{"id":526,"date":"2016-12-10T13:56:34","date_gmt":"2016-12-10T13:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/?p=526"},"modified":"2017-03-16T12:37:23","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T12:37:23","slug":"work-life-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/work-life-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"Work-life balance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"frances-pic-1\"<\/a>By Frances Kendall, BA International Business Management<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a third year studying International Business Management and last year I lived in Denmark attending Copenhagen Business School. Suffice to say, coming back to Sheffield for this academic year has been a big shock after living independently abroad!<\/p>\n

There are many people who tell you that the point of university is simply to get a degree, but I think university is about much more than that. In my eyes, at least, it\u2019s a lifestyle and a learning curve combined, not purely a means to a future career.<\/p>\n

Work-life balance is, therefore, something I have definitely learnt to appreciate more than ever this year. Third year unsurprisingly spells more work and responsibilities, but also provides more opportunities to take part in the multitude of activities which Sheffield University has to offer.<\/p>\n

\"frances-pic-2\"<\/a>In Denmark, they place a huge amount of emphasis on flexible working hours which researchers have found contributes substantially to it being consistently rated the \u2018Happiest Nation in the World\u2019 by its inhabitants. Thus, I am hoping to pass on some of the lessons I learnt abroad and have tried to implement here in Sheffield!<\/p>\n

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  1. Plan your time and prioritise<\/strong>. As long as you know the amount of time you have available, you can keep track of the days and hours left until your next deadline. This means you can afford to do the all activities you want without having to \u2018pull an all-nighter\u2019!<\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0Do not feel guilty (if you have planned right)! <\/strong>When others around you are working, you shouldn\u2019t feel bad if you want to take a break to have a coffee or a day off in the Peaks. Some people take longer to work than others and this shouldn\u2019t put you off.<\/li>\n
  3. Always allow an extra half an hour to do things<\/strong>. I always find that things take longer than I expect. The last thing you need is to be stressing about getting to a lecture or meeting on time, on top of everything else, so just prepare for it! The Sheffield hills may take a little longer to climb when you are tired or you might come across a friend and want to have a chat, either way it\u2019ll all take time.<\/li>\n
  4. Enjoy the little things<\/strong>. Personally I think that little treats or regular breaks is the way to go when aiming for happiness and balance. I can\u2019t deal with being overloaded and then having to take a while to recover. It\u2019s better to not get to that stage in the first place \u2013 prevention not cure is key!<\/li>\n
  5. Don\u2019t be afraid to do things independently<\/strong>. Many students come to university after having participating in activities with their friends from home which they have known for years. Coming to university and trying something on your own can be daunting. Don\u2019t worry! You will make friends whilst there and everyone is in the same boat, even if they might not look like it or tell you so! I joined the Lacrosse team and have made so many friends this way. Take that step and it will help so much in keeping that balance between social and work life in check.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I really hope these five pieces of advice are helpful, both for prospective students looking to get an insight into student life, and for those current students nervous about giving something new a try. Finding that balance will help you to become a more rounded individual and enjoy the years you have at university so much more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Frances Kendall, BA International Business Management I\u2019m a third year studying International Business Management and last year I lived in Denmark attending Copenhagen Business School. Suffice to say, coming back to Sheffield for this academic year has been a big shock after living independently abroad! There are many people who tell you that the … Continue reading “Work-life balance”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,11],"tags":[41],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":530,"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions\/530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mgt.dept.shef.ac.uk\/undergraduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}