How to survive as a part-time post-grad student in full-time employment

Life is tough as a part-time post-grad student and full-time employee, there is no doubt about it. However you will be impressed with yourself if you can pull it off and the sense of achievement will be massive (I heard).
I am a master student myself currently in the middle of a course in DCU. Juggling life with college and work is not easy but very enjoyable once you are on top of your tasks. Which you probably aren’t always, let’s face it. But what you will learn is to prioritise and make sacrifices.  There are a few little things you can do to help you cope with the extra stress and since I am in the situation myself, I would like to share with you guys:

Organise yourself

It is important to plan ahead and make study plans. Most certainly though as a full-time employee you will have to plan your evenings and lunch breaks to make the most of the time you have. Prioritise your work and make sure you know what is most urgent and especially has most value in terms of mark distribution.

Sometimes it is not always about putting the hours in but to know what to do in the most efficient way. I cannot stress enough that planning ahead is very important and will decrease the stress of having to keep everything you have to do in mind. This might be very straight forward but have an actual plan on paper will help a lot. What I found was having a check list for a day of study helped me to stay focused on what needed to be done. 

Work-life balance

This is a term used most frequently in organisations to mark the importance of finding time for hobbies, family and friends. If you are studying on top you will have to make cut backs on some activities, however it is still important to do what you enjoy doing most. For instance a visit to the gym will take your mind of everything and might actually help you to reflect and be more productive. I try to keep exercise going as much as I can just to balance the time on an office chair with physical activity. Also, I am not sure how you feel but I find it is very hard to avoid snacking during study time. You might be stuck in work late and the temptation to grab this delicious looking chocolate bar might be high. Nutrition infact is super important and instead of reaching for the unhealthy alternative I take the energy and vitamin option. Discover what you find tasty, it might be advocado salads, carot and hummus or olives. All of that will give you super energy and keep you going for your day and night of study.

One last thing and this might be an obvious one: Make sure to get plenty of sleep as well. I found that when I did not sleep enough I was much less productive and my attention span was just minimal. 

Get stuff done

There are many books and blog posts about this topic of productivity. This becomes vital for you in this phase of your like. You just need to get stuff done and to have a couple of life tweaks to help this might make a huge difference to you. Examples of these are the Zero Inbox policy, getting the most important (and the most unpleasant) things done first etc. These also apply to your study work load. If you have a spare moment check out this talk by David Allen who is one of the leaders in productivity training: