Tips For The Studying Mom

Tips for the studying mom  

Deciding to study further just a few months after my son was born was not so easy. My life had changed so much. It  was a number of years after leaving varsity and I was  working  so the decision had to be accompanied by serious commitment. I was feeling stagnant and I needed to rediscover myself  and continue with the pursuit of the goals I had even before becoming a mom. I decided to do it despite everything that seemed to be against me and I was also blessed with  family and friends who encouraged and supported me.

I think every mom wonders after having kids , “what  was I doing with my time before the kids?”.  I really thought I was tired and had so little time to myself before the kids but oh boy , motherhood brought everything to light. As much as we feel we can only do so much with our time  , the passion for what you decide to pursue should be the fuel you need  to make it work no matter what.

I must say that the first month of studying was not easy and the urge to quit was there along with tears as I was feeling so overwhelmed. As time went by, I was learning to manage my time  and my confidence just grew from there.

Here are few things that i found helpful:

Devide your work into manageable portions

Looking at all the prescribed work you need to do for the semester for example, is enough to put you into a panic mode. You start to wonder if you can really do it  with all you already have on your plate and things can just spiral out of control. Avoid feeling overwhelmed by dividing your work into small portions and setting deadlines to complete those tasks. This will give you the motivation you need to move on to the next task. It’s natural to feel more motivated once you’ve crushed a smaller goal and it makes it easier to keep going.

Work during the time of  day  when you are most productive

 Being a working mom meant that the only time i had to tackle my studies was after work when i had finally gotten my son to bed. We are all different and some people prefer to work during the late night hours while others work better in the early mornings. Choose what works best for you and get  work done whether you feel like it or not. Yes, sometimes you’ll feel like doing nothing but remind yourself why you are studying further and your end goal should keep you going  on those days when  you don’t feel motivated.

 Allocate time to rest

 It’s impossible to keep going without rest. Plan out your time in such a way that on specific days you tackle a smaller portion of the work  or nothing at all to allow yourself to rest. Our bodies can only take so much and to be able to make progress , you need to take really good care of yourself. One way to achieve this is to go to bed earlier on the specific rest day and I’ve found this to be so rejuvenating.

You are never too old to learn and if you decide to further your studies, I hope the above tips will help you manage your work and time so you make a success out of it.

Love,
Muhluri

Photo from Unsplash.com.