• 3-minute read
• 31st December 2015

Work Hard, Play Hard

How to Balance Your Studies and Social Life

University is about more than just getting a degree: joining societies, making friends and indulging in mildly irresponsible behaviour are all part of the student lifestyle too, so you should make sure to get out of the library now and then.

But, at the same time, it’s important not to let a party lifestyle wreck your chances of achieving your academic goals (damaging your career prospects can, in the long term, be even more painful than a hangover). It’s therefore important to strike a balance between studying and socialising.

Live for the Weekend! (But Beware Peer Pressure)

It might seem pretty obvious to say this, but if you’re going out every night during the week you’ll probably struggle to keep up with your studies. This isn’t to say you can never go out on a school night – there’s always a bit of give and take with these things – but you should try to save it for when you don’t have a lecture first thing the next morning.

While we’re on it, don’t feel as though you have to go out just because you’ve received a text from a friend at 11pm on a Tuesday saying “whr r u m8?! :*)”. An emoticon is rarely a compelling argument for a midweek binge.

What Would Captain Hindsight Do?

Captain Hindsight is a superhero who sometimes appears to those of us who make poor life decisions. Unfortunately, he only ever turns up to offer advice after the event, so he isn’t very helpful.

Nevertheless, keeping Captain Hindsight in mind can encourage us to focus on our medium-to-long-term goals instead of short-term gratification. For example, if you want to go out but you have a test the next day and know that dancing until the early morning is unlikely to boost your academic performance, try considering what Captain Hindsight would have to say before making a decision.

Eat, Sleep & Exercise

Awfully dull, I know, but staying fit and healthy will allow you to get more done without becoming entirely exhausted. Moreover, eating or playing sports with friends is a great way of socialising during your downtime, so you can stay healthy and/or well-fed while also having fun.

Be Organised

Again, organisation might not be a classic “party animal” character trait, but it helps immensely to have a set working routine. Simply put, if you work efficiently, avoid procrastination and get everything done on time, there’s nothing stopping you from getting magnificently crapulous afterwards.