Helping Your Kids Stay Motivated While You Get Though College

If You're a Nontraditional Student,

You already know you're motivated. You may need that boost now and then but the underlying motivation is already in place. It has to be for you to put in all the time and effort that being a college student requires. You'll also have to have motivation to put up with the guilt that comes along with all that too.

If Your Spouse Realizes

What a better job you'll get with better hours and probably a lot better pay there's a good probability they're probably pretty motivated too.

But What About the Kids?

How motivated are they to sacrifice what they're going to need to sacrifice in order for you to go to college? Let's face it things are going to be tight...not only your available time but also your money which will now be spent on $100.00 books you don't even want to read.

Chances are that, by the very fact that they're kids, they're going to require a lot of motivation over the course of your education.

This article will highlight two ways you can help keep kid's motivation up while they get used to having less of your time and monetary resources available to them.

Think about it... that could be rough for a kid. You're not able to take him to the movies like you used to on the weekend because now you have a test on Monday to study for, or a paper you have research. Even if you did have the time, right now you really don't have the money. All this because You wanted to go to college and college takes a lot of time and money. Yeah, you'll need to help them stay motivated and I'll share some ideas here.

Plan Time Together

This could be at some point in the near future. Look at your schedule and see when you have a break in assignments where you could just take in a matinee. Is money tight? Our mall has matinees for $1.50 and if you go on Tuesday afternoons then drink and popcorn are just $1.00 each. Pretty affordable if I do say so myself and I'm a serious cheapskate.

Bonus #1: They get the psychological boost that they're important enough to plan for and that you look forward to time with them.

Bonus #2: Planning like this teaches patience. So many kids are used to getting what they want right now and that's not good for them.

Talk Often

About goals for the future, about how life will change for the better, about how this phase will pass, about all you'll be able to do (e.g., take vacations). Have them pick out a new bedroom set or something personal that they want in the future. My daughter picked out a picture of a bedroom that she wanted and that helped her stay motivated.

Bonus #1: You'll spend time just talking together

Bonus #2: You'll teach them to look toward the future.

Keeping kids motivated can really help our time management efforts while the flip is also true...if kids aren't motivated for us to get through college they can wreak havoc on any time management efforts we even attempt.

Want more ideas on time management? Download my free ebook about Time Management and Students where you'll find ideas for time management in several crucial areas where we all struggle. Also visit me at There Must Be A Better Way

Time Management - Is Technology Hurting Or Helping Us?

The question of whether technology is hurting or helping us is not an easy one to answer. In fact, if we were to spend any amount of time whatsoever honestly evaluating this subject I believe we could make an effective argument for either case.

To prove that point let's consider a couple of the ways that technology can hurt us in our time management plan followed by a couple of the ways that it can help us.

How Technology Hurts Us...

One of the biggest ways technology can hurt us is by making things too easy. It's a proven fact that your brain gets stronger with use. When we rely on technological advances, whether that's defined as a computer-based program or the use of something more mobile such as our cell phones, we run the risk of harming our memory simply by letting it go lazy on us.

Another way technology can hurt us is it can cause us to over plan our lives. We can look in our handy-dandy cell phone and see that, if we're real careful at sticking to our schedule, we just might be able to squeeze in that time to volunteer for that project. I know I have personally done this and thought afterwards that if I'd not been able to look at a glance and see that 1 hour opening I would've had an hour to relax or just not be so rushed. If I'd not had my schedule at-a-glance I would've deferred answering and I would've had more time to think about whatever request was posed.

How Technology Helps Us...

One of the biggest ways technology helps us is by making things really easy for us. In the short-term this can be a plus as it just simplifies our already over hectic life (though the flip side minus is mentioned above). It's easy to take out our cell phone and program in a task so we don't run the risk of forgetting it. In that way, we can effectively carry our planner with us tethered to our side and be able to see at a glance whether we will have time to bake those cupcakes for our child's class or at least swing by the local warehouse club and purchase some.

Another plus is that it can help us keep from over scheduling our lives. We can see immediately if we have time to do this or that.

Are you ready to begin managing your time better? Download my free ebook about Time Management for some wonderful ideas.

Time Management and Students: Helping Your Spouse Stay Motivated

Helping Our Spouse Stay Motivated

Is generally not a high priority in our mind. It just isn't. Studying housework, kids, laundry, cooking, shopping, now those are priorities. Falling into bed before falling over, now that's a priority.

But Think About All Your Spouse

Does to help you. It's probably quite a lot and... especially if you're a nontraditional student like I was... includes things like picking up the kids, heating leftovers (or even cooking), doing laundry (even just his own is a big help), keeping the kids entertained so you can study (a movie in a theater works great for this). He (or she) probably helps out much more than we give credit for.

We Have To Remember

That we're already motivated. I mean, it takes motivation to go to college. Motivation to study, do research, write papers, and study for exams.

Regardless of the how much or how little he does to help every little bit is something off your proverbial plate. It's something that he's taking time away from whatever he'd be doing otherwise to do something specifically for you.

I Can Just Hear the Chorus Ringing

"He'd just be watching TV" Yes, I know this. That could almost go without saying but while it may be true that that's what he'd prefer to be doing... he's not so that he can do something for you.

The purpose of this article is to highlight some ways of helping your spouse stay motivated while you pursue your dream (even if it is for the both of you, it's still your dream).

· Verbal Appreciation - Goes a long way... a very long way. A simple "Thank you, honey" can make it all worthwhile for him.

· Giving Him the Day/Night Off - Tuck was a tremendous help to me all through college and graduate school. If he asked me if I needed him on Saturday I knew he wanted to go fishing if I didn't. He helped out so much that I did whatever I could to make sure that he was able to go and do what he wanted to do. That may have included finding someone else to babysit for a few hours.

· Good Old Fashioned Sex - Last time I checked this still worked wonders. Men are always all about sex and if they save you time they are probably hoping (at least in the back of their mind) that some of that saved time might end up finding its way into the bedroom. Hey - can't blame them for trying. (Just as a side note you really do want to make sure that you do make time for this part of your life. And a good time management plan will help you there.)

Download my free ebook about Time Management and Students where you'll find ideas for time management in several crucial areas where we all struggle. Also visit me at There Must Be A Better Way