Balancing uni and life

Descriptive transcript

Welcome back to another podcast by UTS Student Hacks.

I'm Kelly and today I'm joined again by Roxanne.

Hi, I'm Kelly. I'm in my fourth year of Law and Business, majoring in Accounting.

And for me, I'm in my fourth year of Medical Science and International Studies, majoring in Japan.

Today's podcast is about balancing uni and your life, because we're getting into the nitty gritty part of the session. We've passed the administrative things, like enrolling into classes, and now we're actually learning content.

But before we get right into it, grab some water, fruit, or snacks to accompany you through this podcast.

So when I think about the phrase "balancing uni and your life," the first thing that comes into my head is having good time management skills. What about you, Roxanne?

The first thing that comes to mind for me is I imagine a waiter holding plates with different things on them. With every plate on their arms—one for social, one for lifestyle, another for uni, and another for social. They're just holding all four with their arms straight. That's what I imagine, and then you kind of walk around with all four—a literal balancing act.

That's a really good analogy—like being a waiter and being able to balance everything in your hands, because it is your life. You're the one that directs it, so it depends on what you do and whether or not you can balance them correctly. Sometimes you have too many plates and you might go a bit wobbly, but you just have to figure it out.

Exactly.

My biggest saviour when it comes to managing my time is using Google Calendar. Google Calendar has saved me so much time in making sure I get stuff done, especially being able to fit my schedule with my lifestyle. Back in high school, our timetable would be the same for the entire year. There wasn't much I could do with it. It was always going to be the same, so you didn't really need any planning—it is what it is.

Whereas now in university, our timetables are very flexible. You decide when you want to take your classes, whether you want them online or on campus if you have that option. You also decide whether or not you want to work while doing full-time or part-time university. It's really up to you, and Google Calendar has really helped me with that. I can see gaps in my schedule and insert activities, like when to do assignments or when I can work. It just helps me stay organised. What about you, Roxanne?

The same applies for me. Back in high school, we would often have a diary for the year and fill it out by the week, getting it signed off. But that's the only major thing I remember using my diary for. I tried to use a diary or journal in first year and the beginning of second year, but it never really worked because I'm quite a forgetful person. I'd often leave it at home and then not know what I needed to do for the day. That's why I tried using Google Calendar as well.

I would put certain times of the day for certain sessions, and use different calendars—like a study calendar and a common calendar. I'd also look at friends' calendars to match up times when we want to meet. Google Calendar has that really cool component where you can share your calendar with friends to see when you're free or busy.

It's really good, especially as a university student—I'm always busy, always on my feet, always doing something. I don't always have the time to reply to people, unfortunately. So sometimes I miss someone's message and maybe it's been a day or two—whoopsies. It's really convenient, especially if you want to give it to a close friend and they're like, "Are you free this day?" and it's a busy week. Just sharing the whole calendar makes it easier to organise and catch up.

Not sponsored by Google Calendar in any way—we just really like using it. I'm sure people who use Google Calendar would say the same.

Another way I organise my time is having a one-page document that lists all my assignments and assessments for the session. I set it out with all the dates for the semester, so I can always refer to it to see if I have something due soon or need to start working on something.

Another way I keep track of my week or assignments is using the big A3 calendar from the Student Learning Hub, with little stickers for assignments due or study periods. I stick it in front of my table and cross out the days as they pass. It tells me when my assignment is due. If my assignment is coming up in the next two weeks, I know I better start it now.

Both Roxanne and I have not just one way, but multiple ways of organising our time to make sure we don't miss anything.

I want to preface that you don't need to fill up all your time. Be sure to have breaks and time where you don't have anything planned, because something might go wrong and you can use that spare time to catch up or work on things.

I'd also recommend that in your busy schedules, you take some time out for yourself. Don't be afraid to give yourself a break every so often—you’re human, you need a break, especially if you have so much going on.

Yeah, exactly.

The next thing I think about when balancing uni and your life is finding internships, clerkships, and looking into graduate jobs. Roxanne and I are both in our penultimate year, meaning our second last year, so we need to start looking for ways to put our foot into the industry we want to get into.

For me, I've used UTS Careers quite often to find relevant jobs within my industry and to gain experience. What about you, Roxanne?

For me, when it comes to looking for graduate jobs or internships, since we've been here for the past three years and this is our fourth, we've been preparing to step our foot in the door. One of the main things I use to check for jobs or internships is LinkedIn. By following certain companies, I get notified when they offer jobs on LinkedIn, since I'm always on my phone. So it's just easy, essentially.

Yeah, LinkedIn is another great resource.

For those first years or people just starting their degree, make the most of volunteering opportunities at UTS. There are a lot, and you might just meet your next best friend there. Some opportunities include Peer Network, the HELPS Buddy Program, and Respect.Now.Always. There's a lot on campus to grow as a person and meet other people, so don't be afraid to step out and try it.

With everything we've talked about academically and professionally, we also want to touch on taking care of yourself. Kelly, do you have something you usually do outside of uni work?

Yeah, I've recently taken up volleyball. I used to play in high school, but since starting uni I never went back to it. This year I decided to do it and it's really fun. I really enjoy it—it helps me clear my mind, not think about university or work, and just focus on the sport. What about you, Roxanne?

For me, through Peer Network in my second year, I met some friends and we've been playing netball ever since. It's been two years and it's my weekly exercise. I didn't like netball at all in high school, but now I really enjoy it and it helps me keep active.

Yeah, so Roxanne and I both have something besides uni and work that keeps us active.

Yeah, let's just go out and touch some grass.

Touch some—there's no grass on a netball court.

But yeah, we also meet a variety of different people from different unis or places. Being active and having fun with new people you wouldn't often see is great.

Yeah, exactly.

So we highly recommend taking up something outside of uni or work. It could be sports or any other hobby. I have a couple of friends who've taken up crocheting.

Oh wow, okay.

Yeah, and the stuff they make is amazing. Some people really like seeing physical progress, and you can see from their first crocheting project until now, there's so much improvement. I'm equally as proud of them as they are of themselves, especially witnessing the journey from the first project to now.

Something that's really important is to take some time for self-care. Treat yourself to things like taking yourself out for dinner, setting up a bath, or meditating. What I often do is use the Headspace app and take a five-minute session to slow down.

Another thing I've done—it's more of a routine now—is that when we had online classes for a whole year, I noticed I always ate my meals in my room. Now I make a conscious effort not to eat in my room, but to eat with my family.

So now we're going to wrap up the episode with three tips.

Tip one: have an organisational system that works for you. We talked about Google Calendar, or trying other means like OneNote or Notion—try out systems that work for you.

Tip two: pick up a hobby that makes you happy. For me, it was volleyball. For Roxanne, it was netball. Different balls.

Tip three: take it easy. You don't have to completely fill up your time. Give yourself a break every so often and don't be so hard on yourself if you need it.

Thank you for listening. A special shout out to UTS Startups for letting us use their podcasting space. You should check out UTS Startups—they have an amazing range of resources for UTS students, so get in contact with them.

If you want to check out any of our previous episodes, they're on our website and on sites like Spotify—just search UTS Student Hacks.

Don't forget to join us on our next podcast.

Until next time.

See ya!