Good career development habits require continuous skills development and studying. It is easier to build hands-on skills while working but to balance between working and studying is something many individuals fail to do.
Regardless of whether you are a full-time student or full-time employee, you require higher-level discipline and planning to work and study. The following points will help you to effectively balance the two fields.
Discuss with your employer
Employers use different methods to boost team productivity and advancing education is one of them. If you want to go back to college but are not sure how you will create a balance between work and study, talk with your employer.
Most employers will be happy to see their employees take action and improve themselves through education. Some will even support them with tuition or commuting. Discuss with your employer and agree on the best time for your classes without having to interrupt work schedules.
Create a place for studying/working
This method is more applicable to work-from-home employees who want to further their education. Distractions are one of the greatest hindering factors in your study/work schedules. Prepare a quiet room from where you will be working and carrying out your studies after college lessons. It will help you maintain high productivity both at work and school.
Take a convenient work shift
For students who want to do part-time work and study, the first thing to consider is your class lessons because most lessons cannot be rescheduled. If your lessons go up to 3 pm, do not take a job that demands morning shifts. Instead, take a job with evening shifts but be sure your shift ends by around 9 pm. Apart from class lessons, you also need time to study for exams and do your paper assignments.
Enroll in online lessons
If your work shifts are tight, it might be hard for you to attend physical class lessons. Today, every college has both remote learning and physical class programs. Remote programs have many advantages because you can take them at your pace and still graduate with high grades. Check the best remote program and enroll to start immediately or sooner.
Master your time management priorities
Time is of the essence if you want to succeed between study and work. One fact that you will face daily is a job before you and a class to attend. The two are important and all that you need to do is become an expert time manager.
If you do your laundry daily, you might want to do it twice or once a week. You might plan to be waking up earlier or sleeping late, reduce the time for lunch, and socialize less. Your time in college will be short and you will have a lot of time after graduation.
Be disciplined with priorities
Everything you do in life is important in your growth and development, but everything is not a priority. Something like visiting your relatives during holidays or weekends is important, but it will affect your study. It is good to socialize for an hour or more, but again it is not a priority.
When you are working and studying, these two activities are your priorities currently and everything else can wait unless it’s an emergency. Create a consistent discipline in this and your study/work time will be productive.
Keep constant communication
Once in a while, your classes might affect your work shift and vice versa. If you realize you might get late to report to work because a lesson took more time than you thought, learn to update your employer immediately.
Do the same when your work shifts affect your class lessons. Your employer and teacher will know you are sincere and will also be flexible with you and support you until you graduate.
Get external support
Sometimes work might be more and it might affect your studies. At other times, college work will be more and it might affect your work. It is hard to seek work help from a third party but you can easily outsource for academic work help from professionals. Do not hesitate to seek external help from advisors, counselors, writers, and any other individual or institution that can help you become more productive.
Never allow procrastination
Your body and mind will not always feel like moving on. There will be moments when you will feel too tired, stressed, overwhelmed, or moody. These are signs of procrastination that will pull you back. They will make you postpone your lessons, fail to report to work, get late to submit your papers, or worse still lose your job. Even when your body and mind say you can’t continue, stand strong and move on.
Know your limits
When your stretch beyond your limit, you face burnout and become less productive. Everyone has their limits depending on their personality and surroundings. Identify the much you can do and to what capacity. If you can only work for five hours per day, do not take a job that requires your work for eight hours. If you can only be in a class for two hours, do not take a program that requires six hours of lessons daily.
Do not forget yourself
You might commit your entire day to work and study until you forget your needs. You might start to burn out soon if you don’t find time for yourself. Get some time to socialize, relax alone, and visit unique places. Create time to exercise and keep your body healthy. You need time to do your laundry, clean your room or house, and improve your looks. Another way to take care of yourself is to eat well and eat healthy foods.
Conclusion
The decision to work and study is not something simple to undertake but the resulting benefits are beyond imagination. The journey is certainly not easy, but with the right advice, it is possible. Talk with your family and employer for support and set your priorities in place. Refuse procrastination and celebrate every progress you make. When the journey gets tough, outsource for help to do your academic papers, for advice, and for counseling.
Author Bio:
Sherri Carrier is a professional writer working with the best essay writing services and best dissertation service like essay writing service UK . Besides that, she actively participates in the activities organized by the writing clubs in New York. She has been writing her stories and poems since she was a child and finds her inspiration from her close friends and other famous others.