you give yourself, the better you’ll be able to accomplish everything. Good luck!!</p>
<p>Balancing a job with school is a matter of careful planning and proper time management. I worked two part-time jobs while going to school full-time last year. Every day of the week, I always had something going on, no breaks (school + one job on weekdays, waitressing on weekend mornings). Even though I was only home for a few hours just to eat, sleep and shower, I made it work.</p>