3 Common Challenges of Working Students (and Solutions)

Working students often face unique challenges that can interfere with their ability to succeed in school. Time management, financial stress, and balancing work and personal life can all take a toll. However, there are solutions to these common problems. With a little planning and effort, working and studying at the same time becomes possible – the struggles of working students can definitely be overcome, and students can definitely set themselves up for success.

Here are some problems of working students:

 1. Time becomes a balancing act

The biggest challenge for working students is time management. While you have to find time to study, you also want to make sure you’re making enough money to afford rent and food. For some students, this means picking up extra shifts at their job or finding other ways to make money on the side. The most important thing is that you stay organized and make sure you’re prioritizing your schoolwork first! Time management is essential to balance work and study to ensure neither suffers, and you don’t burn out.

2. Mustering self-motivation and willpower

It can be hard for working students who are used to having free time all day long to get motivated enough to study or complete their assignments. It’s important for working students to set goals for themselves that are realistic but challenging—and then reward themselves when they reach them. You might decide that every time you finish a chapter in your textbook, you’ll treat yourself with some M&Ms (or whatever treat works best for you). These small rewards will help keep you motivated as well as help you stay on track with your studies!

3. May experience loneliness and isolation

Working while going to school full-time is challenging because it means spending less time with friends and family members who aren’t also balancing school with work responsibilities. It’s important that working students take some time out to spend with loved ones, as this will mean some much-needed rejuvenation time – which allows for an improved mindset, allowing the working student to balance work and study more effectively.

Now that we have seen some common problems of working students, here are some solutions:

4. Give yourself realistic time frames

If you’re a working student, it can be hard to keep up with all the deadlines and requirements that come along with your courses – which can be one of the biggest struggles for working students. One of the best ways to make sure you’re not overwhelmed is to give yourself realistic time frames for completing assignments and projects. This might mean having more than one deadline for assignments or projects so that you spread things out over several weeks or months. It’ll also help if you can put some tasks on hold until after exams when your workload will be less intense.

5. Talk to your friends, lecturers and even your boss

It’s important for those who are working and studying at the same time to have an open line of communication with their tutors and lecturers—and the same goes for their bosses! If there are any issues with your coursework or workplace responsibilities affecting the quality of your performance in class or at work, talk them over with someone who can help fix it. You may find that it’s easier than trying to keep juggling all these different balls in the air on your own!

6. Start studying early

The best way to get ahead of any challenge is through preparation — so if there’s something in particular coming up soon that’s been worrying you, start studying early so you can feel more confident and adequately prepared.

The challenges of working students are nothing new – but there are ways to overcome these problems – especially with the advent of online classes. Believe it or not, there are many benefits of working while studying! Enquire more about our online degree courses at UNITAR International University today.