Balancing Study, Coursework and Self Care

Whether you are studying for your exams, working on coursework and projects or you have subjects with a mixture of the two, it can be hard to balance work with everything else in your life. In this guide, we will take a look at how to balance work and life, and offerings from the College to help your mental wellbeing during stressful times.

Your studies can be very demanding. You may have a lot of exams coming up, or you may be working on coursework towards a big final project. These can both take a lot of time out of your week and can leave you feeling conflicted if you have other commitments, such as a part-time job, extracurricular activities or meetups with friends. You may not feel confident that you will get your work finished on time if you spend time elsewhere or if you procrastinate, which can lead to a decrease in self-care. Spending time on your studies is important, but so is your wellbeing. You can’t expect to produce your best work if you are run down.

A great way to balance your work and your other commitments is to create a schedule. Setting a time to work on your revision or coursework each day can make you feel more in control. This could be after your lectures finish each day, or it could be after dinner; any time where you feel most productive! The Learning Centres across all of our campuses provide a great space to study or work on projects, and many of them have later closing times throughout the week so you can go along after classes and work. Find out more about what the Learning Centres have to offer in the guide on our website.

Try and keep the time you’ve scheduled to work on revision or projects as the same each day if you can, as this will help you form a routine. Make sure that the amount of time you set yourself to work is manageable and will allow you to get a good amount of work done. A good technique you can use for both exam revision and coursework is the Pomodoro technique, which you can read about in our revision guide. This technique allows you to break up your study time and has been very effective for many students who want to get work done.

Student Services Team Leader Caroline Keech advises you that your tutors are also always there to help: “If you’re concerned that you are working too much or too little on revision, talk to your tutor or lecturer and review your revision timetable with them. Be honest with yourself about how many responsibilities you can manage and make sure you are taking time for self-care.

“Doing just one thing per day to practice self-care can improve your mood. Find something that brings you joy or calm and do it regularly.”

Taking time for yourself is very important all year round but is particularly important when working on important revision or projects. Our Student Services team and HWS team are well equipped to help you take care of yourself during your time at college, through mental health support and activities which can help you to unwind. Caroline and the Student Services team provides drop-in sessions where you can talk to a Personal Support Advisor about anything that is bothering you, including stress. You can read more of the Student Services team’s advice for dealing with stress on our website.

Our HWS team also provides drop-in sessions which you can attend during free periods on your timetable. From Yoga, to Knit and Natter, to Badminton, there is a HWS session to help you take some time for yourself!  These sessions also take place from before lectures start to after college hours, so there will be a session to suit you. Our HWS team are passionate about providing students with a cross college atmosphere of mental wellbeing, meaning there will always be a friendly welcome in every HWS session. If you want to find out what is on the HWS timetable, you can head over to their Facebook page. 

It’s always advisable to start on your projects and revision as early as possible, especially if you find it hard to get motivated. Starting early allows you to work in smaller manageable chunks, rather than pulling an all-nighter. Many of our students’ advice to others is to start working as early as you can, as this reduces stress.

It’s important to balance your studies with your personal life; here at Truro and Penwith College we will support you with every aspect while you study with us. Good luck!