Created: 20 December 2021

How to Balance Your Time for Online Courses

With online classes, a job, and trying to take care of yourself, it's normal for you to wonder how to balance it all. Read here for a few time management tips.

Keyword(s): how to balance

Did you know that only about 17% of people track their to-dos and time management? With our busy lives, balancing time can be tough.

Are you constantly wondering what task you should do first? Do you wonder how much time you should be putting toward yourself and your self-care?

Balancing courses and classes, a job, and self-care aren't easy, but with these time management tips, you'll know how to balance your life in no time.

Take Time off of Work to Take the Course

If you are choosing to take a course that is going to take a few days, it may be beneficial to take time off of work to get it done. Otherwise, you may feel like you are stretched too thin. Being stretched too thin can often lead to burnout.

Balancing time between work and an online class can be near impossible. Although you may have to sacrifice a few vacation days for the course, you'll struggle less with time management. You will, however, need to plan ahead to make sure any important tasks or projects at work are done before you take the days to complete the course.

Who knows, your boss may also be willing to give you the days without pulling from your vacation days since it is benefiting you and bettering you for the job!

Ask to Include the Course as Part of Corporate Training

Asking work to include the course as part of corporate training is a great way to balance your time. Instead of needing to take time off of work, the course can act as a training supplement to boost your knowledge and skills in the workplace.

You may even be able to convince your employer that the course should be an entire in-house team training. It can better everyone instead of just you. It could possibly be a yearly training course for all employees.

Whether you choose to take a business skills course or one of the project management courses, these are courses that can benefit everyone in your workplace depending on your job.

Choose to Take a Weekend Course to Balance Your Time

Although a lot of us like to spend our weekends relaxing and hanging out with those that we love, sometimes it's easier to take a course that you've wanted to take forever on the weekend. This way, you don't have to balance out your time management between the course, self-care, loved ones, kids if you have them, and work.

Instead, the majority of your focus can be spent on the course. Even better, you won't need to be interrupted if there is something urgent at work.

If you have kids, it could be helpful to ask your significant other or a friend to watch them for the weekend so you can get your class done and out of the way!

Create a Schedule

Creating a schedule gives you a sense of routine. It also visually shows you when you have time to do other things besides work and get schoolwork done.

Let's say you know your class schedule is going to take you a few days, but you also know you have a few deadlines at work. How are you going to get it all done?

Block off time after you take parts of the course to get some work tasks done. Block off the live class times so you know that you are busy during those times and cannot do any other tasks.

Whether you fill in those blocks with things you have to do or create a running to-do list on the side, you know when you have to sit down and get things done outside of the course.

Creating a schedule for yourself when you're doing most of the things online is helpful because no one else is telling you that you have to do these things or you have to go to class. You have to hold yourself accountable, and a calendar can do this.

Do Not Be Afraid to Ask for Help

Our society often tells us that it is not okay to ask for help. We think we need to do things on our own or we aren't strong enough or good enough.

That couldn't be further from the truth. The more you ask for help, the stronger and more vulnerable you are.

If you're struggling with time management and how to balance your tasks, classes, and work, there are people around you who want to help! Ask a professor, your boss, your friends, and your parents. Ask a colleague or find a therapist to help you learn how to balance.

You'll thank yourself for being so brave down the road.

Learn How to Balance With These Time Management Tips

Balancing your time is never easy, especially in a world full of distractions, TV, social media, the Internet, endless to-do lists, and stressful workplaces.

However, learning how to balance is crucial to productivity, health, and happiness. To prevent burnout, you need to make sure you are balancing your time on a daily basis. This means having a work-life balance and an understanding of when to say "no" to things you can't get done.

If you're ready to start taking an online course, you'll need to decide exactly how you want to balance your time. Be sure to check out the course offerings that we have online. And don't forget, once you start, you need to balance your time!