Taking college courses as a busy professional is a rewarding, yet demanding, pursuit. If you’re the kind of person who appreciates a challenge, an online business degree can fit perfectly into your life. Studying is the key to success for any degree, but this is especially true of online business programs, which require added motivation and self-discipline. Fortunately, Faulkner University has some tips for making time for your online business studies.
Commit to Success
People looking to take the next step in their careers are the most likely to pursue online business degrees. This means that while you’re balancing family, work, church, and other commitments, you’ll also need to find time to study. With so much to do, it’s hard to carve out time.
A business degree from Faulkner University lays the groundwork for successful careers in dozens of high-demand fields. Additionally, business degrees are increasingly desired in an expanded list of industries, including human resources, healthcare, media, and advertising. With all this potential in mind, take time to understand why you want a degree and how you hope to use it. This vision can help motivate you to make time to study. You might even type up a mission statement and tape it to the bathroom mirror or over your desk as a visual reminder of your goals and purpose.
Track Your Schedule
Tracking your current schedule is one of the best ways to find time for studying. Use a planner or your smartphone to note every daily task or obligation. Next, color-code each of these entries by type: work, family, personal, or community service. Track these entries for a week and look for patterns. Do you spend a lot of evening time helping your children do their homework? This suggests morning may be the best time to study. Do you have a long lunch before meeting clients a few days a week? Pack your books and find a quiet spot to work. Tracking these openings will reveal more time for online learning.
Make a Habit
Creating new habits is difficult, and finding a fixed time to study can feel like a huge challenge. Science tells us that the best way to form a new habit includes three steps:
- Set a reminder. This could be a timer on your phone, a note in your business folio, or a trusted family member who reminds you to get to work at the same time every day.
- Build a routine. Special circumstances may come up, but it’s best not to deviate from your fixed study time unless you must. There is no consensus on how long it takes for a new routine to stick, but chances are if you keep up with it for a few weeks, it will become second nature. Use your mission statement for inspiration if you need to.
- Reward yourself after each study session. Choose whatever kind of reward feels best, from a piece of candy to an episode of your favorite show. This cements study time as a pleasurable occurrence rather than a chore. And you’ll eventually enjoy an even greater reward – good grades!
Making time for studying is perhaps the hardest part of pursuing a degree as a working adult, but it is far from impossible. If you set goals, stick to a routine, and reward your hard work, you can successfully obtain your online business degree at Faulkner University.
Are You Ready to Apply?
A Bachelor of Science in Business from Faulkner University can prepare you for a successful role in many of today’s fastest-growing industries. Contact us to learn more about our faculty, program requirements, and Christian legacy, or apply online today.