August is here which means it’s time to head back to school. For college-aged entrepreneurs, this means resuming the juggle of coursework, internships, and working on their small businesses from their dorm rooms. What’s the best way to keep all of this balanced without dropping the ball on anything?
If this sounds like your situation, follow these guidelines to ensure you enjoy work/life balance as a student and budding ‘trep.
1. Stick to time management techniques
Homework, testing products and services, meetings with potential clients, internships, and extracurricular activities will begin to mount on your daily schedule. This makes it difficult to schedule everything in without having events overlap into one another and still make time to enjoy the college experience.
Knowing how to manage your time will allow everything to seem a little more manageable. Making to-do lists and scheduling in events through apps and Outlook will help you gain a sense of accomplishments once something has been crossed off and removed from the list. Commit so many hours per day to each task. Think of school and work as two-part time jobs and each must be allotted a certain number of hours in order to accomplish everything.
2. Step outside of your dorm room and take work to a new location
Many employees who work remotely are prone to getting stuck in a creative rut because they are constantly working at the same location every day. Try a few different locations to work out of, like a coffee shop or the campus library. The library is more of a quiet space to get in the zone whereas a coffee shop can be distracting with the hustle and bustle of other students (and customers), plus you might be more inclined to spend more cash.
You never know where inspiration will strike so step out of your dormitory and explore some new scenery.
3. Make your studies your priority
While it may be exciting to focus on something other than school, don’t let your small business take over your studies. Doing well in your courses and graduating with your degree should still be your top priority so whether you need to wake up a little earlier or decline a few weekend festivities, make sure that school comes first.
4. Use your resources wisely
While being in college may seem like it’s holding you back from this exciting new entrepreneurial opportunity, there are countless resources at your disposal to take advantage of and utilize. From networking nights to meeting with faculty members for counseling advice to the classes themselves, everyone can be a part of your success story.
Having mentors and resources to make useful connections can help you make educated business decisions. Look at your peers and teaches as additional LinkedIn resources. You never know who someone might know and how they might be able to give you an extra push in the right direction.