Reorganising Your Life After a Gap Year

Covid-19 changed everything last year, and many students decided to take a gap year thanks to it. However, with the vaccine now in the picture, universities are opening, and major countries like the UK, and the USA, allow travelling. It is time to go back to university; however, will you be able to get back to your usual routine after a gap year? To make it easier for you, here are some tips. 

7 Tips to Reorganise Your Life After a Gap Year

1. Learn to Enjoy Your Student life. 

After a year full of change, it won’t be easy to give 100% of your time to university and assignments once again. To overcome this obstacle, divide your time equally between school, assignments, exams, and fun time. Set a couple of days to rest, with no cell phones, nor distracting social media, just some quality time for yourself. You will feel a positive impact on your mental health, quality of life, and overall health.    

2. Know Your Learning Style 

There are 9 types of learners in the world; take a test and see which one you are. Read about your learning style and the appropriate learning strategies for it. This will save you a lot of time, and effort as you will comprehend your studying materials faster without getting overwhelmed by any changes that happened during your gap year. Planning your studies according to your learning style will help you find spare time to practice your hobbies, run errands, work part-time, or even just rest.

3. Set a Routine

When you live your daily life without a fixed routine, your mind tends to deviate far away from its standard patterns. Therefore, a fixed daily routine is vital for a stable lifestyle. Start your day with a jog or a meditation session and follow it with a refreshing cup of coffee. Set a specific time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and try to stick to it. Moreover, make a list of all your daily tasks and organise them every night. Try not to make them more than 5 main tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed. 

4. Use Your Newly Acquired Skills

Now that you are well aware of the system and how the world works, you might be able to plan tasks early due to the skills you gained during your gap year. Your skillset is now way ahead of your peers, and you can use them to save yourself time and effort. You can also use your skills to win a leadership role in your local student activity or your faculty student union. That will help you train yourself for future career development and have a wide network that will help you in the future. 

5. Reorganize Your Budget

Since you are back at university, you probably Won’t have the same amount of money you had while working during your gap year. Don’t worry, though! Your time as a working adult probably already helped you improve your money management skill. Use mobile apps to help keep your spending habits on track, keep your finances intact, and maybe save for weekend trips! 

6. Find Yourself a Part-time Job 

Now that you are used to working, you might feel lost without extra money to spend. Search for a part-time job if that is the case! Most companies have now adopted the new norm, and full-time, 9 to 5 jobs are not something to worry about! Many companies now have flexible working hours and task-based shifts, so you can easily have school during the day and work tasks at night.

7. Try Internships

Not interested in a part-time job? Maybe try an internship online. Online internships will give you the chance to indulge in the working lifestyle from the comfort of your student home. They provide a chance to test the waters, see if you like the atmosphere, and decide for yourself if this internship can evolve into something bigger or not. Check out Virtual Internships if you are interested. This company offers students internship programs in more than 70 countries. You can work on your skills remotely without having to invest too much time in full-time training of some sort.   

8. Help Others!

You are now knowledgeable, with a lot of both life and career experience, and passing this over for your peers will help them get their ducks in a row. Try setting up a weekly group gathering where you can openly discuss some of the knowledge and experience you gained, answer some of your peers’ questions, and be a mentor who lived the same struggles they are living just from a different perspective.

Life after a gap year can be very different but still very enjoyable. It is up to you how to benefit from your gap year experience!