Time – do you ever feel you don’t have enough time to fit everything into your day? Do
Time management matrix as described in Merrill and Covey 1994 book "First Things First," showing "quadrant two" items that are important but not urgent and so require greater attention for effective time management (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
you ever wonder how others manage to fit everything into their day – school, work, family, and friends? Maybe you’re not alone… Life is hard and becomes even harder as people develop into adults. This is why excellent time management skills are a must – especially for the adult learner!
The adult learner has many challenges they face every day from schooling, to work, to making sure they have enough time available in their day for friends and most importantly their family. Often times, the adult learner will give up and drop out of college because they cannot keep up with working long hours as well as the massive amount of school work from day to day – the average worker in America is working more hours than ever before. They often feel in order to support their family they have to let college go. A college degree is extremely important in this day and age; however, while attending college many adults realize that it does not pay the bills. This is unfortunate as many adults will fail to excel in their careers without the degree behind them. Life is hard – especially for the adult learner.
For those that push through and continue to work and attend school, they often find it is a daily struggle to keep their grades up so they can make the required satisfaction of progress. The adult learner in most cases does not have the advantage of staying at home as the younger learner may have so they can focus only on their education. This makes learning even more complicated for the adult learner.
It is especially hard when they have a family to care for and household responsibilities too. Many adult learners will feel they are neglecting their family and other obligations so they may choose to put their education on hold while their children are growing up. Their friends may not understand why they are unable to do the things they did before and their social life may struggle because of their schooling as well. All of these situations make it incredibly difficult for the adult learner. It becomes a balancing act to make sure they do not become overstressed, overworked, or overloaded – so how do they manage it all?