How can I find time to study?

Question

I work full time and do 2 nights a week at college. When I'm not at college, I get home at 7pm, make dinner, have my bath and by the time I've done that, I am shattered. On a Saturday, I see my parents and Sunday, I wash my clothes. I find it really hard to find time to study! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

lol, thanks for those who have told me to get off Yahoo, I'm on my lunch and taking 5 mins to myself! I will be reading my notes now but thabks for making me laugh!

Answer 1

While it seems you have a full-time schedule to consume your time, here are some ideas that you might wish to employ (or at least consider):
1) Time Management-seems as if there might be some time to combine some efforts, such as scan over your studies at dinner, or maybe try to take 1-2 hours after your bath to review your work.
Also, on weekends, when you aren't spending time with the parents, that would be an excellent time to handle those in-depth studies you need to do. Also, you can spend time in the books while washing those clothes. That's called multi-tasking, a skill most useful in the work world.
2) Re-arrange that free time. Take that free time and schedule it on a chart or something simular, and see just how much of it you actually do have, and where you can shave some time for study. True, the first area to shave would be where entertainment and sleep are concerned--mostly important when a major study event is happening (i.e. Midterms, Finals, Major Reports, Required Essays and such).
True, it is hard to schedule these things, but, with a little planning and work, it can be done! Good luck, and don't give up!

Answer 2

Take a good look at your schedule, and see if there aren't periods where you can set aside blocks of an hour or two to get some studying in.

Since you work full time, I don't advise you to try while at work. You need your lunch and rest breaks to relax. Also, your schedule seems pretty full during the week in general.

I would try to find time on the weekends. How much time do you spend with your parents on Saturday? Can you squeeze in a study session before, and then another one after you visit with them? Can you cut your time with them a little shorter, so you have time to study? I know that's not fun, but it might be necessary while you are in college.

Sunday looks like a good place to do some studying, as well. How do you wash your clothing? Do you have to go to a laundromat? Then take your school bag with you and study while you're using the machines. If you do your laundry at home, so much the better. Either set the alarm on your washer and dryer (newer models usually have an alarm that sounds to tell you when the load is finished), or set a kitchen timer. Sort all your clothing, start a load in the washer, and then sit down to study. Only get up when it's time to move the load from the washer to the dryer, or to hang it up. Most wash cycles take between 35 and 45 minutes, so that should give you nice little chunks of time to study, with little breaks in between as you attend to your laundry. If it takes you six hours to do all your laundry for the week, I would imagine that 5 hours of that can actually be spent studying.

Whatever you decide to do, you need to treat studying as a necessity, not as a luxury. If that means trimming time off of more pleasant or relaxing activities so that you have time for it, then that's what needs to happen. I know it's not fun contemplating filling every extra moment with school work, but you can keep things in perspective by remembering that you won't always have to do this. Studying now will lead to more leisure later on, after you have finished college.

I wish you the very best of luck--I know it can be hard to have such a full plate.

Answer 3

I appreciate your situation. I work part time, study for a degree and have 2 children so time is at a premium.

Look at what you really must do to 'survive' and what is not as essential in the broader scheme of things. Presumably you need to work full time in order to support yourself but could your hours be re-scheduled so that you work longer on one or two days but at least you will have a whole day off mid-week on which to study? Or maybe if you got through you work sooner you would be able to leave work early or have the occasional half day which would make a difference.

I don't know how many modules you are studying but try restricting studying outside of college to two specific evenings a week which will focus you more because of the limited time you have allowed yourself and for you to have 3 evenings off a week to recharge.

Although it is a nice thing, do you need to see your parents every Saturday? What about during term time you limit it to once a month? You may feel homesick initially but it's not forever. Calculating how much of the year we students are actually in college it is only about 5 months a year when you add it altogether. Your parents would understand if you explained it and will be pleased that you are taking your studying so seriously.

Household chores are time consuming but is there anyone else to delegate some of the chores to? If not, try studying on the Saturday which you will now have free during term time and leave all the chores to the Sunday afternoon. There's not much else to do then anyway!

Hopefully, this will free up some time for you. Then it will be down to you and how you deal with the inevitable distractions - tv, friends inviting you down the pub, Yahoo Answers....... If you think to yourself, 'Right, I've got 2 hours and only 2 hours in which to get this done,' you will have to focus.

I personally go to Uni on Mondays and Tuesdays, using the time inbetween lectures to access info on the web, go to library etc. I work on Weds pm, all day Thurs and Fri and make it a rule that Friday evenings are no work which includes no cooking, Saturday is spent doing whatever the kids want and Sunday am for chores and pm for studying. It's busy but it's for such a relatively short period of time in a year and it keeps me off the streets.

Good luck anyway :0)

Answer 4

1. I suggest you automate as much as you can -- use your dishwasher and microwave more.

2. Dinner is OK once in a while but fast food take out and TV dinners are OK too from time to time. Use disposable dishes and utensils for easy clean-up.

3. Try to make your parents' day visit into half-day affairs when you're really busy.

4. Bring school work into the laundry room with you. No sense watching the clothes spin all the time, right? You'd have about 20-30 minutes free for each wash/dry cycle since drying takes a lot of time anyway.

Answer 5

I study on my commute to work, and do about 30 mins to 1 hour per night. It's got me through the last 18 months ok! Do you have someone who can make dinner instead of you? Or as someone said, get a takeaway once in a while. If you're washing your clothes at a laundrette, you can study there, or if you do it at home, well you can walk away and study then! I'm sure your parents would understand if you don't see them every Saturday if it's for your future.

Answer 6

keeping your study times short and often may be the key, how about just 10 mins each night and an hour saturday before you see your parents and then on sundays you could surely fit and hour or two each side of doing the washing..

it might also be an idea to get hold of a time management book to get more ideas..

if your courses are related in anyway to your area of work why not ask your manager if you could spend say half an hour a day studying too..

Answer 7

That's the price we have to pay to better ourselves. I also work full time (3 shifts of 12 hours each), I go to university 3 days a week and have children! count yourself lucky that you can go to bed early, most of us the earliest we see bed is around 1am and have to get up no later than 7!!
I know that sometimes it feels like giving the whole thing up, but just think of all the opportunities it will give you, and the hard work you have put in.............. It takes a very strong person to carry on with education as well as full time work! Well done, keep it up.

Try to study when you are doing the washing, put aside just 10min a day for a bit of revision or homework. The trick is planning your time equally and giving time for yourself as well. If what you are studying is related to your present work, they should allow you to have half hour or so to study, when it is quiet. Good luck!

Answer 8

Good question! Just try to pay lots of attention during your classes, and take good notes. Then you will just have to give them a look (15 minutes) before you go to bed and you will need less time to study when an exam comes closer. You can also read them sometimes while you have lunch, or in little bits during your little free time. It's hard, but it all depends on how important is passing the xams for you.

Answer 9

Buy a washing machine for the washing, get the family to do their own meals, skip the bath (it'll be more relaxing AFTER you've studied) & learn to prioritize your life. OK, so maybe you're new to this, so it will take time getting used to, but I'm sure even your parents would encourage you to study FIRST, then visit if you had time. Even a phone call to tell them you were thinking of them might suffice til you have time to visit. Hope this helps!

Answer 10

I'd say when you go home on Saturday, take a bunch of ingredients with you to cook afew different dishes. Prepare the food while you socialize. Divide it into portions and put it in the freezer. Take one portion out each work day for dinner set it to heat or simmer while you shower, eat, and study after supper.