To get that next certification or block of knowledge under your belt, you’re going to need to study. And to study you need to carve out life’s most precious resource, time. Even with the best intentions, we often struggle to find the time to study consistently. How much thought have you put into analyzing your day and finding the time that you can devote towards your studies? When you do this, ask yourself these questions:
- When can you legitimately study without taking away from immutable obligations for work and home?
- When are you at your best?
- When are you most distracted?
These three constraints will massively narrow down the 168 hours available to you in a week. After answering each question, it may reveal a narrow window of 5, 10, maybe 20 hours a week that you can spend studying.
I’ve found this exercise helpful during my own study pursuits. My answers showed that my lack of progress was clearly caused by not being disciplined with my time.
After taking an honest look at my schedule and availability, I found odd conclusions for when I should be studying. Such as:
- I am a morning person, particularly after a pot of coffee, but knowing myself; I’m easily at my best pre-noon. However, work makes that time unpredictable.
- I begin my work schedule with a slow start around 7am and firmly at my computer at 8am. I then work until sometime in the evening.
- Family time runs from 6-10pm. Then off to bed. Looking at my day this way, I could easily say that my best study time is 6-10pm. But I’m not at my best at this time, and I’m distracted with family stuff.
Going into my current study pursuits, I battled these personal realities. I wasn’t realistic, and therefore, never made meaningful progress in my study after work. Days would pass, and I’d have no study progress to show for it.
After noting I am too busy in the afternoon, and not at my best after work, I started to make use of that pre-work time before 7am, and things started to click into place, and modules started getting knocked down regularly. I find this time is when I can consistently study. Then, during time after work, I might add in another half an hour when I have the spirit for it. But that is gravy.
Knowing when you can study allows you to be intentional with your time. Your time(s) will be different. Maybe you can study while at work consistently, or at or near lunch time, or after work, or super late evening after others go to bed.
And maybe you add or subtract some factors into your analysis. But if you don’t know when you should be studying, or don’t find that you’re making progress, you might not be realistic about the time that is right for you. And when that time comes, you’ll know what you should be doing.
