Being a young Uni student and balancing full-time study while also working part-time proved to be quite challenging at times!
Here are three key tips that I picked up along the way which helped me navigate through that journey.
Firstly, know your why and hold that close to you when times get tough.
At the start of the academic year, my tutor instructed us to write down why we had chosen to sign up for this course and sit there in that classroom.
Answers ranged from; “I want to make a better life for my kids” to “I want to prove to myself that I can achieve this” to even things like “it just sounded interesting and I wanted to give it a go!”
Whatever the reason is that brought you to begin your study or employment, write it down and put it somewhere you can look at often. Use it as your drive and motivation to fuel yourself when obstacles arise or you begin to doubt yourself. Remind yourself why you started in the first place!
Secondly, organise yourself as much as possible.
Not just calendars and diaries (although they are very helpful!) but your space and your mind too. Having my desk area clean and tidy always enabled me to concentrate better on the tasks I needed to achieve. Make your space where you work welcoming and inviting for yourself. Add things like your favourite quotes (could add your ‘why’ in here), favourite pictures, favourite colours, favourite fragrances etc. Also try to organise your ‘mind’ by practicing meditation in whatever form works best for you. It could be yoga, podcasts, walks, sewing, going to the gym etc. Whatever quietens your mind and allows you to be more mindful of what is happening in the present moment.
And lastly but probably the tip that helped me the most is having self compassion.
I have a ritual every night before I go to sleep. I go through my day and congratulate myself for the things I’ve done that day that I’m proud of myself for. Some days it is big achievements like getting a good grade on a test or receiving positive feedback from a client. But other days it is just things like getting out of bed or brushing my teeth. It’s important to recognize that on both days you are worthy of congratulating and praising yourself. Because obviously you had different mountains to climb and monsters to face on either day.
Learning to notice when negative self-talk started to creep in and actively trying to replace it with positive affirmations proved to be extremely helpful. I was able to achieve more of my goals in my work, study and personal life which therefore helped me work towards ‘my why’.
These tips were difficult to start with but definitely worth it!
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Ella Watson – Youth Ambassador Workplace Wellness
Ella has a big passion for Health and Wellbeing which stems from her own personal Health and Wellbeing journey. Ella continues to broaden her knowledge of Health and Wellbeing. She is currently studying Nursing at Wintec after graduating with the New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing (Social and Community Services) (Level 4) in 2021 where she was awarded Outstanding Student of the Year.
