57. 20 Tips for Balancing School and a Part-Time Job

Episode 57

Including a part-time job on your student resume can offer many perks, such as building valuable skills and enhancing your college applications.

However, juggling a job and schoolwork can be a real challenge, something students often overlook before diving in.

In this episode of the Learn and Work Smarter podcast, I cover 20 actionable tips to help students successfully manage school and a part-time job -- without losing their minds or letting their grades slip.

🎙️Other Episodes + Resources Mentioned

• Episode 20: How to Use Active Recall

• Episode 33: Resume Tips for Students

• Episode 36: How to Stop Procrastinating: Tips that Actually Work

• Episode 55: How to Use Body Doubling to Boots Focus (with or without ADHD)

✏️Enroll in SchoolHabits University (Curious? Check it out!)

✏️Free Weekly Planning Template (download here)

• Get the transcription

  The following transcript was autogenerated and may contain some interesting and silly errors. But in the name of efficiency and productivity, I am choosing not to spend my time fixing them 😉

  
  57 20 Tips for Balancing School and a Part-Time Job

  ===

  
  [00:00:00] Hello there and welcome to episode 57 of the Learn and Work Smarter podcast. Today's episode is going to have a lot of information in it, 20 tips in fact. So if you are driving or maybe doing something where you can't take notes, remember you can find the full transcript at learnandworksmarter.com/podcast/57. Today's episode is for the working student or for the student who is considering getting a part-time job while being in school. 

  The tips apply, whether you're in high school in college or even graduate school. 

  Now to be direct, balancing school and a part-time job as a student is not easy. If you are a full-time student, that is technically your job. Being in school is your job. So adding a part-time job on top of what essentially is already a full-time job, can be too much for some people. And [00:01:00] only you can be the judge of that. 

  
  But it can also be incredibly rewarding. Whether you are working to support yourself, build your resume, maybe support your family, just earn some money, juggling two different kinds of responsibilities requires very intentional strategies. 

  In this episode, I'm going to share 20 tips to help you manage school and work without feeling overwhelmed. So let's dive in. 

  Alright, I addressed this a teeny tiny bit in the intro, but there are various reasons why a student would be interested in a [00:02:00] part-time job. Some of them are obvious, right. But I'm going to list just a couple. 

  The most common reasons are to explore career paths and gain clarity on your interests, to support yourself financially, to support your family, to have extra spending money, to build a professional network, to participate in tuition reduction programs. 

  That is when you are enrolled in a school and you get a deduction on your tuition if you, um, take on a campus job, like maybe in the in a dorm room or in the dining hall or something. Also to build skills for college applications, resume and future careers. 

  As a reminder, I cover how to build a student resume extensively in episode 33. All links that I mention today will be in the show notes at learnandworksmarter.com/podcast/57, and in the description box, if you are watching this on the learn and work smarter YouTube channel. 

  
  Now the [00:03:00] reason I'm opening this episode with a quick minute on, you know, the reason you would have a part-time job while being a student is because there will be times when balancing school and your part-time job will feel overwhelming. 

  And in any context, understanding the deeper why, the deeper reason why we're doing something can help us stay the course when we feel like quitting. 

  So figure out your why first, right? Now, with that said, as we get into the tips, we do actually talk about quitting and when you might need to consider that, so keep that in mind too. We'll get there. 

  
  All right, I'm going to go through this list fairly quickly. Well, not so much quickly, but very like, boom, boom, boom. All right. So here we go. 

  20 tips for balancing school and a part-time job. 

  
  Number one, have clear boundaries about your work hours. Before you commit to any job, you got to figure out how many hours you can realistically handle each week without compromising your schoolwork. 

  You want to be [00:04:00] upfront with your potential employer about your availability and avoid agreeing to hours that interfere with your academic responsibilities- and you stick to this boundary. It is so much easier to prevent a problem than it is to fix a problem later on. 

  So, how do you know how many hours you can realistically handle each week without compromising your schoolwork? I say this all the time. 

  You have to make time visible. Time management is simple math, really. When determining how much time you have available for work, we cannot wing it. We can not just hope for the best. Take out a calendar. You can use my weekly planning template that I will link below. That's a free download. 

