Part Time Job VS School Work

Okay, so this is my first article and the title isn't perfect, but it is pretty explanatory of my story. So how do you balance your clearly important schoolwork with a part time job and do you even need that saturday job to begin with? My parents take each side of the argument, one says I spend too much time (around 12 hours a week) at work and I don't need a job at all and that I should be spending my time revising. The other says having a job is good for me as a maturing person and I need my job to help prepare me for the world. I like pretty much all teens, I have a job purely for the money, yes I need to study to go to university etc... but I have no hope of affording uni without a job.

I currently work at Mcdonald's and work around two shifts a week, one on the weekend and one after school, and while I haven't yet had this job a whole year I have established some top tips for balancing my time.

Tip Number 1 - Don't Work Late

Sleep is super important for your health and for you studies, the latest I let myself work is 9PM then I can be home around 15 minutes later and wind down for the evening ready for the next day at school. If you've ever worked a super long shift then you know how tired you get, and now imagine if you were only finishing said shift at 11PM and had to be up at say 6:30AM the next day for school. Finishing work at 9 allows me to get enough sleep so I'm well rested and can focus on everything in my life properly.

Tip Number 2 - Don't work consecutive days

The worst thing is finishing a shift and thinking 'oh my god' I have to come back and do this all again tomorrow, especially if you have school in between as well. Never mind sometimes having three shifts in a row—it's too exhausting to do week in week out. That's why I always try to have at least one day of not working in between my shifts to a) catch up on any missed schoolwork and b) have a break from work.

Tip Number 3 - Don't force yourself to get a job

Don't feel like just because all your friends have jobs you need to have one, not everyone has the time or feels the need to have a job and that's fine. My friends all had jobs years before I got mine, but I just felt the requirement for one wasn't there for me. My cousin is actually at Uni and still doesn't have job and some of my friends feel uncomfortable speaking to strangers regularly. And some of them quit their jobs because they didn't like getting yelled at by customers (we've all been there)!!

Tip Number 4 - Try to get a close job

This one can't always be helped obviously, but I think a really handy part of a job which makes your life easier and frees up more time, is having a job that's close to your house. I managed to get a job that's only a five minute bike ride from my house, which makes getting to and from work super easy, and means I don't have to rely on lifts from my parents. But imagine if you got a job that was a 40 minutes bus ride away, which some people I know have, even if they finish work at nine it takes them an hour to get home and sorted out, which wastes time and long journeys are tiring.

Okay, so these were just some things I found good or helpful when job hunting that helped me keep on top of my homework and revision as well. Good luck with the job hunt, I hope you fine the perfect job. XOXO