The combination of full time work and study is a reality for so many students, and maintaining performance can seem impossible. Some may think that you’ve got to choose between self-care and success, but the science may show something more promising: perhaps prioritizing mental health is the secret of mastering work and study.

Self-care has become a somewhat ubiquitous term, often vaguely referring to face masks and spa treatments, but actually applying it highlights the secret weapon that every student should already have in their arsenal: time management. It’s true, being told time management helps stress is a little like being told eating your vegetables makes you feel better, but this is your quarterly reminder that time management is self-care. 

Studies upon studies have shown without fail that when a person is juggling work and study, time management makes it possible to make it to the end of the week without pulling out your hair. So time management is effective, but what makes it self-care? We’re glad you asked.

Studies show that proper planning and realistic approaches to a demanding work/school schedule has serious benefits to emotional and mental health. With the constant flipping between different roles and responsibilities, cognitive overload is no longer a possibility, it is an inevitability. The difference between burnout for working students and success is more than simply keeping a calendar, but communicating to professors and coworkers when you can or cannot complete a task as otherwise expected.

This seems like two steps back, one step forward initially, but think of this as a help to your goal-setting. When you are honest about what you can’t effectively do, your communication with teachers and bosses becomes less of a stressor, and you won’t get out of class already dreading the work day to come.

Once you’ve gotten these small expectations set, you can more easily focus on the task at hand, and the beauty of time management unfolds. It may be scary to communicate where your limits are as a student/employee, but it’s wholly necessary to your success that you set proper boundaries to ensure you can keep up this work/study lifestyle. After all, you can’t have a spa day if you don’t set aside the time.

Now that you’re properly convinced, take the time to write down what you plan on doing to lower that cortisol, plan those spa days, and effectively complete your to-do list without actively catching fire.