Adult Learners: Balancing Career and College Workloads

The prospect of going back to college after spending some time in the workforce can be extremely intimidating. In fact, it can be downright terrifying. The problem is that many adults that have decided to go back to college to earn a degree also have to keep working while they are in school. This means that the workload that they have to deal with will involve both work responsibilities and school responsibilities. Fortunately there are things that you can do to manage both sets of responsibilities so that neither your job nor your school performance suffers.

Tip #1 - Simplify Your Life

Working while you are going to school means that you will have two very important responsibilities that will be taking up most of your time. This means that while you are pursuing your degree that other aspects of your life are going to get less attention. To help manage all of your responsibilities you need to eliminate the things that are not necessary in your life. For example, you may need to drop some of the activities that you normally participated in, such as clubs, so that you can focus on what needs to be done. Keep in mind that these reductions are not permanent, but rather a temporary necessity to ensure you do not get overwhelmed.

Tip #2 - Buy a Large Desk Calendar

Keeping track of everything that you need to get done is essential to your success, both at work and at school. To make tracking your due dates and meetings easier to do buy two large desk calendars and pin them up in locations at work and at home that you see frequently throughout the day. On these calendars you will write both your work and your school due dates and meetings. Use one color ink for school and another color ink for your work responsibilities.

Tip #3 - Do Not Procrastinate

When you start each semester set up your schedule. Then make sure you give yourself plenty of time to complete each assignment. Try to avoid waiting to the last hour to complete your assignment. This will ensure that if you need extra time to work on the project that you have it, and it will also help to reduce the amount of stress that you experience. A good way to help keep yourself on track is to establish a set time and date to work on your school assignments. This will help you to avoid procrastinating and it will help you to do better on your assignments.

Reference

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS226739+01-Sep-2010+PRN20100901?rpc=21