Tips for Studying and Working at the Same Time

Jana Rooheart
9 min readAug 24, 2021

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Do you feel the need to go back to school now that you are working? Would you like to go back to school but you think you will not combine studies and work? If you consider the possibility of going back to school and working simultaneously, you will find some tips that will be very useful to achieve it in this article.

Joining a company when you are young and retiring in the same company a few decades ago is almost unthinkable nowadays. In the world in which we live, we are exposed to a situation of nearly permanent change. According to some studies, we will all have to reinvent ourselves between 3 and 4 times throughout our professional life. And this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Consequently, we need to maintain an attitude of learning and professional evolution due to this ever-changing situation. And for this, it is vital to give greater importance to continuous training. So you are not alone in studying and working at the same time. You are part of a movement of people who understand that they can not stand still and seek to be in continuous evolution.

The truth is that more and more people are resuming their studies after a long time, and most of them are working. Why did they stop studying at the time? Perhaps they were not sure what to learn, they preferred to start their working life, or they could not continue studying. It doesn’t matter why they dropped out of school. The important thing is that they have now decided to take back the reins of their professional career.

At this moment, when you have decided to resume your studies, the big question arises: How can I organize myself to study and work at the same time? How can I learn and work and not die trying? Don’t worry. You should know that it is possible. Wow essay writing service have as an example hundreds of students who have already achieved it. So, you know, if they have been able to do it, so can you.

To achieve your goal, you have to follow a few tips that we will give you in this article that will be very useful for you to combine studies and work. We will not give you a magic wand that will transform your life and make this project a breeze. We will not deceive you, you will have to make sacrifices, and there will be times when you will want to throw it all away, but you will not. Think that it is possible, that the goal is your dream, your future, and that of your loved ones. Think of all you have left to live, and you will see that the effort will be worth it.

Tips for studying and working at the same time

The organization is the key to study and work.

The only way to be able to study and work at the same time is to be well organized. If you decide to embark on this path, you must be clear that in your situation, every minute counts. You do not have the time to study full time, so you must organize yourself properly to carry out all the day-to-day tasks and those of your study.

Start by making a detailed list of tasks and measure the time you dedicate daily to each of them. For example, 30 minutes to go to work, 15 minutes for coffee, 25 minutes to go to the supermarket. Record for a few days all the time you use to do everyday things. This information will help you know how much time you can take away from different activities to study.

If you take your afternoon coffee at home and delegate some household chores, indeed you can have an hour to study. Think that every minute is gold — scrape time from wherever you can and charge as much as possible if you get two hours better than one and one better than half.

The time for “I’ll do it later” is over. That’s no longer valid. Time optimization is now of vital importance.

Prepare a list of realistic objectives.

Before starting the study dynamics, you must list the objectives you intend to achieve during this course.

Now that you know the real-time you have available. Sit down, look at the course syllabus, take a piece of paper and write down a list of objectives that you must accomplish, come what may, over the next few months.

Once you have set your course objectives, you should break those objectives down into smaller ones. For example, if you have to prepare a subject with 12 topics over a year, you can divide that objective into 12 smaller goals, which would be to complete one issue each month of the year. We can further divide each of these tasks into smaller tasks. For example, if each topic comprises 4 lessons, you can set a goal to study one lesson each week. The smaller the objectives are, the more accessible and easier they will be for you to accomplish.

Keep in mind that you need to set achievable goals and that you will be able to meet them. Otherwise, you will only get unnecessary frustration. Think that this is not a sprint. It is a long-distance race — plan for the long term. If you can’t do it all, enroll in half of the subjects, or three. Now you don’t have the free time you had years ago, so set yourself some goals that you can meet, taking into account your current life.

It may not be easy at first, but you will see that in a short time, you will have established a study routine that you will carry out almost without thinking about it.

Try to reduce your working hours. It will help you to combine studies and work.

We know that it is difficult, that when you have a job, you don’t like asking favors to the boss, but think how good it would be for you to have a couple of hours more a day or a week to study.

Talk to your bosses and let them know about your situation. You will surely be surprised to see that they are willing to lend you a hand to the best of their ability. That shows them that you want to improve, that you are not satisfied, that you fight for what you want, and that bosses usually value it very much.

