It looks like it’s blog time again, and this month I will be talking about balancing work life and social life while on placement. Depending on where you are situated in the country, it may be easier/more difficult to maintain a social life. I’m quite lucky as I still live in Selly Oak and thus it’s easy to maintain the social life I already had. However, no matter where you are situated, I’m going to give you tips and tricks to make sure you get the right balance!
Why it’s important?
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “too much of anything is bad”, and that applies to your work and social lives. Ensuring you get the correct balance can be good for both your physical and mental health as well as your productivity. It also ensures you are well rounded which would help once you’re looking for graduate jobs in your final year.
How can you maintain the balance?
Try your hardest not to take work home! This can, understandably, be quite difficult and really relies heavily on your ability to plan your workday so that you are productive and can finish all your allocated tasks. A few ways you can do this is by
- Spending 15 minutes each morning when you get in, to plan your activities for the day.
- Making sure to also take your planner into meetings too so you don’t forget anything said (which could lead to you scrambling to finish tasks).
- Reducing the amount of tea/coffee breaks you take. Humans are always looking for an excuse to take a break during the day, especially at work J And yes, I would recommend taking a break or two during the day to stretch your legs and get a caffeine boost. But if you have a few deadlines, and your colleagues keep asking you if you want a cuppa, it’s okay to turn them down to make sure you get all your work done.
- Telling your boss in advance when you’re going to take time off. Whether this is using your flexitime, or actual vacation days, by letting your boss and colleagues know when you won’t be around, it makes it easier for them to give you more notice for work you need to complete.
- Maintaining a good diet. Make sure you eat your greens! Eat a well-balanced diet helps you stay focussed at work meaning you’re less likely to lose focus during the day.
- SLEEPING! Students are well known for their ridiculous sleeping patterns, which work when you only have afternoon lectures, but are terrible when you have a 9-5 job. It took some time for me to discipline myself into actually going to sleep by 10pm each day, but when I finally got into the habit, it greatly increased my productivity during the day.
By doing this, you’ll have evenings and weekends free to have some you-time!
What are some things you can do to keep an active social life?
Most people end up moving to a new town/city when they do their placement years. This can often be scary and make things difficult when it comes to making new friends or finding things to do. Here are some things you can do to hopefully help with that and fill your evenings and weekends:
- Join a sports club or the gym! I’m yet to find a town without a leisure centre or sports club. Doing a sport kills 3 birds with one stone: you can make new friends and maintain your physical and mental health. I myself, play basketball which is great because in addition to my 3 training practices, we have regular socials where I’ve gotten to know some fabulous girls.
- Befriend your colleagues! They already have established social lives in you new town. I’m sure they would be more than happy to show you around and introduce you to people who have similar interests to you. I would recommend baking for the office. This is a sure way to all your colleagues’ hearts.
- Learn a new skill or develop an existing one! As said in my previous blog post, I attend French classes once a week. Not only am I learning something new and interesting, I have also made some interesting friends. Check out the local colleagues and community hubs to see what they have on offer. Who knows, you may come out of your placement and be the next Mary Berry or Gianni Versace!
- Plan to see your family and friends over the weekend. This way you can keep in touch and have a change of scenery.
- Go on Holiday! A lot of interns are scared to book time off, but they’re your vacation days! I’ll let you all into a little secret. If you want to take quite a long holiday, but not use up too many vacation days, I would recommend doing so during the Christmas period. There are 3 bank holidays in the space of a week, and usually a weekend so you could end up having about 14 days holiday but only using up 6 of your vacation days 😉
- Take some self-pamper days! Get yourself a haircut, go do your nails, get a massage, or do anything that helps you relax and take your mind off the world.
I hope this post has helped you figure out how to kick back and relax, while getting all your work done. One last point I want to make is to consider living with other placement students for your placement year. You’ll all be in the same boat and can help each other out when things aren’t going to plan or when you want to rant about life!
See you next month for my post on top tips to securing a placement!