  Then you can map out a typical week. Add in the time that you spend in class, the time it takes you to commute, um, other obligations that you have, and of course time each day for school and studying. Don't forget, you know, [00:05:00] activities, sports, appointments, things like that. The time that remains is what you have available for a part-time job. And the reality is that that might be far more or far less time than you think. 

  Tip Two: communicate clearly with your boss. From the start, you want to establish open communication with your manager. Let them know ahead of time about your school commitments. Uh, don't hesitate to speak up if your schedule isn't working. Clear communication builds trust and makes it easier to adjust when you need flexibility. 

  Another tip to keep in mind too, is you want to establish with your boss upfront or your manager, what way they like to communicate best. 

  Is it texting? Is it email? Is it a phone call? And if your boss prefers a certain way for communication, that's what you do. 

  Okay. So even if you do your absolute best in tip one to figure out how much time that you can give to a [00:06:00] part-time job, the reality is that our estimations will be off. Or maybe what we can mentally handle didn't get factored into the equation because that's a tough one to account for, until you're actually in it. That is perfectly normal and it is okay to readjust. 

  But my point here is that you've got to communicate, communicate clearly with your boss as early as possible. 

  Tip three: commit to weekly planning. Every Sunday, set aside time to map out your week, write down your school hours, your work shifts, homework, study sessions, and any extracurricular activities that you are regularly involved in. 

  
  Seeing everything in one place helps you manage your time better and reduce the feelings of being pulled into many directions. 

  Again, you can use my free download of a weekly planning template. I've linked that below. 

  
  You could also do this on Google calendar. The important thing is that you do it. 

  Now, some students have weeks that generally look the [00:07:00] same from week to week. All right. But sometimes, you know, one week you have a dentist appointment another week, you have to travel for a game and maybe even you have a work commitment that's just a little bit out of the ordinary one week. These schedule changes need to be recognized and accounted for before the week starts. 

  I teach the skill in depth inside SchoolHabits University, and the sooner you can implement this kind of weekly planning while you are a student, the better you're going to be able to manage your professional life going forward, because the reality is it's the same skill. All right. 

  Tip four: get your work schedule in advance. 

  Okay. So this tip does not apply to all kinds of work. But it applies to enough kinds of work that I'm going to mention it here as its own tip. 

  Some students have part-time jobs with varying schedules. So my advice is whenever possible, ask your employer to provide your schedule a month in advance. [00:08:00] Knowing your shifts ahead of time 

  will let you plan your study sessions and your social activities without last minute scrambling. 

  If you have a job that has the exact same hours throughout the week, like maybe you work every Tuesday from four to nine and every Saturday from eight to five, then that makes things a little bit easier. 

  It's the students who get their schedule only a week in advance- and I do know that's pretty common- that have the hardest time balancing being a student with their part-time job. 

  
  All right. Tip five: prioritize school over work. Like it or not, you have to prioritize school over work. 

  Your education should always be your top priority at this season in your life. 

  
  Before agreeing to pick up an extra shift or extend your work hours, think about your school responsibilities. Saying no to work sometimes means saying yes to better grades [00:09:00] and yes to less stress. 

  If you've put some considerable time and attention into tip one, which is figuring out how much time you truly have to give to work, you're not going to have too many conflicts that often. 

  But even still, there are going to be times when you're scheduled to work, but you also have a big project or maybe an essay due for school. Again, this supports the need for weekly planning. 

  But even with our best planning intentions, we cannot avoid all conflicts. In these cases, you have to choose school. 

  School is your primary job. Your part-time job is second. Now I'll share a story. There was a period in my life where I had a full-time job teaching and I was also going to graduate school. And in that case, I mean, they were pretty well managed, like my graduate classes were at night. 

  They were all in person, nothing online, so I would you know, work all day at the school and then drive to [00:10:00] the campus and take my graduate classes. But there were a few times where I had a conflict. 

  Maybe I was running an IEP meeting for a student. Maybe I had a professional development thing that I had to go to, whatever it was- at the same time that I had a class or the same time that I had intended to work on a paper for a class. In that scenario or in those scenarios, I had to choose work because that was my full-time job. And I know I was a student too, but I couldn't not show up for my full-time job. 

  So I took the sacrifice on the school end. But if you're a full-time student with a part-time job, your full-time job is being a student. Does that make sense? It's all about the season we're at in life. 

  All right. Tip six: scale back during exam seasons. 

  When midterms or finals roll around, you got to talk to your employer about temporarily reducing your hours. Not quitting altogether, like I've seen too many times, but just backing off. Most [00:11:00] employers who employ students are understanding. Especially if you give them plenty of notice. This small adjustment can make a big difference in your stress level during exam season, which your stress level is always going to be already going to be like maximized during exam season. 

  So you got to do everything you can to reduce the stress in other areas of life. Does that make sense? 

  Planning to scale back during exam season should be fairly simple as almost every student at every grade level knows when midterms and finals are going to be, right? If you're in college, you know that these are already listed on your syllabus. 

  If you're in high school, like, you know, when exam week is. And if for some reason, it's on your school calendar, Google it like Google the name of your school, and then Google school calendar and your exam weeks are going to be listed. If not ask your guidance counselor, like the answer's there. Right. If possible, I suggest giving your boss a month's advanced notice. You could even give [00:12:00] more notice than that and then send a reminder email as you get closer to the exam week. 

  Make sure you put this in writing so that your boss has something to refer back to if they forget. 

  Number seven: eliminate non-essential activities. If you are working while you are in school, it might be time to scale back on extracurriculars like clubs and sports. You cannot do everything. And that is okay. 

  You got to focus on what is most important to you right now. Now, choosing what is most important at any given season depends on where you are at in your educational journey. 

  If you are a sophomore or a junior in high school, you're going to want to prioritize school activities over a part-time job like scooping ice cream in order to boost your college applications. 

  But of course work experience looks great on college applications too, but that might be something to save for the summer. 

  If you are [00:13:00] in college, then you're probably going to want to prioritize work experience over joining a social club that isn't really going to do much for your career. This is my advice if your work experience is aligned with your career interests. 

  Tip eight: avoid procrastination. Listen, episode 36 is entirely dedicated to anti procrastination strategies. If procrastination gets the best of you at least three days a week, you have to address this. When your time is limited, procrastination can be even more of an enemy than it already is. 

  And you do not have the luxury of procrastinating on a school assignment when you have to, be at work in two hours. 

  Again, if procrastination is something that you struggle with, one of the best things that you can do for yourself, and you know, now in your future self is to get a grasp on that. 

  Change your story. Stop telling [00:14:00] yourself that that's just who you are. I don't buy it. Start telling yourself that you're someone who does what they are supposed to do. In many ways, procrastination is a sign of weaker or maybe less developed emotional regulation. 

  We have to do something. We don't want to do it. So we give into the feeling of not wanting to do it. So someone who has stronger emotional regulation can acknowledge that feeling of not wanting to do something and then still do it anyway. 

  
  Now I'm not talking necessarily about, you know, muscling through it. Although, you know, for some people that approach does work. But if you are someone with ADHD and muscling through is literally the most unhelpful and irrelevant information or strategy based on the way that your brain works, I know that, I'm never going to tell someone with ADHD to just muscle through it. Right? But if you have ADHD, it is still on you [00:15:00] to implement anti procrastination strategies to set yourself up for success. 

  Nobody else can do it for you. It is still on you. Yes. Even if you have ADHD, there are systems and strategies to put in place to reduce the likelihood of you procrastinating. 

  In episode 55, I talk about the strategy of body doubling. If you regularly procrastinate and you haven't tried buying and doubling, then you can't say you've tried everything. 

  
  But sometimes that's the story we tell ourselves. 

  Alright, uh, tip nine: find a study space near work. Now I advise this tip a lot for full-time professionals who are part-time students maybe going to graduate school or back to undergrad. This episode is more for full-time students and part-time workers, but this is one particular strategy that really does work in both directions. So here's how it works. 

  You look for a convenient study spot near your job, like a library or a [00:16:00] coffee shop. This way if you have time between school and work, you can be productive without wasting your time commuting back and forth. The strategy works best if you mentally group your two activities together into one chunk of time. 

