Working full time & studying

[Purplelemon7]

Hi,

I’m keen to take a professional qualification which would require me to study over 2 years for 1 hour per day plus a whole day at the weekends. I have young kids too. Unfortunately can’t go part time at work. Am I mad to think this might be possible? Has anyone done anything similar?

People have done many things with young children in tow but only you can answer whether you can do the above. I have small children and work FT, I find it exhausting juggling it all and want my weekend to unwind, however if the course meant a lot to me I would do it, saying that I have a supportive partner, an extended family and friends who would also help.

I guess you will need to consider the following?
How badly do you want this?
Do you have enough support to help you with housework and childcare?
Are you willing to give up an hour a day and a day at the weekend for 2 years?

I work full time, have two young children and am in the final year of a 3 year MSc. I'll be honest it's absolutely exhausting and I wish I'd never started it. I'm sure I'll be glad once it's over but I never thought it would be as hard as it has been. Although when I started the course I didn't factor in the madness with covid as I started just before the pandemic (am a nurse so work has been completely hellish).

My advice would be to have a realistic in depth look into what the course entails in terms of the classes and the amount of at home studying you need to do for your assignments etc. I have found that the hardest part as after 12 hour shifts and minimal sleep (my children still have me up at least twice a night) is that I don't have the energy for any study.

Time off from work is spent looking after my children, running the house and trying to recover from the never ending exhaustion so sitting down to the books of an evening never happens and getting assignments in is so stressful. Am currently trying to finish my dissertation and it seems impossible.

If you do decide to do it I wish you all the luck in the world and hopefully you are much better at managing your time than I am!x

I do it. I’m studying for a degree, work full time in a demanding job and have a child. It’s doable but expect fuck all social life. I get through by reminding myself that this is temporary. It’s not forever and the benefits will be so great, I’ll forget this time while reaping them. Good luck OP