Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)!
Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?
Hello!
It’s nice to see you again, particularly right now I’m enjoying the momentary break from everything to just sit back, enjoy a nice cup of coffee (this weekend I’m using various Christmas gifts for my coffee – including some yummy syrups and a milk frother) and chat with all of you.
I started school, my Masters in Library and Information Sciences program. Now into the second week, it’s my second Master’s Degree, but my first time doing online learning. It’s also my first time being in a program in a large school. Seriously, one of my classes has as many (or nearly as many) students in it as the classes I graduated with since High School. Certainly not the student-to-teacher ratio I’m used to.
It is also the first time in my life that I’ve been employed full time while in school part time (usually it’s been school full time, work part time). That in itself has been quite the adjustment, trying to figure out how to fit all the reading and assignments in around work. I pretty much feel like I’m either working or schooling, with little time for anything else. I know I’m going to have to do some work to find a balance – because all school and all work is not sustainable for the three years this program is going to take me (not taking summers off). I know I’ll find the balance, it’s just going to take me a little time to adjust.
What are some ways you’ve found to get balance in your life? I know organization and focus will help, but I’m always looking for more hints, tips, and tricks!
Eclectic Alli 
You are amazingly organized! I do not have a masters in anything, only a Bachelor degree, but I love school. Best of luck with everything.
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Thank you for the coffee this morning. You are inspiring and amazing! Second Master degree. That’s awesome, and I’m not sure how you juggle everything, which is why you asked for some ideas. I’m sure you will get a routine down to make it work for you! Kindly, Diana 😃
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Find a “life balance” is tough – it’s difficult to assign a time value to each thing in your life, as the real world is always shifting…but that’s what I try to do: segments of a day devoted to one specific thing and a “to do” list that struggles to stop growing! Bravo to you on your next step!
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Thanks for inviting me in. I don’t have ideas…. I just know when I had school work to do my house got very clean!! 😉
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Hi Alli,
Such an easy question you pose – not. . .
Okay, here’s what I’ve done with some degree of success.
Make a list of what you want to accomplish and rank them by priority.
Don’t leave off things like your time for your family, sleep and full-down-time, and doing your coffee share each weekend. . .
Add the details like number of required hours / day.
Then make them fit into a 24 hour day somehow.
Since laws of physics do not grant any of us a few more hours to the day, you will have to adjust something, but this way you can take a big picture view and adjust wisely.
If you just try to do it all, you will be forced to adjust on the fly and this will add lots of frustration, likely to each day.
If you do need more time, it will be obvious what has to be spread out, like not working full time or taking longer to complete your next degree.
Man – that was easy to write, but I can tell you, it was not easy for me to do.
Blessings.
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Like you say, easy to write…. One of the elements in the mix: the need for health insurance due to my chronic illness (and to pay other bills) so I’d be hard pressed to not work full time, and the need for the financial aid to pay for school (so I’d be hard pressed to take any less classes at a time). The one compromise might be to not take classes in the summer, give myself that break, but that would add another year onto my school time, which I’m not so sure I want to do.
Actually making the lists is a good idea though 🙂
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Congrats and how exciting! I worked full time all through college, all four years, but it was pretty part-time, once class a week, but the workload was full. Tips? There are lots of great ideas on this thread.. Is there something that helps you to focus? For me, it was instrumental piano music while I studied and wrote papers. Good luck!
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Wow! You are very motivated! I did full time school and full time work years ago. Don’t think I could manage now!
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Studying part time while working full time does take a lot of planning – but the rewards are great. Good luck.
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I wish you great success in finding the balance that’s right for you. I think sometimes that’s the real trick — finding what works best for each one of us individually — and not leaning too heavily on “advice” from other people. Did I miss pictures of your costumes for the Regency weekend???
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Wow, you’re clearly very motivated! I have only one year and two months’ worth of college education and didn’t work then, so I cannot imagine what it must be like to study for a Master’s degree while working fulltime.
The milk frother sounds cool.
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