Tips to study well while you work full time

Most people get a break at work, an hour at lunch or a quick fifteen-minute coffee break. Take this opportunity, make a quick cup of tea, put some headphones, and plug into your studies.

October 11, 2019

Masterstart 3 minutes read

Working a short course around your already full professional schedule sounds like a cruel punishment. Despite what you think, though, learning while earning doesn’t need to be painful. Getting the right strategy in place to manage your education is crucial to the success of your studies. Once you start to get it right, you’ll see the benefits flood in.

Take advantages of your breaks

Most people get a break at work, an hour at lunch or a quick fifteen-minute coffee break. Take this opportunity, make a quick cup of tea, put some headphones, and plug into your studies! Taking out a few intentional minutes to do small tasks in your course can add up quickly; giving you more time to focus on the more chunky parts of your course later. This can something ‘small’, like reading a few pages, watching a lecture video, or brushing up on some relevant information.

Just remember: Anything you can do in your free or in-between time, you won’t have to do later!

Pick the time of day that works for you

Some prefer to study at the crack of dawn before heading off to work, while others tend to enjoy putting their minds to work after hours. If you wake up feeling like the dead walking in the morning, consider tackling your studies when you feel fresher and ready to focus. Alternatively, leave bigger tasks for the weekend, carving out a large portion of your time during your off-days while doing the small things during the week.

If you prefer to perform your study assignment during the weekend, it is recommended that you continue to read throughout the week to maintain the focus.

Study before a meal

Put your phone down

Nothing is more distracting than a blinking light telling you that you have a message. Even if your phone doesn’t alert you when you have a notification, the temptation to keeping checking it can be detrimental to retaining focus.

Instead of saying to yourself “I’m just using it to check the time”, try using your computer to keep an eye on the hour and put your phone elsewhere while you work. Taking the distraction out of your line of vision is one surefire way of reducing how much attention you give it while you attend to a course to develop your career.

Take your professional life to the next level

Form a group for a ‘work party’

Odds are you aren’t the only one in your group of colleagues or friends that is doing some sort of course or remote work. Forming a study or workgroup can yield a remarkable amount of productivity from the positive peer pressure. If you can find individuals who are in a similar industry to you or doing the same course, you could also bat ideas off one another, while ultimately helps you learn more.

Balancing work and study

One thing to remember when you take a short course or do an online class is that it’s not permanent. This means that putting in more effort than usual is not necessarily going to become the new usual. While your studies are important, they should work hand-in-hand with your work life and -more importantly- with your lifestyle.

Doing a short course might mean saying no to a social event, but it shouldn’t mean saying no to your current responsibilities at work. Luckily, most short courses are built to fit around the schedules of professionals and so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find the balance between course and career with a little time.

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