As if motherhood wasn’t challenging enough, you’ve taken on another major life role – being a student. Juggling between these two beautiful but exhausting and time-consuming functions can seem impossible. But, with the right mindset and preparation, you can make it all work.
If you’re not sure if you’ll be able to succeed as a mom-student, just keep reading. Here are the essential tips for being a great mom and a great student at the same time.
Learn Time-Management
The only way for you to make things work while being a mom-student is to learn the basics of time management and apply them every day, all the time.
You need to take control and plan how you spend every moment during the day. The best practices include:
- creating a schedule and writing down all your tasks, due dates, plans, and obligations
- multitasking, e.g. listening to audio study materials while making lunch
- completely avoiding meaningless activities like scrolling social media
The better you organize your time, the more you’ll get done.
Study Effectively
Studying can take up a lot of your time if you don’t find the best and most effective strategies to do it. You could be a visual learner or a nighttime learner. Explore your options and find what suits you the most.
Once you establish your study style, try to:
- prepare your study materials in advance
- include your kids in your study session, e.g. have them sit next to you and draw or color in
- find tools and resources to help you speed up the process
You could find tons of study materials online to help you study faster and better. There are also writing services you can find at TopWritersReview that can take care of your writing assignments. The important thing is for you to be as efficient and practical as possible.
Find Support
There’s no such thing as a super-mom. Or there is, and all moms are super-moms. But, nobody expects you to do it all on your own.
This is especially the case for moms who don’t have a student scholarship for moms and need to work on top of it all.
So, find support with family, friends, or the community. See how people can step in to babysit, help
around the house, or aid with your college duties. Your support network will mean the world to you.
Take Care of Yourself
When you’re a mom and a student, you’re bound to feel burnout at some point. Either your body or your mind is going to start cracking under the pressure, and you’ll need to address this.
So, listen to your body and take care of yourself. Here’s what you can do:
- organize some “me” time at least once a month
- try to be physically active
- find activities you enjoy and do them in your free time
- talk to someone if you start feeling mentally weak
Don’t ignore your needs and the struggles you’re going through. Take care of yourself, so that you are able to take care of others.
Plan Family Time
In all the chaos and struggle of making everything work, we sometimes forget that family time has to come first. So, when you do catch a moment of free time, make sure to check in with your loved ones.
Plan your family time to make sure you’re using it wisely:
- go on a day-trip
- spend time outdoors
- go to the movies
- have a pajama day at home
Do anything your kids love doing and enjoy every second of your free time with them.
Final Thoughts
As a mom-student, you’re bound to have ups and downs. The important thing is to stay focused on your goals and believe in yourself.
The tips we’ve listed above will hopefully help you make the most out of every day. Use them to enjoy both of your exciting roles.
Author’s Bio
Melony Hart is a psychologist and a blogger. She specializes in family psychology. She covers versatile topics – from couple psychology to sex education.