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getting the balance right

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
i am totaly able to cope being on my own it's just a case of i need to find the right balance of things and sort things out individualy.

i'm at college 16 hours a week/2 days plus 4-7 extra study in college
then i live on my own so there's all the stuff that comes with that shopping cleaning, ect
plus i work 8 hours+ a week.

i get £45 a week to live on plus EMA when it comes(sporadicaly), but i do get my travel paid for. i get paid just over £5 an hour, so things are very stretched, and i'm getting cold waiting for a clothing allowance to come through so i can get jumper and stuff.

i'm getting very stressed trying to get it all in, and i want to work more hours, but my college course does come first, and i'm not sure what else i can fit into a already tight schedual.

does anyone have any good tips for getting a good balance. I've started going to the gym and to make a difference, i need to go twice a week as well as swimming.

what is the best way to go about sorting all of this?

does anyone have any tips for what to do

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Try making yourself a timetable of everything you need to do all week - budgeting in time for all your extra colledge work, when your working, other activities you do, house keeping etc and most importantly some free time for you to do things which are FUN and for yourself.

    Be realistic and ensure you put in enough time for everything - I'm not saying you have to follow the timetable but it should help you to focus how much time you have in a week to do everything and if your wasting too much time faffing about. Plus if you set yourself aside say 2 hours to do your college work but you know that after you've done 2 hours in the library for example you get to spend time doing something exciting your more likely to make yourself get all your work done in the 2 hours.

    In terms of money you probably need to do a weekly/monthly cash flow to work out how much you need to live on and therefore how many extra hours you realistically need to work if any to support yourself. But again as with doing a time table you need to budget some money in for doing fun things so that you don't just look at your budget and thing ugghh bills. However you probably need to stick to this a bit harder than you would a time table.

    I'm probably not doing a very good job at making all this sound exciting but I will have a go at looking at doing a draft cash flow/ budget thing to show you.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    rachie004 wrote:
    Sorry, I think I'm missing something here: you're at college 16 hours and work 8 hours

    so 16 + 8 = 24 hours of your week taken up? How exactly does this become a tight schedule or is it that you spend the rest of them time doing socialsing type stuff?

    I have a point to make I'm sure - will do it later. I don't quite understand

    I agree with this. Your normal time commitments are way below the average person's, so unless you are asking how do you balance out living on a tight budget, I'm not really sure what your question is.

    If you're finding that working a 24hr week leaves you no time to do anything, then you need to concentrate on better time management.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    16 hours at college, 8 hours sometimes more at work, plus upto another 7 hours for study, plus doing household chores, getting food and stuff in, sorting out bills etc...when i write it like this it actually doesn't seem like muhc. and my only social life is going down the gym and seeing my other half on saturdays...i don't have any friends that live localy...infact i have few friends at all. all of it just seems a little over whelming at the moment. i'm feeling very panicy as well, and my IBS has been flaring up...so that takes up time as well...

    am i looking at this really irrationally?

    i also forgot to add that i've been roped into the student council, which has meetings and duties as well...and i still feel like i'm running around doing things for other people and sorting out their lives when it's mine i should be consentrating on...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You don't get roped in without consent and nothing personal darlin, but my uni course is 24hrs a week which I'm supposed to match in private study, plus 8 hrs of training a week, plus household chores and all that shit and a social life. You don't have that much to fit in, get better at organising yourself, spend less time on here (and the rest of the internet) for example

    Right now I'm posting in my 5 min brain break from my thermodynamics lab report. I have 2 weeks to get it done, so no big deal right, except for the two design projects I've got on and that next weds I have another lab and another report and the weds after and the weds after that plus mid-terms for half my modules.

    If you can't hack it now, you won't hack it when it's real, so you'd better start practicing.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    16 hours at college, 8 hours sometimes more at work, plus upto another 7 hours for study,

    So 31 hours. Most people in full time work spend more time than that on their job. Your work/life balance is actually swung in favour of life right now.
    plus doing household chores, getting food and stuff in, sorting out bills etc...when i write it like this it actually doesn't seem like muhc.

    It's not much. It's life.
    and my only social life is going down the gym and seeing my other half on saturdays...i don't have any friends that live localy...infact i have few friends at all. all of it just seems a little over whelming at the moment. i'm feeling very panicy as well, and my IBS has been flaring up...so that takes up time as well...

    am i looking at this really irrationally?

    From the outside, it looks as though you are dwelling on it a bit much. Looks like you need to calm down and take some perspective.
    i also forgot to add that i've been roped into the student council, which has meetings and duties as well...and i still feel like i'm running around doing things for other people and sorting out their lives when it's mine i should be consentrating on...

    Quit the council then.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i have been panicing i have to agree.

    i supose it's a bit scary when you move out, and i thought i had got myself really sorted...

    i still can't get my head around why things are taking so long and my time management has completely gone to pot...and i'm pressurising myself to have everything working and perfect only 3 weeks after i've moved, and i'm not exactly feeling in peak condition so maybe i'm worrying about not much...money is a big element which i'm consistantly worrying about...

    more planning, less panicing?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Indeed.

    The line we feed all our panicking freshers at uni:

    There are 24 hours in a day: 8 to sleep, 8 to work and 8 to wash eat and play.

    Obviously you can wriggle those hours around a lot to suit you and I think I know where all your time is going: fiddling. Write yourself a shopping list and shop once a week, things like that.

    Like Fiend I'm on a uni timetable which has 30 hours scheduled a week, which I ought to match with private study (and often do). Fair play I don't have a job, I just work a long version of full time in the holidays.

    What's your degree fiend? It can't be a million miles from my Chem Eng
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's Mech Eng, a real engineering degree.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ha Ha Ha... They're all real and you know it, mine just happens to have a useful sideline of plumbing attached to it! I did quite a lot of mech last year.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've seen the handouts for chem eng. I know you guys are a little bit special. It's ok, not everyone can do real engineering.
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