I've come to realize the importance of setting up a boundary system with your friends and family in regards to your school work. While making time for family is important, it is also extremely necessary for your family to understand the need for you to complete your work. If you don't get your school work done, you can fail you class. If you fail your class, it just takes away more time with the family in the long run. It can be very difficult to, for instance, solve for all of the trigonometric functions of a triangle while your children are bursting in every five minutes with "He hit me!" There are easy ways to get around this, provided the people in your life can respect the boundaries you have put in place.
A big factor in getting the study time you need is to have a study place in the home in which all other family members can respect as "off limits" while you are in there. This can be a bedroom, the den, or anywhere else you can get some quiet time. Another great way to reduce interruptions is to assign one of your children to be the mediator, except for possible emergencies. Most squabbles can easily be squashed by, for example, my oldest son. While he does cause a lot of fighting himself, I've found that when you put him in a position of authority, he takes himself more seriously than usual, and can be quite adept at problem solving.
Another great way to guarantee your study time is to have it during your children's set study time. Give them a particular time each day set aside for study, and simply make sure it coincides with the time that you have available.
There are many possibilities here, and I'm sure many more, if you but look for them. I think the key is talking with your family, and working to find the best mutually beneficial system.
This is a great way to regulate things! In my home it is hectic, I never can get any work done without someone yelling or busting in the door looking for me. I definitely have trouble working in any noise setting there is; an idea such as this is good to help come up with a possible solution.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sounds like you definately need to set up some boundaries too. I don't know how long I would keep my cool with that situation. I generally have my wife to play defense with the kids, but things can get pretty ugly when the noise breaks into my study time.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad that kids' homework doesn't take as long as homework you're doing for college. Then, you could make it quality family time to all study together and get stuff done. I'm a pretty guy, but I don't have any kids yet. I'm constantly trying to figure out ways to get more done during the day, and I think the way I'll eventually do it with kids is to try to get up before them, around 4:45 am, and send them to bed pretty early as well so I can get a couple hours of work done after they're in bed. Those of you who are already parents, lemme know what you think about this idea.
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