Disclaimer: These tips are ones that I use on a daily basis while juggling life, school, work, and getting into my field. What works for me may not work for you, but you can also tailor these tips/suggestions to what works for you and produces the results you want in maintaining a "work/life" balance.

This blog post topic was requested on an "Ask Me a Question" post on The Student For Life Instagram profile. And let me tell you, there were some really great topics to discuss, some school-related and some personal. So, this post will be the first of the "Instagram Question Series" or whatever you would like to call it.

1. Breathe You are not superwoman or superman, so let's get that out the way. You can't do everything (even though you want to) without feeling burnt out. For those moments you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and just pulled in so many different directions, take a breather or if you need to cry, CRY! For me, I feel a weight lifted because whatever I felt caused those negative feelings and inability to focus were being released in my tears. It also allowed me to refocus on what I'm trying to accomplish and am more capable to put my emotions to the side.

2. Realize you are not "superwoman" or "superman" This is one I struggle with when I attempt to do more than my capacity allows. It eventually leads to burnout, a significant difference in my emotions and my emotional intelligence, being reactive instead of taking the emotion out of responding to certain situations, and then all I want to do is sleep on lay on my couch and not be productive. My suggestion is to write down everything you do, prioritize what is most important at that moment or within a timeframe you have set. This will help you understand what your capacity is with work, school, and your personal life. Additional tips to making sure you don't put yourself over your capacity are:

a. Write out to-do lists for work, school, personal, and/or business

b. Make a realistic schedule by estimating the expected time you believe it will take to complete each task

c. Use a planner and/or app to understand your time commitments

3. Leave work at work

Regardless of if it's work, school, your business, or whatever, sometimes you need to leave it in the office or wherever you are productive for that specific aspect. It can be challenging at times, but sometimes we need to disconnect in order to be productive and achieve those goals we've set for ourselves. For example, when I was working in Business Banking, I was stressed about some things that were school-related and my personal life. I became very overwhelmed, stressed, and emotional. Literally, any conflict would make me break down and cry when I would talk to him. His advice to me was "whatever is going on outside of this building, leave it there at the front door, and you deal with it when you leave. Leave school at school when you leave campus, and you leave work at work." Obviously, those words still stick with me and learning how to leave certain things where they need to be at times, not only for my stress but for my mental health.

4. Say "no"

It's completely okay to say "no" to something you don't want to do, an event you don't want to go to, or you're just not feeling meeting up for happy hour or an evening out. Say "no" and remember that you DO NOT need to explain yourself to anyone on your response.

5. Get an accountability partner

I have 2 accountability partners for school. One of which I'm going through this General Psych doctorate program with, including comps, and the other to make sure I'm being productive and completing tasks and goals I've set for different things. It holds you accountable for taking action and making progress on those goals, whether it's big or small.

6. Take some "me" time

It's completely okay to say "no" to something you don't want to do, an event you don't want to go to, or you're just not feeling meeting up for a happy hour or an evening out. Say "no" and remember that you DO NOT need to explain yourself to anyone on your response.a moment and then tackle whatever you prioritized with a clear mind and less amount of stress weighing you down.

I hope these tips/suggestions help on how to attempt to realistically balance different aspects of your life. If you have feedback or additional tips feel free to leave comments!

-The Student For Life