People often think college students have it easy, but the notion is equally challenging as you’re expected to maintain a healthy balance between your work and extracurricular activities to live a stress-free life in your adulthood.

As easy as it may sound every field and area of life has its own struggles, to help you prioritize your most important tasks, along with living a happy balanced life, here we have listed a generic approach you should follow, along with an expert byte at the end that you might find helpful. 

Schedule wisely

Create a timetable and adhere to it strictly. This is the first and most crucial habit that will enable you to attain your lofty goals with flexibility and less stress. Prioritize your most important tasks first on the list and less important tasks last. 

Though the results might not be apparent right away, in the long run, they will be fruitful, and you will likely thank your former self for having realized the importance of maintaining a routine far earlier in life.

Learn how to say “no”

Not many will introduce this tip to you but it is the most important skill that you must start to follow in your adulthood. 

Missing some frequent get-togethers or your friend’s birthday party, won’t do any bad as long as you prioritize your career goals over them. Understand that you need not be present everywhere, every time, and learn to skip events that are less important. A generous “NO” won’t do much harm to anyone. 

Smart work over hard work

An important tip that always works wonders is to choose to work smartly and avoid working hard instead. People always value the minds that work smart over the ones stressing and working hard. 

Switch off your social media for some time

Being overly active on social media may be addictive and depressing. It’s always necessary to keep a healthy balance between your studies and social life. 

Turning off the notifications, deactivating your Instagram for some time, and putting the less important WhatsApp groups on mute, are some of the tips you can follow to disengage and detox from the hypothetical world of social media. 

Taking adequate breaks

Taking short breaks in between a packed and busy schedule is equally important to maintain a healthy balance between struggling student life.

Go for a walk, talk to a friend, read something apart from your course books, and listen to music. These tips will make you productive and will also keep you fresh throughout your long day. 

Apart from the above-mentioned useful tips, there are some more equally important tips according to Dr. Ramakant Sharma, Superintendent Exams & HOD Basic Science & Humanities(BGI Mandideep), which might help you manage your studies and other activities effectively. These are as follows :  

• Academics on priority
• Thinking out of the box
• Smart studies
• Planning/organize/ Roadmap
• Be optimal and adaptable
• Optimize yourself/Multitasking 
• Be straightforward/ Learn to say no
• Remain motivated and healthy  
• Avoid stress
• Take help/ Assistance 
• Take a break/ Avoid monotony / Have fun/ Get relaxed 

We hope the above tips will help you sort out your most important tasks first and help you declutter your imbalanced study life to an extent. Strict management and follow-up of some of these tips could bring an effective and much-needed change in your life.