Studying/work/life balance

[Fijaye]

I am thinking of studying for the ACCA professional qualification which could give me better job prospects long term. I work 3 days a week so could do some of the study in that free time as both kids are at school. I fear I will always be stressed out or not able to be the lynchpin of the family that I am used to - the study is a long commitment of at least 3 years.
Does anyone have experience of trying to fit in demanding study with family, do you have any advice from that experience?
Thanks

Thanks Wendy, your advice is solid and I will do as you suggest to see if what I need to give up to make the space is what I could (happily-ish) stick to. Thanks for the focus.

Hi There,
I have given up stuying ACCA. I did tried for several years, but with a full time job, I had to attend courses during saturdays, what left me for some weeks with just a day off. It wouldn't have been a problem if not children were in the family, but I have 2 daughters and even DH was very supportive it takes a lot from you.
You just work P/t so you might attend courses in your days off. But ACCa takes a lot of time and dedication, and you can't settled with knowing 50% before the exam.
I have to say as well, that I am not a very organised person and I think ,as Wendy has said, that it's very important to be very organised and have all the support from the people around, as you'll have to put in a lot of hours.
I passed 5 papers and I might sit one or two more in December as my possition is being made redundant at the end of June. I might use some of the redundany money to study 1 or 2 exams.
Good luck!

Depends I think on whether you naturally find studying a breeze, or if it takes a long time to sink in. The ACCA is hard work but entirely doable if you are organised and absorb things easily and have some free time outside of weekends. But it depends entirely on your own attributes.....

I did an MSc which started when my second DC was 2 weeks old, and I returned to full-time work 6 weeks after that, and in all honesty it was OK. But that was mainly because I (a) loved the subject and got a buzz from being back in Uni, (b) I can pick things up quickly so if I missed a few weeks of lectures it was no big sweat, and (c) I refused to get stressed and pushed myself into a mindset where the studying was a break from real life and therefore a treat not a chore. Though I do confess (and I say this as an ACA myself) that I might not have felt so 'treated' by the prospects of studying double-entry and budgets....