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Encouraging Heroes. You can be one too.

It may seem that balancing your family duties with your schoolwork is a daunting task. There’s so much to do and juggle. However, with these tips you can maintain a healthy life for you and your family.

Create a Schedule

leather journals and calendars

One of the first things to do is evaluate your routine and your family’s schedule. You may find yourself needing to drop a few activities. Look over your family’s schedule of activities and determine which are most important to both you and your family.

At the beginning of the school term or semester, use a calendar to outline your assignment deadlines, as well as your mid-term and finals test date. Depending on your personal preference, you can use either a paper or electronic planner. However, consider that electronic calendars are more easily edited, and paper schedules can be easily lost or misplaced.

Schedule Your Family’s Activities

family having meal together
After you have created your school schedule, merge this calendar with your family’s activities. You certainly don’t want to miss your child’s important school play or parent-teacher conferences. With this complete schedule, you’ll also be able to see those free days and times that can just be spent doing a spontaneous activity, such as going to the park to enjoy a picnic lunch. This way your family will not feel as though they are not as important as your studies.

Properly Manage Your Time

Many schools and accredited online colleges offer time management and study skills courses or workshops. Take advantage of these offerings. Time management classes can help you manage your time wisely and efficiently. Learning new study skills can help you use your time effectively, and can help you reduce homework time.

If you find yourself with a few free moments, use them to study. Carry notes or your laptop with you if you anticipate having to wait for your kids after school. Use this time to study—you may find this will free up time that you can spend with your family.

Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

woman lifting weights

Often students think that they don’t have time to eat properly or maintain an exercise routine. It is important to keep up these good habits, because you don’t want to find yourself lacking energy or becoming sick. Additionally, having regular family meals will let you spend more quality time with your family. Sitting down with your spouse and kids will let you all share your day’s activities.

Create a Support System

Don’t hesitate to ask friends and family when you start to feel overwhelmed or you have a scheduling conflict. You may just need an hour or two to soak in the tub to relax and rejuvenate, so let your support system take the kids to the movies. Use a carpool to help transport your kids to school and activities, that way you’re not always spending time driving all around.

With just a little preparation, you can successfully balance your family life with your studies.

Images courtesy of leatherjournal.net,Tetra Pak, RL Hyde, Lululemon Athletica, and Toholio via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.

Earnest Parenting: help for moms who want balance.