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You’re 3 weeks into another semester of nursing school and you realize that you can’t remember the last time you watched a movie or called your parents. You can’t remember the last time you took time to do something fun, but you can definitely remember how many nights in the last week you didn’t get enough sleep and how many hours you’ve spent studying for your upcoming exam. It’s true that nursing school is a challenging and fast-paced program that requires intense dedication, but that doesn’t mean it should completely consume your life.  

People often believe “nursing students have no life”, but I’m here to tell you that statement is so far from the truth. In fact, I have found more life since I started nursing school. After a few months of trial and error, I found a way to juggle working 12 hours a week, spending quality time with my family and friends, exercising 4-5 times a week, and volunteering, while still succeeding in my classes. I believe a rich and full student life is possible for every nursing student with just a few helpful tips: 

Plan ahead. Plan ahead. Plan ahead. 

You can fit a lot into your schedule if you plan for it and manage your time well! For example, if there’s something fun you want to do on a Saturday, like go to a college football game or go out to see a movie, plan ahead by making sure you get your schoolwork/studying done by Friday night. That way, you are completely free to enjoy your day off without worrying about homework, and then you’re ready to refocus and work hard the next day. When you have free time, enjoy it! But when it’s time to hit the books, you have to be diligent and focused in order to make use of your time.

Work smart not hard.

Try your best to be as productive as you can with your time. When you’re learning a new topic in class, go ahead and start preparing for the exam. Start your exam study guide in class and ask your professor all the questions you have so that you don’t need to teach yourself or re-learn the topic when the test comes around. This will save you time studying.  

Multitask! 

What I mean by this is that you can sometimes incorporate 2 aspects of your life in a single task. For example, studying with friends is a great way to get work done and spend time with your friends at the same time. You can listen to the audiobook version of your textbooks while driving in the car on the way to. Or, you can go on a walk with your family to get in your exercise and spend quality time with your family too. It’s important to focus on nursing school and take breaks from it too. Finding balance is an excellent form of “self-care” and will help you to have a happy, healthy, and full life which will ultimately help you in becoming an amazing future nurse.