Time Management and Adults Learners

Time Management and Adults Learners

Life is complicated and it becomes harder as people develop into adulthood and inherit new responsibilities. Attending school as an adult learner is a big challenge and time management is something that every student must know and be efficient at in order to successfully complete their degrees. This paper explains the different adjustments that adult students must make to achieve their desired goals, especially those who have extra responsibilities other than college. The sources used on this paper describe how they manage their study time alongside work related activities, family matters, and all their others obligations. Tips and advice will be included through this paper to provide students with new ways to succeed in college.

Adult learners seeking a degree as full or part time workers face many challenges through the process of attending college. Working students have more than schoolwork to deal with. One of their responsibilities is to ensure their professional or work related duties are not neglected. For many of these students their employment is the base of everything else because without it there isn't money to pay for college in the first place. Another time consuming on the plate of working students is time to spend with their families, especially the ones that go to college in their late years. During the late years, usually around thirty and forty years old, most people are married and already have children. To find time for college an adult student must learn to balance all of these responsibilities and be able to include time for studying on his or her daily routine.

A study by Blaxter & Tight published in 1994 by the journal of "Studies in the Education of Adults" showed the different amount of time that adults with full time employment and family responsibilities are able to dedicate to college work. This study provides different opinions coming from working students with families and from working students who do not have families. Some participants expressed that not having a family or other outside responsibilities give them plenty free time to study. Students who work and have families had to organize their daily lives a little better in order to succeed in college and achieve their academic goals (Blaxter & Tight, 1994).

As the article by Blaxter & Tight mentions, a considerable amount of working adults who attend college end up dropping their classes due to their demanding lives and duties outside the university. In order to pursue a college degree, students have to make some sacrifices and replace some daily activities or time with friends and family with study time to succeed. For example, activities like watching television, dining out, or just going out for a while must be limited in order to allow time for studying and completing college work.

There are a good number of books and guides with helpful information and tips to prepare adults learner for a successful education. The Mature Student's Guide to Higher Education written by Linda Pritchard and Leila Robert is a good reference for people seeking a degree as an adult student. To succeed in college adult learners should