As a mom, you’ll always want the best for yourself and your family. For many moms, improving the home situation and making sure that they are better able to provide for their little ones often means returning to school and improving their education, in order to land a better job or pursue a different, better-paid career that’s more suitable for their family’s needs. But, whilst studying for a college degree or going to grad school has become much easier for moms in recent times, there’s no denying that looking after children whilst studying at the college level can be stressful. But, it’s not impossible! We’ve put together some top tips to help moms keep their cool when studying.
Tip #1. Get Support
Before your nurse practitioner doctorate degree even begins, it’s important to start gathering together as much support as you can get. Childcare will be one of the main priorities for you, since you’ll need to be sure that your little ones are safe and happy whilst you’re at class, taking a work placement, or spending some time in the library to study and revise. Family members and friends can certainly come in handy when it comes to getting support; they can babysit for you so that you’re free to commit time to your education. Don’t forget that many colleges will also offer support for parents, such as in-house crèches or childcare vouchers.
Tip #2. Study Online
For many moms, the prospect of committing to a class timetable is simply impossible, especially when morning classes clash with the school run and the times that they’re run mean that it’d be very difficult for them to continue working and bringing in an income for the family. Unless you are lucky enough to have a partner who’s able to work and support all of you whilst you study for your degree, then you’re going to have to find a program that offers more flexibility. Thankfully, there are plenty available – from undergraduate programs in business to doctor of nurse practitioner programs, you can find a huge selection of flexible, self-led course options online that you can study from the comfort of your own home, making childcare easier, too.
Tip #3. Look After Your Health
When you’re rushing around from home to school and juggling the commitments of motherhood with assignments, presentations, and exams, it can be easy to quickly become burned out and tired with stress and worry. To make sure that you have both the mental and physical health to carry on and gain the results that you need, it’s never been more important to take great care of your health. Do this by making sure to eat a healthy diet; whilst convenience food might be appealing if you have little time, where possible you should ensure to get at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day and stay hydrated by drinking mainly water. Incorporating just 30 minutes of light exercise such as walking or yoga, a few times a week, will also help you to stay in control and full of energy.
Did these tips help? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
I really needed this. I work from home. As a single mom it’s my headache to study. I could not concentrate most of the time. Thanks for the suggestions Becky! 🙂