  So for example, if you are scheduled to work from four to 8:00 PM, but class gets out at two, you can head directly to wherever you work right after class, set up your school stuff, your study session somewhere near your job, and then you work as long as you can. And that way you can work on your school stuff right up until your scheduled 4:00 PM start time, without wasting time without worrying about getting stuck in traffic. Without you know, convincing yourself Oh I'm just going to stop for a smoothie. I'm just going to do this thing or I'll, you know, I'll just do my work later. So mentally you're considering yourself being at work from 2:30 -let's give yourself some travel time- to eight, instead of four to eight, because you are essentially near your work [00:17:00] location. Does that make sense? I know it sounds mental, but it's the mental stuff that works right. All right. 

  
  Tip 10. So we are halfway there. Work ahead when possible. On days when your workload, your school workload is lighter, take the opportunity to get ahead. Start assignments and study for exams early. Chip away at your readings even if they haven't been fully assigned yet and you only see them on your syllabus. Start making your flashcards for your next test, even though your teacher hasn't finished teaching the unit yet because you know, there's going to be a test on it. This is what top-performing students do. 

  Do you want to be a student and have a part-time job without losing your mind? Then this is what you have to do. 

  All right. Tip 11, start with minimal hours and then adjust if needed. 

  When you first start working, I suggest you really start with fewer hours than you think that you can [00:18:00] handle to see how well you can handle the balance. 

  
  After a few weeks evaluate whether you can take on more hours or maybe if you need to cut back. Even if you follow to a T the strategy in tip one, and you made time visible on a beautiful Google calendar, and you determined that let's say, for example, you think you can handle 20 hours a week, according to your schedule, that might actually be too much for you. You know, cause it's hard to factor in what we can mentally handle. 

  So the calendar might mathematically say, oh, you have these 20, 20 free hours, but that leaves you with no breathing room, no time to see your friends. And so that's hard to account for, as I said at the top of the episode, unless you're actually in it. 

  So in that case, I would say start with 15 hours a week and then go up from there after, you know, I've I know I just said a few weeks, but I'm going to say a good three months. All right. 

  Stick to a lower amount of work for a good three months and see if you feel okay. I'm going to say give it a three months [00:19:00] because at that point, the excitement of a new job and that initial motivation is going to wear off. And the reality of what it's like to truly balance school and work is going to set in and it's going to be so much clearer the amount of sacrifice that you are going to have to make, and you're going to have to face the reality of, are you willing to make that sacrifice or not? 

  
  And it's fine if not. Totally fine. You might try 15 hours. Let's say you, you mapped out your schedule and it said that you had 20 hours, but you're following my advice so you're telling your boss, Hey, I can work for 15 hours. And then after a few months you're like, oh my gosh, I am so rundown. I don't even have time to, you know, go to the gym. We all need to be exercising. 

  Okay. All right, if you're able bodied, um, and then you're like, well, maybe I need to back that down to even 12. So sometimes we, again, do not have any idea what we can handle until we put ourselves in a situation and give our selves the space to assess. You pause, and you say, am I handling this? Am I [00:20:00] okay? All right. 

  Tip 12, save your money. 

  Many, many students with part-time jobs are working out of necessity. They have to pay for tuition or to support a family. If that is your situation, then you know best about where your money needs to go. And I am not advising you at all one way or another on that. All right. 

  However if you're working a part-time job for reasons other than financial necessity, maybe you want to build your skills, you want to build your connections, maybe earn some extra spending money for just like frivolous stuff or any of those other reasons that I listed at the top of the episode, you've got to learn how to save. 

  There are different approaches to saving. Some of my students save all of their income with the exception of a certain dollar amount each week to use, you know, on discretionary purchases. Some students save a certain percent each week. That's up to you. You can Google different savings plans. Talk to a [00:21:00] parent, talk to somebody who like, who has experience in this. 

  You don't have to just wing it. There's always somebody who knows more than us. 

  But the main takeaway is to save a portion of your paycheck for future needs, for emergencies and avoid spending on things you don't really need. 

  I can't tell you how many times I've had students- I don't know what it is about sneakers. 

