If you?ve taken a career break to bring up the kids, but are at a loose end now they?re at nursery or school, studying for a new skill or brushing up on existing specialities is a great way to boost your confidence and add shine to your CV before you re-enter the world of work. But with a hundred and one demands on your time, it?s hard to see how you can squeeze study into family life.
Nishma Zafar, director of customer services and HR at East Cheshire Business School? (www.macclesfieldcollege.com) ? which specialises in helping mums brush up on skills to take them back into the workplace ? offers her top tips on how to make studying work for you, and fit around your family.
Make time where there isn?t any
There are only twenty four hours in a day, and they?re all more than accounted for ? with everything from the children, to the washing staking their claim on your time.? Squeezing space for study is a matter of being savvy about the rare pockets of ?empty? time dotted around each day.? For example, if you usually put on a load of washing while the baby is napping, make this your chance to stick your head in a text book for half an hour?s quality studying. The washing can wait until the kids are up and about, but occupied with unravelling the loo rolls!
Win your kids? buy-in
If your little ones are at an age where they can entertain themselves for half an hour or so, why not play ?schools? and encourage them to get their books out at the same time as you?? They?ll love working alongside you and you can boost their enthusiasm by doling out smiley face stickers for great drawings or writing.
We?re not pretending that you?ll wade through swathes of serious study, but some tasks like internet research for essays will allow for a little distraction! Pick quiet times for tackling tasks that require brain power and leave the more mundane for when you can do a couple of things at once. Us women are renowned for lulti-tasking, after all!
Bitesize pieces all the way
Knowing that you have to deliver a 3,000 word essay can make the most battle hardy admit defeat before they?ve begun, but break down the essay into bite sized chunks and it will seem so much more manageable.? Usually essays break down naturally into sub-sections or paragraphs that can be treated as separate entities, so aim to get one section under your belt per day or week, to suit your timescales.
Some courses will allow you to complete a couple of modules before taking a break and picking up where you left off.? Speak to your training provider about various options open to you.
Rely on those around you
If you have a partner who is around in the evenings, ask them to bathe and put the kids to bed a couple of nights a week.? This will free up an hour or so for you to get down to some serious study and still leave time for a well-earned glass of wine in the evening.
If you don?t have a natural support network, consider teaming up with a couple of other mums and operating a voucher childcare scheme: each of you will receive say three vouchers you can cash in for babysitting services, then you can return the favour.?? This approach would work well for when you have seminars or lectures to attend that fall outside of your usual childcare arrangements.
Choose the right course and modules
It?s vital to sign up to a course you?ll genuinely enjoy and you feel will benefit you, personally and professionally.? If you?re not 100% committed to your study, it will be so much easier to find excuses not to put in the time required.
Speak to your local college about the courses that are on offer so you know what?s out there.
Once you?ve chosen your course, if you?re offered a choice of modules select those that fit best around your lifestyle.? Some are more exam-based whilst others are marked on coursework.?? You?ll find some modules require more hours at the education centre, whilst others will allow you to study more independently. Look into the possibilities so you can marry modules with childcare arrangements.
Supportive tutors are worth their weight in gold
Do talk to your tutor about your situation ? you may find there?s some leeway with deadlines or they might be able to offer invaluable advice about approaching your studies in the most effective manner.? They may even be open to reading through a work in progress, so that you don?t waste lots of time going down a certain route on a piece of work that requires a different approach.
Don?t be too hard on yourself
Juggling family life with study or work ? or even both ? can be really demanding, so don?t beat yourself up if you don?t manage to do everything all of the time.? Sometimes a take-away dinner is just what the doctor orders, and it won?t kill your kids to have an hour in front of the TV every so often.? The key is to step back and see what is really important that day, and be as laid back about the rest as you can.? And yes, sometimes the most important is half an hour with a magazine and a bar of Galaxy.? You?ll study, care for the children and manage everything else that?s going on in your life so much better if you take time out for yourself occasionally. I know ? I?ve been there!
