Mental Well-being Tips for Students Managing Work and Online Education 

Imagine this: It’s 10PM on a Wednesday. Having finished your 9-5 job, now you have tuned in to your online classes and are staring at your laptop. A scheduled lecture on statistical analysis is staring back at you. And your eyes scream with exhaustion. On the other hand, your inbox is overflowing with 47 unread messages, and in your study, there is a paper you started that is due on Friday. All this is happening in your mind, and all of a sudden, you try to remember the last time you called your best buddy.   

Yes. It is agreeable that the door to online learning has opened various opportunities for working professionals to help them pursue their degrees. But this is also creating a new set of challenges that are taking a toll on mental health. It can take a toll on individuals as they try to juggle their studies and work. Burnout, anxiety, isolation, and overwhelm aren’t signs of weakness; they’re natural responses to a genuinely difficult situation. 

So, we present this blog for learners who are looking for some challenges and realistic strategies that will help in protecting mental health while pursuing educational goals as it is the foundation of all virtues.  

Read More: What Makes Online Degrees Popular Among India’s Gen Z Students? 

Understanding the Challenges 

Let us break down the challenges that one commonly faces while attending online classes as follows:   

• The triple burden: Students face academic pressure, academic/emotional responsibilities, and family/social expectations all at the same time. This keeps them feeling overwhelmed and mentally exhausted.    

• Screen fatigue: If a glowing rectangular frame is your gateway to work, entertainment, and social life, then disconnection will seem hard.  

• Isolation: Though not at first, isolation can creep in gradually. This will create a void that can be filled with meaningful, full connections with peers and instructors.   

• The 24/7 availability trap: With everything online, the lines between personal time, class time, and working hours can easily blur.  

Take a Note of These Tips for Your Mental Health 

Time Management That Actually Works 

When it comes to time management, there are a lot of creative and fancy ways to get things done like color-coded, minute-by-minute schedules, and so on. Coming up with realistic goals such as the below can help:  

• Tracing work using a time audit has proven very useful, as it helps include invisible hours such as commuting, household tasks, meal prep, and so on. This will give a complete idea of the work undertaken.  

• Get to know your peak energy windows. Once this is identified, reserve the peak mental performance for your hardest academic tasks.  

• Always keep buffer zones. Rather than having discreet time blockings such as “Work 9:00-5:00,” “Dinner and decompression 5:00-7:00,” “Study 7:00-9:00.”, it would make more sense if there was a transition time to help the brain shift gears between contexts.  

• Weekly plans are more accommodating than daily ones. This way, if the learner comes across unexpected overtime on one of the weekdays, she can easily shift any less important work to another day within the same week. This way, there is no need to feel that the plan is dead.  

• Embrace the power of “good enough.” Some assignments deserve your best work. Others just need to be completed. Learning to distinguish between them is a crucial skill that reduces stress and preserves energy for what truly matters. 

Read More: Online programs at MAHE: Learning methods & delivery 

Setting Boundaries That Stick 

Though we might not realize it, our lack of boundaries can also result in our downward spiraling mental health. And moreover, never think of boundaries as walls, but as guidelines that protect your limited resources. Let us look at how different spaces require different boundaries.   

• Workplace boundaries: Most employers prefer clear communication over vague unavailability. Pursuing online degrees is no longer hush-hush; henceforth, it is always better to be honest without apologizing.  

Interesting Read: Ten proven techniques to manage stress while studying online 

• Family & friends’ boundaries: Sometimes, balancing means saying no to your family or friends because of your schedule. And people who really support and love you will understand this and act accordingly.   

• With yourself: Being considered the hardest boundary, it should come with a lot of self-control. Always set a deadline when indulging in fun.   

• Say NO: The art of mastering boundaries is when you learn to say NO to people. This way, feelings are not disrupted, and the decision is made clear.   

Creating an Environment That Supports You 

Working on yourself doesn’t work if you don’t have the right environment around you. The space that you design to get things done is equally important. And here’s why:   

• Never have the same place for your bed or work. Because our brain associates’ spaces with activities. Maybe your mobility is limited to one room; then create visual spectators, face your furniture differently, or use a specific table lamp to study, just to mark the difference.  

