4 essentials for staying alive as you work and study

Most of my middle to final years of university involved haphazard study and a killer work schedule. Two jobs and a few tutoring gigs meant I had to get to three different places most days of the week. I needed to study to make money to study further to make more money to pay off studying costs. It was a cycle more vicious than the repeat storylines of Hindi serials. Here are four tips to help you survive without becoming a zombie. 

1. Use technology 

Take fewer notes and listen instead. Abbreviate your text and write quicker. Use apps like Evernote or Simplenote to type, scribble or take quick snapshots of the diagrams on the board. At work, use same apps to update tasks.  This comes in handy during 'dead zones'. 

2. Utilise the dead zones

Dead zone is just a fancy name for those times when nothing happens. Times are so slow you actively look for mosquitoes to kill. Traffic jams, noon lunch breaks and being asked for ideas at a meeting. Use the dead zones to sit back, look at some notes and catch up on some studying. Alternately, utilise those quiet times to prepare some ideas to shoot. Many people have the strange habit of taking a phone to the bathroom. Catch up on notes there instead of updating social media statuses. 

3. Ignore delicious distractions

TV. Facebook. A spot of selfie taking with some #nofilter filters. They eat up valuable time that a student/worker/zombie cannot afford to waste. Offtime or Cloze offer great ways to block off social media so you can focus on what you really need to do. If you're not doing business or building a brand, you can avoid social media for large chunks of the day. The world and your life will continue as it was. Or you can sleep. 

4. Sleep

A student working at a job not owned by the parents is under a lot of stress. There are a hundred different things to do and a few inevitable time clashing screw-ups to survive. Sleep. A tired mind is like a stale shawarma. It works but it is nasty and prone to cause upsets. A 20-minute nap is the perfect short, quick recharge, resulting in improved alertness and enhanced performance. You will wake up a little groggy but it wears off quick and your mood improves. And if you're hungry, eat half a fresh shawarma. 

The writer is Editor of the career, tech and automobile publications of The Daily Star. He is also an entrepreneur of a baby clothing business and previously worked in advertising as a Senior Copywriter