My studies at Penn Foster College took a back seat for a few months while I concentrated on completing my courses at Andrew Jackson University. I finished one semester at AJU and completed 9 credit hours. It was a time-consuming process that left me little time for much else. Trying to study at two different schools at the same time was just too much.
It can be tricky balancing career, family, social commitments and distance learning studies. Spend too much time in one area and the others suffer. Unfortunately, I was pouring all of my time into work and studying, so family and social commitments suffered. Not good. So, how can students be effective in all areas of their life at the same time?
At AJU and Penn Foster College, I go by the student handbook, which suggests it takes about 12-15 hours of studying per course, per week. That's roughly two hours per day. Since students at PFC take one course at a time, that's not unreasonable. It leaves time for work, family and other outside commitments. The next step is to pick a time of day when you have two hours free of any other commitments. Schedule this time for yourself, just like it's an appointment. Don't be late for this "appointment" and treat it like it's an important business meeting. You can't miss it. It's only two hours, and you'll have the rest of your day for whatever else it is you need to do.
With that being said, it is easy to get burned out on studying. This is what happened to me recently while I was studying at AJU. I did a lesson at PFC right after finishing at AJU, and decided I really just needed to take a break for awhile. For the past month, I stepped away from my studies to focus on other areas of my life that I had neglected for about six months. Now, I'm ready to hit the books again.
Time management can be a balancing act, but as long as you schedule reasonable amounts of time to study and take a break every few months (after all, even full-time college students get a break from their studies), you should be able to complete your assignments on time and avoid student burnout.
Check out this handy time management tool to help locate times of the day which may be best for studying, and identify areas where you may be wasting time.