Balancing Your Life with Graduate School
Numerous industries require their employees to have a higher education degree. As a master’s degree can unlock new career opportunities that undergraduate degrees cannot, it is evident how important a master’s degree is in almost every corporate industry. However, it is quite daunting and stressful to take on another responsibility on top of work. Studies show that graduate students suffer the highest rates of depression, anxiety, and overall mental stress. This has been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic that put a pause on thousands of graduate students’ academic goals and careers.
Many graduate students deal with high levels of stress due to the inability to balance work, personal relationships, finances, and academic courses. The importance of balancing mental and physical health is highly significant in a graduate student’s academic performance.
Here are four tips on how graduate students can successfully manage life while pursuing a master’s degree:
● Shuffle Your Priorities
Graduate students generally have a lot of tasks to complete every semester. However, a graduate student takes on more tasks than the average student therefore, prioritizing different tasks and structuring them based on highest to lowest priority every semester is greatly advised. This helps graduate students work around their work schedule to ensure important tasks are not missed.
Learning this skill will also ensure that as an employee, you are able to manage multiple responsibilities at once and categorize them based on their importance while keeping track of other tasks which shows that you are being efficient and productive.
● Manage Your Time
Poor time management is a habit that leads to inadequate organizational skills which causes graduate students a great deal of stress. The average graduate student typically takes on 9 to 12 credit hours of course load which equates to 25 to 30 hours of study time. On top of that, graduate students need to juggle work into their schedule. By developing the good habit of managing their time effectively, graduate students will complete research work in less time and that will allow them to enhance their academic ability and accomplish work appropriately.
Time management also gives graduate students extra time to recharge. Many graduate students face the issue of pressure and time crunches because of their inefficient time management skills. Time management is a habit you can improve by setting short-term goals, establishing a routine, organizing weekdays according to the prioritized tasks, and coordinating your time by minimizing disruptions. It will reduce the pressure and stress in the future greatly.
● Ask for Help
Professors know that graduate students have a lot of pressure. Do not be afraid to ask superiors and professors for help. Relying on others and asking for help is essential in the graduate student experience. It is not a burden, nor a sign of weakness and it shows signs of strength and resourcefulness.
Asking for help allows graduate students to network within their field which will benefit them highly beyond their degree. Graduate students will have access to more resources and skillsets which reduces the amount of stress on the shoulders of a graduate student and allows them to complete their work effectively.
● Mental Health and Support System
In 2018, researchers found that graduate students are six times as likely to report experiencing depression and anxiety compared with the general population and subsequently declared a “graduate student mental health crisis” (Evans et al., 2018; Flaherty, 2018). The mental health of graduate students is often overlooked. Many graduate students feel overwhelmed with nowhere to look for help and tend to forget that overexerting themselves will cause their mental health to deteriorate.
The immense academic pressure, concern over landing a job in competitive industries while balancing a personal life will cause graduate students to burnout early. To avoid early burnout and mental health issues, graduate students should ensure a support system is available to allow them to reduce pent-up stress and anxiety building up. A support system can be anyone students feel comfortable discussing the challenges they are currently facing with by communicating with professors, family members and other fellow graduate students. In addition, numerous universities offer counselling for graduate students to enable them to achieve their highest academic goals in a supportive environment.
In addition to a support system, graduate students should value their health above anything else. This includes having recharge time, a proper sleep schedule, breaks in-between work/research, and socializing with fellow graduate students to make sure graduate students are enjoying the environment they are surrounded by. Recharging and taking breaks allow graduate students to be in top shape which will improve their work ability and guarantee a successful academic experience.
For more information on or support with balancing your personal and professional life with graduate school, please contact the Deanship of Graduate Studies, Zayed University through e-mail or call at +971-2-599-3605
This article was written by Dana Mahmoud Mohammed Murad Alblooshi, a Zayed University Bachelor of Science in Communication & Media final year student who is currently completing her internship at the Deanship of Graduate Studies.