• Always match your room’s vibe with something you like to make it feel more inviting. To spruce up, maybe retouch your room with a comfortable chair, your favorite series poster, or a plant, and light it up with a scented candle, etc., as per your aesthetics.  

• The environment also applies to your website. Using website blockers can block unnecessary ads. Closing all unsurfed browser tabs is a great way to focus on energy and come out of distraction.  

• Some individuals can focus deeply when they have a certain smell in their room or when they listen to a particular playlist. These are called sensory cues. Because when this hits your sensory organs, your brain automatically switches to a “it’s time to focus now” mode, slipping into the productive mode.  

• At least one area of the room can be completely free from work and learning materials. This habit will trigger your nervous system to relax automatically when you visit that space. 

Make Sleep Non-negotiable 

When it comes to mental health, physical health also plays a major role. And sleep forms the backbone of our whole well-being.   

• Having a consistent 7-8 hours of sleep is a must. Make sure you sleep and wake up at the same time to benefit from the body’s circadian rhythm predictability.   

• Prefer to have a sleep hygiene checklist during busy schedules. This would include no screens 30 minutes before bed, keeping the room cool and dark, limiting caffeine after 2PM, and so on.   

Read more: How to balance online learning and personal/work life – Useful tips from MUJ’s online students 

Move your Body 

• Movement necessarily doesn’t mean the gym. Moving the body can also happen during a 10-minute walk break, stretching between study sessions, dancing to songs while making dinner, taking the stairs, and standing up and moving every hour.   

• Any time of movement will help reduce cortisol (read: stress hormone). It boosts mood by producing endorphins that help you sleep better.   

• Another critical point is to have nutritious food for sustainable energy. If learners find this tedious, then meal prepping is an easy option.   

Interesting Read: Creative problem solving and innovation in business 

Stay Connected to People in the Digital World 

Isolation can bring a great deal of unhappiness, and this can directly lead to bad mental health. If you are a person who is not interested in going out but still would like to maintain a bond, then connecting digitally is the best option. Some of the ideas are as follows:  

• Being social creatures, human beings must create an academic community where students can engage in discussion forums and maintain a personal touch.   

• Not just with the academic batch, but also your outside friends are very important. Video chats, sharing minor updates via text, and so on will still keep the fire of friendship growing.   

• Join communities of working students. Reddit, Facebook groups, Discord servers—somewhere people understand the specific challenge you’re facing. The validation of “me too” is a powerful medicine for isolation. 

Stress Management Techniques That Will Help Learners 

You don’t need to become a meditation guru or yoga expert. You need accessible tools you can actually use when stress spikes. 

• Box Breathing: This technique works uniquely: breathe in for four counts, hold for four counts, breathe out for 4, and hold for 4. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system (your “calm down” system) and takes less than two minutes. This is most effective when cortisol production peaks during difficult conversations, before exams, and so on. 

• The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique: This is one of the most commonly used techniques. This works best when anxiety is overwhelming. It works as follows:   

• 5 things you can see 

• 4 things you can touch 

• 3 things you can hear 

• 2 things you can smell 

• 1 thing you can taste 

This pulls you out of anxious thoughts and back into the present moment. 

• Progressive muscle relaxation: From your toes to your head, slowly tense each muscle group for 5 seconds, then release. This helps the body recognize what the process of relaxation feels like. 

• Journaling for processing: Journaling doesn’t mean just writing down your feelings. It can also be just brain dumps, gratitude lists, or the next day’s to-do list, or so on.  

Conclusion 

If you’ve made it this far through this article, you’ve already demonstrated one of your greatest strengths: persistence. You’re someone who shows up, even when it’s hard. That matters more than you probably realize. 

Managing work and online education simultaneously is genuinely difficult. You’re not imagining it. You’re not being dramatic. You’re attempting something that requires an immense amount of discipline, time management, emotional regulation, and sheer determination. On the days when you feel like you’re failing, remember that many people wouldn’t even attempt what you’re doing. 

You’ve got this. One day, one assignment, one breath at a time. 

Also, if you are looking forward to some online courses to scale up yourselves, then Online Manipal is the right choice for you. View our course page for more details.