Being a parent who is also a student means that a lot of compromises have to be made. However, these compromises should not include failing your exams or even dropping out; quite the contrary.
Being successful in both fields may be somewhat limited, but it is not unattainable, so let’s consider some ways you can improve your likelihood of graduating with less stress and with more time to spend with your family.
Is it Hard to Study as a Parent?
Being a student is hard enough, but being a parent who studies can be even more difficult. As some parents may have grown-up kids who can take care of themselves, some may have toddlers and heads full of worries. If this is the case with you, you may want to take a few moments for yourself and understand the problems you face. Let’s consider them in more detail.
Common Problems Parent Students Face
The issues that are here mostly stem from having too much on your plate. Not being able to swallow all the responsibilities can quickly spiral and take you from a proud student-parent to a frustrated person that thinks they cannot achieve anything. Here are some issues that most parent-students have to deal with:
Lack of Time
Lack of time is a no-brainer here. Balancing both studies and parenting can be both strenuous and dangerous – for your mental and physical health. You may want to consider asking for outside help to save precious time. Grab My Essay can take over a portion of your school work, especially making your study notes. This way, you can have a 50-page booklet to go through before an exam rather than a 300-page book. Over time, these time-savers add up.
Lack of Organization
Lack of organization is the next thing to consider if you cannot keep up with all the responsibilities out there. Staying organized is the key here, not simply being organized. Once you have your curriculum, write it down in a calendar. Add to it all the important social events and all the other activities you need to do. Make sure to set a day a week aside for family and do the best you can to do work in advance.
Lack of Motivation
Lack of motivation from overexposure is something that happens to everyone. For this reason, you need to find internal motivation to do the work you’re supposed to do and to work as hard as you can. Delaying and procrastination all have to be paid for one day – it’s much better to reward yourself with extra family time at the end of a week than to spend the weekend studying in distress.
College-Induced Stress
College-induced stress is going to be one of the biggest stressors in this period of your life. You may even need to look for help to reduce the pressure. Organizing study groups and finding ways to reduce the volume of work there is to be done is the easiest way to reduce stress. Then, there is also the other kind of stress to consider.
Family Induced Stress
Family-induced stress is also very prominent in this period of your life. As it usually goes, family needs time as well, so cramming as many responsibilities and tasks as you can into the morning and afternoon is the best thing you can do. Not spending enough time with your family is already bad enough, but try to compare yourself to a businessman who works 9-5 and leaves time for family in the evenings.
How to Fix Parent Student’s Problems – In Short
Although there are a lot of issues you should take care of as both a parent and a student, it is very useful to step aside and be able to understand the problems you are facing. Only this way will you be able to implement some of our advice on how to succeed in both fields of your life. Here is what you need to do (boiled down) to have more time on your hands and have time for both responsibilities:
- Get organized,
- Prioritize,
- Understand you can’t have it all,
- Study with a sharp focus, and
- Rely on others and delegate some school work.
Carl Hill
Carl Hill loves learning about other people and their cultures. This helps him better understand the world he comes from and himself. He loves coffee and splurges his money in cafes around the city.
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