How to Achieve Work-Life Balance As A TripleTen Student

Written by Joanna KT Hazel, Tripleten student

Are you struggling to maintain work-life balance while studying or working on a project? As a TripleTen student, you may be juggling personal, financial, and social obligations. It can be overwhelming and easily get out of hand. As a newly single mother with limited support homeschooling three children, one with special needs, while managing a back and neck injury and PTSD, I understand the challenges firsthand. Focusing on work-life balance has been my saving grace. In this article, I'll share practical strategies and personal experiences to help you navigate your journey with more ease and less stress.

Incorporate Technology

Time Management Tools

One of the most important skills you need is time management. If you’re not perfect at keeping up with everything, I’m right there with you. Here’s what’s worked for me:  

‍Google Calendar is a fantastic tool for creating a detailed schedule. This calendar is accessible across all your devices, and you can set custom notifications to remind you of important events and tasks. Sometimes I get so engrossed in coding that I forget to eat, so I even schedule meal times on my calendar.

‍OneNote is another invaluable tool I use to help manage my time. I use it to keep track of to-do lists and important follow-ups. I also use it to document our daily homeschool activities. The ability to add pictures and create organized folders makes it a versatile tool. Its accessibility on my phone is a major advantage, especially because we do a lot of outschooling and documenting on the go. This tool has significantly reduced our carbon footprint and clutter.

Technology for Efficient Multitasking

There are countless apps and software programs available, so I'll share some of my favorites to help you optimize your digital toolkit. We use various education apps and websites to practice and assess key subject areas. I rely on a PTSD Coach app to journal, meditate, and manage symptoms when feeling triggered. Most doctor's offices now offer apps for accessing results, scheduling appointments, and communicating with your doctor. We use YouTube Kids to supplement learning and foster independent discovery. To unwind, we enjoy using All Trails and similar apps to discover nearby hiking trails. Additionally, joining groups on Facebook or Meetup can save time on planning social gatherings and quickly connect you with like-minded individuals. Google is an indispensable resource for research, especially when tackling complex coding projects. And of course, AI tools like Gemini can be game-changers.

Utilize Time Efficiently

Multitasking Effectively

Time is one of the most valuable resources we have, and we’re not getting any extra. When you have a lot of things to get done, not a lot of time, and you’re trying to remain sane, you must utilize your time efficiently. I find one of the best ways to do this is by strategically multitasking. This doesn't mean juggling multiple tasks simultaneously but rather combining activities efficiently. For example, I take my children to the park and bring my laptop so I can watch them play while I study or work on a project. We may even take breakfast with us to further optimize our time.

Empowering my children to work independently has been instrumental in reclaiming valuable hours. I have a space dedicated for learning in which I integrate Montessori principles. We also do a lot of outschooling/unschooling and incorporate technology as much as possible while I’m studying. Due to the culture I’ve created, my children constantly engage in creating their own experiments and consistently ask questions (which does prove a challenge to me being able to focus on my work because the questions never stop).

Building a Strong Support Network

Delegating tasks is another key to maximizing efficiency. Whenever something needs to be done, I stop and ask, “Can someone else do this successfully, so that I can focus on a different task?” If the answer is “yes,” then I delegate the task. I look forward to being able to hire occasional help around the house so that I can be more productive doing the things I love. If you enjoy cleaning, but not teaching math, you may prefer to hire a tutor or pay for an online curriculum. It’s ok to delegate.

It’s also ok to ask for help. Learning to ask for help is a common mantra within the TripleTen student community.

First, starting out as a TripleTen student, I think we all are trying to prove something to ourselves, but truly we are wasting a lot of time trying to figure things out on our own when we can simply ask for help. There is absolutely something to be gained by figuring things out on your own, but it's helpful to give yourself a time limit. If I can’t figure something out on my own within two hours of research, I’m going to ask for help. While I’m waiting for help, I can continue to research or take a break to avoid burnout. Set a time that works best for you in order to avoid mental burnout. You’re not helping yourself by waiting until you’re completely exhausted and have to take a lengthy break before you can return to a project.

It may also be helpful to join a study group. Study groups can help you stay active and accountable. They also provide an additional place where you can ask for help. It may even be possible to work on problem solving together to help you save time. The goal is not to try and be as independent as possible, the goal is efficiency. No matter how clever you are, it will not do any employer any good if you are not efficient at completing the task at hand. 

Be Flexible

Balancing Priorities

Believe it or not, being flexible has been one of the most important skills I’ve had to incorporate in order to achieve work-life balance.

Of course you can schedule quality time with your family, but truly, as a mother, you realize you cannot schedule the psycho-emotional needs of your children. Sometimes you have to stop everything and just be with them, letting them know that they’re important to you. But don’t go overboard — I said sometimes, not every time. Include your children and family in what you’re doing so they can be a part of your successes when you’re studying or completing projects. When you do this, there is no need for there to be competition for your attention amongst your family members or your work.

Self-Compassion and Grace

As someone diagnosed with PTSD and who has an autistic child, I have to prioritize mental health and self-care. Sometimes that means that everything on my schedule has to take a back seat, and I need to give myself the grace to accept that it’s a part of the human experience and it’s ok. Whatever challenges you may be facing, you cannot be successful nor productive if you neglect your mental health and fail to take proper care of yourself by getting the rest and relaxation that you need. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, go for a walk or do something you love. All your tasks will be there waiting for you when you are in a better state to be as productive as possible.

One of the things I love most about the self-paced TripleTen experience is that the deadlines are suggestive. They truly understand work-life balance and try to create a culture that respects that. If you cannot meet a deadline, it's ok. Extend the deadline or create a new one that’s more realistic for you. Sometimes, the best you can do is prioritize the important tasks and give yourself grace as you work to complete everything else, especially if you’re like me and always have more tasks to complete in a day than are actually possible.

Your Journey to Balance

For some of us, work-life balance will always be a challenge, but if you incorporate these tools, that challenge will be more achievable for you. These tools have helped me greatly to overcome that overwhelming feeling of being pulled one way or the other. If I can do this, so can you. Whenever these tools aren’t helping, please seek support from a success manager or therapist, if you need to. These are not all the tools I have and will use to help achieve work-life balance, so if you have questions or would like advice, you can send me a private message. If you would like to know more about my journey with TripleTen, please follow me on social media as I continue to document my journey.