Work-life balance video

Hannah talks about juggling her busy schedule

You need Flash to view this content.

Produced by Lifetracks

Money, study and experience. As a young person these are the three things Hannah is trying to manage.

Bookmark / share:

Help

Hannah, 18, wants to be an actress, but first she needs to earn some money to study at uni. Like many people, she's forced to do a job she doesn't enjoy much in order to fulfil a long-term goal. In fact she's juggling three jobs, a boyfriend, college and acting classes. She explains how she copes with grumpy customers at Morrisons by making sure she continues to go to the acting classes she loves in the evenings. "When I graduate, acting is all I really want to do," she says.

Luckily she's motivated by the fact one of her other jobs - teaching children to act at a local school – is much more fulfilling, while having money allows her to contribute living expenses to her mum.

Updated:15/04/2010

Become a Lifetracker and create a personal to-do list by selecting tasks at the end of our articles. Sign up here and start your to-do list today!

If, like Hannah in our video, you're working so you can save to do something which interests you more, set yourself a deadline to save the money you need and work out how much you need to save each week to achieve this. Otherwise, you might find yourself stuck behind the till at Morrisons for longer than you intended.
Set aside a certain number of hours a week to practise or study for your ultimate aim, rather than just concentrating on making money. For example, Hannah goes to drama classes in order to pursue her dream to be an actress.
If you're offered a higher position at work or more overtime, write out a list of the pros and cons of more money versus less time to concentrate on the thing you really want to do. Is it worth it in the long run?
Just because you're doing a job which people view as unskilled, it doesn't mean you're not picking up skills which might help you achieve your dream. Make a list of them and remember to keep adding them to your CV.

How was it for you?

What do you think of Lifetracks.com and has it helped you? For your chance to win a £20 Amazon voucher, complete our short survey and help us make the website as useful as possible.