Right now I’m a college student, but on top of that I’m an employee twice over. I’m taking 17 units at San Jose state, and also working two (very) part-time jobs. Many days of the week involve me going directly from one thing to another. This semester its like I’m reinventing my definition of hectic.
One of my jobs is that of a crossing guard, and I work that an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. The other job is a tutor at a tutoring center, which is a bit more sporadic and I work a few days a week at that. Each thing on its own takes up an insignificant part of the day, but combined they are like a full time job hours wise. However unlike a full time job, I have to go to many places during the day. Often my window between one thing and another is very brief. And here is where the stress sets in-
I had a very lazy summer- no school, no crossing guard work because the kids are off, and couldn’t find another job. So I spent the summer looking for work but largely doing little. The transition from doing almost nothing to constantly working/thinking/doing has been rather difficult for me. When everything falls into place, I’m fine. But if some outside factor comes in, I lose it. I feel that there is often not enough time for anything. When I’m not at school or work I’m studying. My mom suggested against having two jobs while I’m going to school, but the combined income gives me the money to both maintain and insure my car, and build up a savings while I’m living at home.
When I run into a hitch during the day, I handle it very badly. Like one day I locked my keys in my car at the school parking lot, and stressed out because the time it took to get a police officer to jimmy the door open (if I called AAA to do it it would’ve taken them 45 minutes to get there and I would have been late) the time wasted dealing with it meant I couldn’t get a textbook I needed before class, and when I rushed to get there in a brief window after class before work, the book was sold out again. I’m two weeks into the semester. There is 16 more weeks to go. Any advice from some equally busy/busier dopers?
YOUR MOM
mom of college freshman, who is going through EXACTLY this sort of thing
drop some stuff, I tell her, there are only so many hours in the day and you’re making yourself CRAZY
I tell her, McDs will get along fine without you if you cut back to 20 hours a week, your job now is “college”, don’t worry about the money, we’ll feed you
Do you really need the crossing guard job? If you need the money, look for one job, say 10-20 hours a week to cover you insurance, and the rest.
I work at a research organization at SF State and I supervise about 30 students. It’s a 12 hour per week minimun, but I really don’t inforce it because I try to work around their school schedule. Oh, my point. Try to find a job on campus with flexible hours, or a place where they know you’re a student and will need some time off every now and then.
And if you can’t get a job on campus, try the job/career center, or a student job posting board online. It may not be on campus, but you may find something that is geared toward a student’s schedule.
And try to save some time for fun, and meeting people. You’re going to be working the rest of your life. Give yourself a break.
I agree that you’d be much better off working ONE job (with more hours) than two jobs with fewer hours each.
At the very least, I suggest you meditate for a short period each day, or make time to take a brisk walk for 15 minutes while listening to your favorite music. Every day. You’ve got to find a way to center yourself and find a little balance.
Seriously, though, you really need to try to do just one job, if at all possible. Also, if you need a way to just destress, I’ve found that excercise helps.
Oh dear, you aren’t supposed to save money while you are in college. You are supposed to BORROW it. Go to your financial aid office, get an emergency loan with no interest (often for some time) drop one job and have some fun!
Get a job bussing / bartending / serving (or any tipped position) at a restaurant. You will have one job with semi-flexible hours and you can usually make pretty decent money if you work at either a higher end or high turnover establishment. Another bonus is that you’ll often get some kind of shift meal so you’ll spend less money on food.
I remember my psych prof telling us that college students have among the highest stress levels across age groups. You’re proof.
You have an incredible list of stressors: going from a lazy summer to a hectic semester, a chain of activities, having a tiny time window to get from one to the next, two potentially stressful jobs (anything that involves teaching and traffic fit the bill, IMO), and a pretty heavy course load. Then there’s the eating and sleeping pattern disruptions I’m willing to bet resulted from your transition from summer to now. You’re in college, where stressors include academic performance, financial burdens, thinking about the future, new personal and professional relationships, and new living situations. It’s probably my biggest no-duh statement of the week: that’s a lot to deal with.
Telling you ways to de-stress doesn’t really accomplish anything if you have unnecessary stressors still in place. And frankly, you do have some unnecessary stressors. For one, I agree that you should pick one job and quit the other. Don’t worry about trying to save money. College is a time when you accumulate debt. It happens to everybody. Trying to save money now by working a lot is begging for an ulcer. It’s not worth it.
If you’re worried about your car insurance and maintenance, consider commuting by bus or carpool, if it’s possible.
You mentioned feeling like there isn’t any time to do things. As much as you can’t get anything done if you don’t set aside time to do it, you can’t do everything if you don’t have time for it. I think if you quit one of your jobs, you’ll find that you then have a little bit of give in your schedule, and that that will help a lot. Once there’s some flexibility there, then maybe you can find ways to manage your time better. You’ll be able to get things done with time to spare, and you won’t come unglued when things go wrong.
I second the suggestion to try meditation. I used to teach this to my psych students, so if you want guidelines, feel free to e-mail me.
