College is an exciting time! A lot of people are on their own for the first time in their life, and it can be a test on all your skills as a young adult to thrive in such a new environment. We already gave you a guide on how to save cash while going to concerts during your new found independence, but what about the struggle of actually trying to balance social life and classes?

How does one balance partying and college curriculum like a boss? Especially when there’s no one around to make sure you’re doing your homework.

How to balance social life and academics in college

Pick and chose your battles

It’s a college campus! There’s something social going on almost every night. The key to making sure your academics don’t slip when you are trying to balance social life with school is to pick social events you deem are worth your time.

Sure, Thursday night everyone might be hanging out in the common room watching Netflix. On Saturday, however, your favorite band is coming to town to perform. It’s better to take the time Thursday night to miss out on the group hang because you know you want to prioritize the concert. More bang for your buck, if you will.

Plan ahead

Plan your schedule and your classes to be well balanced. Don’t overload your semester with challenging classes. Give yourself a balanced course-load you can stay on top of, but also allows for free time to meet new people and go out.

Planning ahead on your work also helps you balance your social life, and even helps you pick and chose your battles. If you know you don’t have much work to do on a Monday night, might as well get it all done before the weekend comes around again. You won’t have to choose between your social life and your grades ever again. Procrastination is partying’s mortal enemy.

Make class time count

Eliminate all distractions so that when lecture or class is happening, it’s really your main focus. It’s so much easier to understand a concept when it has your full attention. If you multitask when you have the professor’s time and help, it might come back to bite you when you don’t understand a concept and you’re working on a problem set right before a concert.

Know yourself

Getting to know yourself is the key to figuring out how to balance your social life and school. Do you do your best work before noon or at night? Are you wiling to wake up early after a night out to finish your problem set due the next afternoon? Are you better under pressure or with time to ask for help? Find study methods that work for you, like eliminating distractions, or study groups.

Figuring out when and how you do your best work and time manage will help you make time for social life outside of school. Don’t stress too much about it; you’ll learn to get the hang of it!

Have any tips you use to make sure you have time for socializing and school? Let us know on Twitter.