  Somebody tell me what it is with males and their sneakers. So I work with students at sixth grade up into adulthood. So I'm talking like my late high school to college males that I work with, who, for the most part have part-time jobs, because that's what they're doing. And I swear every week they're coming in with a new pair of sneakers. 

  And this is usually when they're starting their part-time job and they are so excited to have this cash for once. And it always goes to sneakers, but it fades after a while. Cause like every week there's a new pair of sneakers and they're hundreds of dollars. Right. Um, Bananas. I [00:22:00] don't, I don't get it. And then it starts to fade and after, you know, Um, a month or two or maybe a few months I don't see any new sneakers and I'm like, wow. Where are the sneakers? 

  And they're like, well, I figured I should save. Right? So if you, sometimes you just have to get out of your system, the excitement of having some extra cash in your pocket and you want to go out and spend it on the things that you think you really love and bring you joy. Fine. Do that. But mark my words, it will fade. 

  Okay. And then you start putting your money in the bank. Anyway. 

  Financial advice from Katie. Don't take it. All right. 

  Tip 13, study efficiently with active recall. Working students do not have the luxury to waste time using study methods that do not work. In fact, no student has that luxury. All students working or not should be making the most of their study time by using active recall study methods only. 

  Quizzing yourself, maybe teaching the material to someone else, right. That is far more effective than [00:23:00] passively rereading your notes. 

  
  Two 25 minutes study sessions using active recall study methods, maybe flashcards are exponentially more effective then an epic four hour study session in which you are not using active recall study methods. 

  Okay. If you are new to active recall, check out episode 20. That's called what is active recall and how to use it to study. That is one of my most popular episodes to date. And then of course, I go deep, deep, deep, into active recall in SchoolHabits University. 

  
  All right. Tip 14, choose a job close to home or close to school. 

  A shorter commute time saves time and energy that you can redirect to studying or to resting. Okay, so look for jobs that fit your location and minimize travel annoyances. 

  
  We have all been in this situation where our destination is like three miles away. We can see it on the nav, [00:24:00] but it's going to take us 20 minutes to get there during rush hour traffic. 

  When looking for your part-time job, you've got to consider traffic patterns, time of day, how long you're going to spend in the car. 

  Seriously, do not ignore this factor when applying for jobs. 

  Tip 15, look for flexible jobs. 

  Some jobs are more student friendly than others. Employers who understand the demands of student life are far more likely to accommodate your schedule. Especially during academic uh, busy periods like during exam season, which I forget what tip this was. 

  But when I said to lower your work hours during exam season. If you have a flexible boss and sort of a flexible type of job, it's going to be easier for you to back off during exam seasons. 

  Office jobs tend to be the least flexible for students as those kinds of jobs adhere to time constraints that are kind of beyond your control. 

  So unless it's an office [00:25:00] job that is known to be exceptionally flexible, be wary of them. 

  
  This is a conversation that you're going to need to have during the job application process. It is perfectly okay to ask a hiring manager. Hey, do you typically hire students? What kind of flexibility do you have around student commitments, like exam season? All right. These are questions that are part of a normal conversation during an interview. Well, you can even send it in a follow-up email after an interview. 

  
  Tip 16, focus on skill building. Even if your job seems simple, like scooping ice cream, you're gaining valuable skills: time management, customer service, um, teamwork, problem solving. 

  Those are just a few examples of the skills somebody would gain from scooping ice cream. And these are transferable skills that will definitely benefit you in future academic and professional settings. 

  
  If your job is boring okay, [00:26:00] but you can recognize that the skills you're learning are going to serve you in the future, you just might want to consider sticking around. All right. Question. 

  No, no question. Uh, Tip 17: take advantage of downtime at work. 

  If your job has slow periods, ask your boss if you can bring your study materials with you. While this is not at all possible in every role, some jobs like reception or retail during quiet hours might give you the chance to squeeze in extra study time. 

  Many employees actually use this downtime to scroll through their phone. 

  Right. Don't be that person. In fact, this is another scenario in which you do not have the luxury to be that person. So maybe you can't just fully whip out your laptop, right, but can you do some of your readings maybe on your phone? Can you bring a single notebook with you and maybe a stack of index cards to start making flashcards for your next test? 

