In Part 3 of this three-part series, we take a closer look at balance and its beneficial effects on student academics and general wellness.
To read Part 2 of this three-part series, click here.
To read Part 1 of this three-part series, click here.
Balance and its impacts on students’ academic performance and wellbeing:
Have you ever wondered how you can balance your schoolwork, personal life, social life, plus your part time jobs? Well, sometimes these things may seem overwhelming and hard to juggle. As a student, managing these multiple demands of your career, school, and personal life can be challenging, but you can be successful if you keep a few tips in mind. Balancing schoolwork with personal life or family relationships could even improve your academic performance and boost your personal wellbeing, because it reduces any academic stress and anxieties that would have hindered your academic performance.
A research study was conducted by students from Community Based College (CBD) in the United States (2018), to analyze balancing of school workload, social life, mental health and their impacts on the test scores of students. In this study, students were divided into two groups and their test scores were recorded separately after the end of the semester. Group one consisted of those who balance their schoolwork with social and personal live, while group two consisted of a no balance group. This group chose to focus on their studies at the expense of their personal lives. The results obtained later showed that, there was a significant increase of almost 4% in the test score for those who chose to balance their schoolwork with their personal and social lives (CBD College). The researchers concluded that balancing school workload with social life, and family relationship has a positive and significant increase in the academic performance of students. This is because balancing has a positive effect on the critical thinking capacity of students, which can improve their learning and understanding abilities.
Another research study, conducted by Poh Keong et al (2015) reviewed the relationship between student life balance and academic achievement across Malaysian Universities. It was reported that a major challenge students are struggling with is the lack of ability to balance school work, personal life and family life. Many students interviewed reported a coursework overload with almost zero time for their personal social lives was a reason for their poor academic performance. The research later concluded there is a direct correlation between student academic performance and wellbeing with proper balancing and time management. So, what do all these amazing results tell us? This clearly tells you rather than spending your entire day at the library flipping through your books, it is also just worthy to dedicate a few hours to your social life, family and friends.
And perhaps if you’re wondering how to go about balancing your time, I will recommend you check out some of the following tips recommended by the team at Chapman Learning Commons as you prepare to secure yourself points for your GPA while improving your wellbeing.
Track your time
Adopting proper time management practices can reduce stress and save you a few more hours a day. Dr. Farid Chakhssi, a professor from University of Twente in the Netherlands (2017) carried out an experiment to test the impact of proper time tracking and time management on students’ academic achiement and wellbeing. He found out students with good time management practices on average tend to perform better academically than those who do not (Bianca, 2017). He later concluded that proper time management passively correlates with students’ better academic performance and wellbeing. This is because good time tracking and time management enables students to prioritize their tasks and enable them to finish their work on time, avoiding any alarming deadlines. Proper time tracking alleviates any stress and anxiety that may come your way. The best way to track your time is through planning your schedule earlier and set your date to accomplish your work. With proper time planning you are assured enough time to study, exercise, socialize and even make new friends while not compromising your own goals and wellbeing. Furthermore, ensure that you figure out earlier the best place to study where all your materials are accessible. The library for instance could be the best place to study but you can also choose to study in your room if that is more convenient to you.
Evaluate your priorities
Every day, spend your time seriously reflecting on what is important to you and make a list of your top priorities at school and at home. Ensure that you consider which one of your endeavors will be the highest priority during your semester. Devise a strategy for handling assignments and exam studies. This will ease pressure and enhance your performance in all areas. You can get more study tips from our UBC Chapman Learning Commons toolkits here. As students, we usually prioritize academic goals at the expense of personal factors such as personal relationships and exercise. However, research shows that this could lead to a decline in academic performance since our general health and wellbeing are essential to optimal functioning.
Remember to always keep healthy
Your health should always be your priority. If you are not in good shape physically, mentally or emotionally, every aspect of your life will suffer (UBC Wellness Centre). Check the link for their website given in the reverence list below. Therefore, remember to always stay healthy, eat healthy and live healthy. Finally, and perhaps the most important point, always remember to spend some time chatting with your families and friends. This will likely keep you motivated and help relieve your study stress and anxieties, which is a necessity for your personal health and wellbeing. For more information on study and time management resources, please visit UBC Student Services.
Thank you for joining us for this three-part series! We hope you found something of value to you that you can apply to your personal lives as your chart your course towards greater academic success!
References
Grabel, F. Bianca. “The Relationship Between Wellbeing and Academic Achievement”. https://essay
.utwente.nl/…/Gräbel_MA%20 Positive% 20Psychology%20And%20Techn. Aug 2017
Poh Keong et al. “The Relationship Between Mental Health and Academic Achievement” https://www
researchgate.net/…/278481569_The_ Relationship_ between_Mental_Healt.htt: April, 2015
Deborah, R. Baldwin, “An examination of college wellness: wellness: A research and liberal arts
perspective”. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC5 779921/htt: Aug, 2018
CBD College. “5 Tips to Achieve Your Optimal Work/School/Life Balance”. https://www.cbd.edu /2018
02/20/work-school-life-balance/. Feb 2018
UBC Student Services. “ Study & time management resources”/ Student Services – UBC Student Services.
https://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/study-time-management-resources
Wellness Centre – UBC Student Services – University of British Columbia.