4 Ideas to Help You Balance Multiple Jobs

4 Ideas to Help You Balance Multiple Jobs Image via Pixabay.com 1.  Work on your organizational skills You’ll need to work on your organizational and time management skills. To balance multiple jobs, you’re going to have to be a well-organized, time-oriented person who can juggle many things at once. If you’re not this kind of person, that’s okay! You can easily become one. First things first, you’re going to have to bring order to your life. Start planning out your day ahead of time instead of rushing through it and hurrying to get things done at a moment’s notice. Prepare in advance. Wash and iron your work clothes the night before and have them hung up and ready to change into when you get back home from classes, or bring them with you on campus and change there, if necessary. If you wear makeup to work, do your makeup at the beginning of the day so you’ll only have to touch it up a bit before you have to head to work later in the day. Don’t procrastinate! Although it’s easy to let yourself get distracted (say by Netflix or social media), fight the urge to waste those precious hours of your time on YouTube. Instead, get important things done first and set distractions (cell phones, laptops, the TV remote) aside for now. If you know you have loads of homework to turn in soon, knock that out of the way so you’re not rushing to finish it right before class. Rushing always results in you not giving something the attention it deserves. 2.  Make yourself a schedule Schedules can save you both time and headaches. Writing down the times that you have class will give you something physical to look at when you’re trying to plan your work hours around your class schedule. This is better than trying to sort out a schedule in your mind alone. With classes and more than one job, it’s easier for things to get hectic and to accidentally let things overlap. Having everything written down will help you do better planning. Planners might seem outdated when we now have cell phones that have all sorts of apps on them, but sometimes a paper or whiteboard planner used in conjunction with a digital planner can serve better than just one used alone. When you’re making your schedule, it’s important to focus on these three things: travel time, homework time, and free time. Travel time is how much time it’s going to take to get from where you are at a certain time to one of your jobs. When you’re working out your schedule with your employer, don’t tell them work hours that will make you have to rush just to get to your workplace on time. This will just add to your stress. Schedule yourself an ample amount of time to get from Point A to Point B. Don’t forget to account for traffic. The second thing you should schedule is homework time. Don’t try to squeeze it in whenever you can because that leads to rushing and not giving your best on your assignments. Instead, schedule time every week to get your homework done. Lastly, you should remember to give yourself free time. It’s helpful to give yourself some stressâ€"free time to do whatever you want, be it going for a jog, writing, reading, meeting up with friends, or going to see a movie. Work isnt your whole life; making time for yourself is necessary to keep you happy. 3.  Don’t pick more than one high-energy job High-energy jobs are jobs that have a hectic atmosphere and can be highly stressful. For an example, being a waiter or waitress at a very popular restaurant or working in retail can both be stressful jobs. If possible, try to look for a job that isn’t that hectic and is laid-back, less repetitive, and more fun. Some examples of low-energy job environments are: Library Pet Store Office Private home Pool Massage therapy office Computer lab Some campus locations Picking one of these job environments can help to cut back on stress and maybe even help you have fun at work. Am I pushing it a little bit? Not so! Having fun at work is indeed a possibility! 4.  Focus on your goal and don’t give up Last but not least, never forget your goals. As you’re working your jobs, there are going to be days when you get tired and want to quit. Hold on and remember why you need to balance multiple jobs in the first place. Your goal is right in front of youâ€"don’t give up! I hope that this article will help many of you achieve your goal to balance multiple jobs. Don’t be discouraged if it feels stressful at first because, after a while, it will get easier. Happy job-hunting!