Towards Degree And Success: How To Balance Studying And Career

working towards college degree while balancing career lean startup life

Starting a career while working to get your degree is a challenging task. For most people, it may seem too intense and they will advise to choose one and let go of the other. However, if you are determined enough, you can do it. Here are some of the things that can help you along the way. 

Get Academic Assistance 

If you starting a career or your own business, you must already know what you want in life. You are probably very goal-orientated and have a plan you follow to achieve what you strive for. A degree in your chosen field and a thorough theoretical knowledge of the select subject must rank high in the objectives you’ve set for yourself. However, your goals and the college curriculum not necessarily overlap 100 percent. You may find that some of the subjects are irrelevant or superfluous and you have no interest in them whatsoever. 

In this case you, it makes sense to get research paper writing help and other types of assistance that will get you desired college credits without wasting too much of your time on stuff you will never need or use. 

Study Smarter, Not Harder 

Many students are convinced to this day that effective studying means long hours at the library and uninterrupted weekend reading sessions. Working and studying hard is an ingrained virtue and we are convinced it must pay off later. However, this conviction does not stand the test by modern fast-paced life. 

Just as well, since you don’t have time for that. Instead, you need to study efficiently. That means spacing out your learning sessions by hours, days and even weeks. Another crucial condition of smarter learning is testing your knowledge to check how much you have retained. Luckily, there are many platforms and apps that allow you to use digital flash-cards and other revision tools on the go whenever you have 5 minutes to spare. 

Take Care Of Yourself 

This may come off like well-meaning but ill-informed advice, since people usually know they should take care of their health, eat well and get plenty of rest, and they honest-to-goodness would stick to all that IF ONLY they had time. Tell you what: wearing yourself down never made anyone more productive and never really won anyone more time. Overwork and sleep deprivation are some insane cult in our public conscience. 

To do more than an average person with your business and your education you must be in your best shape. To be in your best shape you must replenish your energy regularly. Promising yourself to catch up on sleep at the end of the project/semester and grabbing fast food to keep on going might seem like the only way to move mountains, but it will fail miserably in the long run. This road doesn’t lead to success. If anything, it leads to martyrdom. 

Use Your Natural Strengths 

The best thing you can do for yourself is to learn your habits and leverage them to your own advantage. If switching from task to task and taking breaks according to Pomodoro technique works for you – fine. If you feel that you are more productive with longer concentration intervals and fewer but longer breaks – don’t try to fit yourself into this mold. 

Same goes for your circadian rhythms. Whatever number of executives swears by the magic of dawn, if you are a night owl, scheduling to learn at 5 in the morning will get you nowhere. If you are a morning bird – good for you, take their advice close to heart. If not, maybe consider scheduling to learn from 9 to 11 in the evening and skip the sunrise rituals. 

Keep Your Eyes On The Goals 

There will be days when you will doubt if all the effort you’re putting into the endeavor is worthwhile. The best thing to keep your spirits up in this case is to remember why you are doing it in the first place. What was your initial push, why you decided to undertake this journey? Keeping it all in mind will give you strength and inspiration. Place a reminder on your desk, a corkboard on the wall or on a bedside table where you will see it first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening. Put it in words and print out. 

Final Words

Don’t let the disappointment and temporary difficulties tear you down. Keep your eyes on the horizon and you won’t notice how you will get to your destination.

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