[Mallika]

Hi there,

Thank you so much for reaching out to us here on TeenHelp. First of all, I want to take a moment to appreciate how thoughtful you're being about your best friend.

To directly answer your question on whether it's your place to give her advice - OF COURSE it is! You're her best friend, love, and isn't this what best friends do for each other? Like the above users mentioned, ultimately she'll make her own choices as it's her life, but you have every right to advise her out of care.

Perhaps what you could do is bring up this conversation the next time you meet or call. Tell her that you really admire how hardworking and determined she is, but tell her that you're worried that she's compromising her health for her future. You may clarify that you wish her success in every venture, but as a friend, it is concerning to see her use up all her energy in the process. Also, you might want to give her some suggestions as to how she can better manage her time and maintain some work-life balance, while not changing any of her goals? As a very academically-driven person myself, I can share some tips I use:

- Have a checklist of items for study planned for each day (even when it's not exam time, or anything), and call it a day once they're done. This way, you have work-life balance in a single day, yet you're being super productive. This is useful for people who are disciplined when it comes to their work, which your friend definitely seems.

- Wake up early to study rather than stay up late. This is helpful as it gets you to finish your work for the day earlier as well, so that you not only have some time for yourself but also gives you the chance to go to bed early. This enables one to get 7-8 hours of complete sleep too.

- Having a timetable planned based on the Eisenhower matrix (http://www.mytimemanagement.com/time...-students.html). In fact, you can just share this with her casually, like "Hey, I recently came across this thing, and it might be useful for busy people like you," and it might just do the trick if she is interested.

Seriously, I swear by these tips, which allow me to have sufficient me-time, get enough sleep and still get straight A's. You can share these in conversation with her; whether she follows them or not would be up to her, but at least you've given her some options.

I cannot emphasise how important it is for goal-driven students to prioritise their health, or else, it will lead to breakdown. I think you're absolutely justified for being worried about her mental/physical health. Just talk to her patiently, and don't worry if she gets a bit restless/indignant. It's natural for her to react that way, but your talk will still get her thinking about her routine. And like the above users mentioned, you can tell her that you're always there to support her, so if she needs any sort of help, she can rely on you. I'm sure she'll appreciate it

Good luck!