When starting to study by distance learning I decided I would need to do 14 hours study on average each week. Unfortunately I was unable to magically stretch my days to 26 hours. A friend remarked that I didn't need to since studying would just make my days seem longer. After 18 months of study I now know what she means!
Anyway, putting unhelpful suggestions aside such as getting divorced so the kids could go to their Dads each weekend, developing a mystery illness so I could take sick days off work, and only sleeping 5 hours a night, I decided I needed to be organised. I needed a timetable of when I would study. Some of you may remember Red Dwarf from the reruns on TV. Rimmer was studying for his exams and had the most magnificent timetable. However he spent so long devising his time table he never actually had any time to revise for his exams.
So like Rimmer from Red Dwarf for each course I set about devising a masterpiece of a timetable. I allocate days and times to study, taking into account holidays, work meetings outside my usual hours and other commitments. With my timetable to remind me when I should be studying, I try to stick it. It has the advantage that I know when I should be studying and when I'm not I don't feel guilty that I should be studying.
Of course I have to be flexible. You can't predict illness, unexpected work meetings and if I am to have any friends left by the time I finish my qualification, I must see them sometimes. If I haven't been able to stick to my timetable however, I make sure I make the time up as soon as possible. Even better I try to get ahead of my timetabled hours of study so that I can deal with unexpected loss of study time more easily.
With a part time job and a family to look after it's important that I don't get too obsessed with my accountancy. The exception to the rule is the revision period leading up to the exams. For a few weeks before the exams I allow myself to become completely obsessed by accountancy and revise as much as I can and put the rest of my life on hold as much as is possible. Certainly this year I completely ignored my usual organised self of shopping well in time for Christmas. In fact I wasn't the slightest bit interested in Christmas unless it had a tax advantage!
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