How to balance your school, personal life

BY ASHTYN HANSARD / Digital Media Director

While keeping a high GPA in college is important, it can also be dangerous. It’s important to know when to take a break and focus on your personal life.

Scholars Education lists a few different ways that over-studying can harm a student, such as lower school performance, withdraw from social activity and changes in sleeping habits.

“Over-studying can cause mental distractions and make it difficult to retain information,” Scholars Education said. “Not being able to focus during class and not being able to retain new information can seriously affect your child’s grades and participation in the classroom.”

With this information in mind, there still remains the question of how a student’s time should be divided between school and personal activities.

Many people could argue that there are many different ways to balance your school life and your personal life.

Grace Killian, a sophomore at Tarleton State University, has her own method that helps balance everything out.

“I create a calendar that includes all of my school activities, personal commitments and assignments to keep track of everything,” Killian said. “When I feel extra busy, I make a daily to-do list of all the tasks I plan to tackle that day.”

Creating a calendar can help students stay on track and be prepared for events approaching in the future. Another tactic to help balance school life and personal life is to create a schedule.

Ryan Jones, another student at Tarleton, uses this tactic daily.

“Let the schedule be your brain so you don’t have to organize all that chaos in your head,” Jones said. “If you make a good schedule, you can work in time for yourself or your family because you know exactly what needs to get done that day. When you have a concise schedule and act on it, the time you spend on your personal life will be lifted from the stress or anxiety of the weight of school.”

School is a busy and stressful time for all, but using one of these methods may help you keep a healthy balance in your life.