Do you ever feel like your professional goals, either school or work, get in the way of your personal relationships and social life? When you are a career or academically driven person, sometimes you have to sacrifice some of the social parts of your life. But do you really have to sacrifice that much? In my opinion, you need to know when to maintain a balance and when to sacrifice time for certain things in your life. When the scale tips too far to one side, give some love to the other important things in your life. You can do it all! So, here are my 5 tips for balancing your social life and your professional goals.
Tip #1: Set goals!
What are your personal and professional goals? Do you have a dream career in mind? Are you striving for all A’s this semester? Do you want to spend more quality time with your siblings? Whatever your goals are, write them down! You will find that by prioritizing the important things in your life, you will have a better sense of direction for where you want your life to go. Make a two columned chart. On one side, label it “personal goals”, and on the other side, label it “professional goals”. Spend 5-10 minutes filling out each column. When you’re finished, read everything over and add anything you may have missed. Take a look at the chart you made for yourself often!
Tip #2: Align your schedule with your professional goals.
When you schedule out your time and professional priorities, you can save so much time. By prioritizing the more important tasks, you will ultimately find yourself achieving much more in the long run, especially in terms of balancing your social life and professional goals. Make sure to schedule time for individual, self-care activities like exercising or resting. Schedule time for studying, work, or any other tasks that will help lead you to your professional goals. Don’t forget to schedule time to spend with family and friends!
Tip #3: Choose who you give your time and efforts to wisely
Make sure that the people you give your time to are people that are enriching to your mind and spirit. If you are having a difficult time balancing work and social lives, make sure you look at who you are giving your time to. We all have different values and types of relationships. Make sure to prioritize the people you care about most, whether they are your friends or family. This will leave you more time for your professional goals, too.
Tip #4: Communicate with the people you care about
Sometimes miscommunication can really hurt relationships. Whether it is because you spend too much time at work instead of with the family or you are stressed about a semester final project, communicate with your personal relationships so they know what is going on! Sometimes we do need to sacrifice our time with our family for our work, or vice versus. It is totally okay! As long as you communicate and compensate for that missed time, you will feel a lot more balance in your life, and even save your relationships, too.
Tip #5: Don’t forget to enjoy life
Life is all about balance. You deserve some time to have fun! If all you do is work, you will get burnt out. However, if all you do is party, you won’t achieve your professional goals either. Find a balance in your life that lets you have fun while pushing yourself to your potential. I have to remind myself of this all the time. We only get one life, and there is so much to enjoy!