  Can [00:27:00] you bring your book with you that you're reading for your literature course? These are all far more valuable activities than scrolling for your phone. 

  And if you're going to balance being a student with a part-time job while not going bananas, these are the sacrifices that we've got to make. 

  All right. Tip 18, learn to say no. Balancing school and work sometimes means turning down extra shifts or even gasp social invitations. It is okay to protect your time and prioritize your academic personal wellbeing. 

  I don't even know why I just said it's okay. It's imperative. It is super, super critical that you protect your time and prioritize your academic and personal wellbeing. Okay. You don't have to apologize for it. 

  And it's probably time to get over the whole fOMO fear of missing out thing that is like a mental manipulation that our brains do. You're not missing out on anything. All right. There's always going to [00:28:00] be another party for you to attend. There is always going to be another shift for you to take. But there will not always be another chance for you to pass that test. To do well in that class for you to boost your GPA for college or for graduation. Okay. No is a complete sentence. But I get it. 

  If that seems too harsh for you, you could soften it right with, normally, I would love to take that on, on that extra shift, but I'm unable to do that this week. That party sounds awesome. I'm so bummed to miss it. I'm not going to be able to make it this week. All right. That might sound, you might be like, well, I could never say, say it. 

  Nobody cares. And if someone's giving you trouble for saying like a friend like, Hey, I'm not going to be able to make it to the party this week. And they like give you a bunch of like, emotional work about it, like new friend next that's oh my gosh. All right. I feel like I'm going on these little tangents. 

  Tip 19, use your [00:29:00] weekends wisely. 

  Okay. Working students have to be super smart about how they use the weekends. If you have your job on the weekends, then you're going to have to get creative about finding pockets of time to work on school things without becoming overwhelmed. 

  
  If you work during the week and not on the weekends, then the reality is that you're going to have to use a chunk of your weekends to work on your schoolwork. 

  
  Again, these are the sacrifices that we have to make if we're going to be a working student. My advice to students who work during the week and we'll be doing work on the weekends is to be super strategic about your weekend study planning. So, on Friday night. I don't want you saying, oh yeah. I'm just going to like write this essay this weekend or I'm just going to like work on that lab report later. No. Which day are you going to work on it Saturday or Sunday? Or both. 

  Cool. What time are you going to work at it? But between the hours of what and what? Be specific. This is also a [00:30:00] tool to beat procrastination because procrastination, demons hate clarity and specificity. 

  
  Woo tip. Tip 20 know when to step back. If you are feeling overwhelmed, despite your best efforts efforts, it is okay to take a break from work. Your mental health and academic performance should always come first. I've already said that. 

  Sometimes taking a step back is the best way to move forward. 

  Okay. Just another quick note about being a working student. I know I said this already, but I really think it's important. Again, if you are taking on a part-time job out of financial necessity to pay for school or for living expenses, then you do need to go ahead and do what you need to do to take care of what you need to take care of. Okay. 

  But if you're a student taking on a part-time job for just some extra cash to build connections, to build your resume, right, things like that, and you're finding yourself becoming overwhelmed, trying to do school and that job and, and your grades are [00:31:00] dropping. So not just a temporary, like, -oh, this is a lot- yeah it is a lot. What did you think it was going to be? So I'm not just talking about the temporary, like, “oh, it's a lot” feeling, but like your grades are impacted, then, while I applaud your efforts to do it all, it might be best to save your part-time job for summer break. Or if you're like, no, Katie, like I really want to work. 

  Okay. Then, you're going to have to scale back your hours or maybe just dial in your time management strategies because a dip in your academic performance is going to do so much more harm than your part-time job is worth. 

  Okay. Promise me. You'll keep that in mind. 

  
  Good. Okay. Can I ask you one more thing? If you've been enjoying the show and are watching this on YouTube, could you subscribe or leave a comment or share the show with someone you might find helpful? Same thing if you are listening on the podcast app. There is a universal arrow icon for the universal [00:32:00] share, whatever, and if you just tap that, you can share the show with someone in an email or in a text. 

  Most platforms make that super easy to share. That makes all the difference in the world. 

  A transcript to this episode again, is at learnandworksmarter.com/podcast/57. And as always, I appreciate you. And never stop learning.