Imagine that when you tell them that, they give you a couple of hours a day to attend class or study. Or that, even if you don’t get a reduced workday, they may give you days off to take exams or allow you to attend specific classes that you request.

Your company may offer some assistance for workers who decide to resume their studies. Many companies offer them, ranging from scholarships for materials and tuition to reduced working hours and support of all kinds. Always think that if you improve, so do they, so it is likely that they will help you more than you think.

Use new technologies. They can help you study and work at the same time.

By this, we do not mean that sending WhatsApp to your fellow students will help you achieve your goal. Not at all. It is about using all the resources you have at your disposal in the right way.

What if you were listening to a podcast about the subject you are studying during your commute to work? Or if you wrote all your notes and annotations in files that you can upload to the cloud and access them to learn anytime, anywhere? New technologies, when used properly, will make your life much easier.

Use apps on your smartphone to help you organize yourself properly: Trello, Evernote, Time Planner. The list is long; you are sure to find one that suits your needs.

In addition, on the Internet, you can find complementary content that can help you understand the subjects you are studying or expand your knowledge of the issue.

Technology, when used well, is lovely. Think that between you and all the information you need, there is only one click. Could you take advantage of it?

Make your environment help you to combine study and work.

No magic can make the days multiply their hours, nor the weeks their days. Don’t you have the feeling of not stopping all day long? Well, we are sorry to tell you that this will not change because you start studying.

We know that sometimes it is hard to ask for help, but if you take the step to resume your studies and continue working, you will have to do it necessarily. It would help if you had time, don’t forget that.

Talk to the people around you: parents, partners, friends, siblings. Discuss the situation with them. You will have to rely on people you trust to help you in this new stage of your life, at least for a while.

If your mother does the shopping, your brother picks up the children from school, and your partner does more housework, you gain a lot of time to devote to your studies.

Remember what we said at the beginning; every minute is gold. And many minutes make hours, so ask for help.

Use study techniques that help you to work and study at the same time.

There are a lot of different study techniques: Feynman, Pomodoro study technique, Flash Cards. There are many different ones, and all of them are good to improve your results, optimize your study time and improve your productivity. But which one to choose?

Learn about the different study techniques and try them out. It may seem like a waste of time at first, but you will see how, in the long run, that small initial effort will significantly optimize your study time and improve your performance.

You must know how to use some study techniques to help you achieve your goal. For example:

  • Underlining what you are studying will help you detect the essential information and summarize what you are learning correctly. When you have the whole subject well outlined, you will see how easy it is to understand it.
  • Flashcards can help you to organize the most important ideas and concepts for later review.
  • You can also find it very helpful to make mind maps. This tool will help you organize information and review it at a glance. It is a very visual study tool that you will surely love.

Some productivity techniques, such as the Pomodoro technique, which will help you study for hours, combine study time and mental rest, and mnemonic memorization techniques such as the mental locker, Memory Palace.

As you can see, there is an infinity of study techniques. You have to find the ones that work for you and that you like the most. You will see how using them will transform the way you organize and study.

Don’t stop doing the things you like

Indeed there come those days when you have to study, and you would rather watch a movie, go and spend a day with your friends or take a nap and rest. The truth is that you should not let yourself get carried away. It’s no longer suitable to say, “I’ll leave it for later.” We can no longer leave things for another time because all our moments must be used to the fullest.

But don’t worry, we’re not telling you to forget about having a social life or taking a nap. We’re just telling you to prioritize and give each thing the importance it has.

Indeed you can watch that movie at another time when you don’t have so much to do. What if instead of taking a three-hour nap, you take a half-hour nap? It will be enough to give your body and mind the rest they are asking for. Talk to your friends; they will understand that you spend a few hours instead of spending the day together, and they will appreciate your willpower.

We know that these are challenging times and that maybe now, more than ever, you need a coffee with a friend, a walk with the dog, or to play with your children for a while. You don’t have to stop doing those things you love; it’s not about that. It’s about giving each item the time it needs.

It’s okay to disconnect from the routine you should do, and this will allow you to perform better when you go back to your notes, but you have to do it correctly if you want to succeed in this work/study combination.

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Jana Rooheart
Jana Rooheart

Written by Jana Rooheart

Jana Rooheart is a WowEssays.com stuff writer with passion for education and psychology.

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