4 Lessons learned to effectively balance work and study

Today I attended my Postgraduate Degree Conferral from the UNSW Canberra, marking the end of a seven-year tertiary study journey which was a little more unconventional than most would experience.

Over the seven years I was working "full-time", however some would disagree with that statement as I conducted my Bachelor of Business over three years at the Australian Defence Force Academy, and my Diploma of Military Leadership at the Royal Military College - Duntroon, all as part of my military training to become an Officer in the Australian Defence Force.

However, in my own defence, my Masters Degree was completed over three years part-time whilst I was busy working across the majority of the east coast of Australia, through multiple field training exercises without technology, military training courses which only added to the nightly workload, and the general high-tempo environment experienced as an Officer in the Australian Army.

During this time I have learnt a great deal, experienced many interesting things and made some observations which I believe can be taken forward by others attempting the balancing act that is studying whilst working full-time, here are my four key lessons.

1. Work to false deadlines

So many times I have heard friends, family or fellow university students make comments along the lines of "nah, I'll leave it to the last few days as I always work faster when I get closer to the deadline".

This is an unbelievably accurate statement, so many times you will start an assessment and feel lost with all the information you are trying to process into a coherent argument. We often overthink our arguments, and unnecessarily zone in on information that barely helps at all. You will find yourself sitting at your computer absolutely crawling through your work, leading to procrastination, as the thought of how long it will take at this snail pace is daunting at best.

Yet miraculously, as you get closer to the deadline, and the stress starts compounding in your brain, superfluous information gets discarded immediately, and you can heavily increase your work rate. However, most full-time workers will procrastinate until the last minute and then cram an entire paper to the last night (I am guilty of this) and simply hope for the best.

My point is this, work like you would in the final six hours of an assessment in the first six hours from receiving it. Cut away the information that doesn't matter, have a standard template/process for completing assessments and stick to it. If you schedule a simple 30 minute block of time after work each night you will often find that you end up doing two hours of work, and with this method, you will actually have time to proof read and make amendments/have a colleague read over your work prior to submission. As opposed to submitting your work through the plagiarism software with four minutes to spare and setting a new personal best for the closest submission to a due date/time (guilty...again).

2. Brevity is key

In seven years I have failed one assignment, and it was because I didn't apply the principal of brevity, don't make the same mistake!

I am 100% guilty of using lengthy, wordy sentences to draw out my papers to the word limit. It wasn't until my second semester of my second year of my Masters in Logistics Management that a lecturer finally called me out for my crimes (damn...).

I had attempted to apply my analytical writing method to a subject entitled 'The Business of Managing Projects' , where I was asked to construct a business proposal for how I intended to manage the graffiti problem in the City of Yarra, Melbourne. I put countless hours into researching and writing what I believed was an awesome paper, only to receive a 40% grade when the results were released. I hadn't paid attention to the context, and who I was presenting to, in this case, a Mayor who would have very little time on their hands nor a desire to read an entire essay. All that was required was one word answers and dot points in most parts to achieve a high grade. I applied this method for the remainder of the course without any further issues, and there lies an extra lesson for free, use feedback as an opportunity to grow instead of as a negative or personal affront to your character.

With my story in mind, you should be generating a 'one size fits all' template for each type of document, if it's analytical in nature, using the 'intro, three main points and conclusion method' works great. Simply break each point into a template that works for you, mine is a background/intro to the point, my assertion backed with anecdotal/journal-related evidence and finishing with closing remarks and how it relates to the topic. Developing a process is crucial to keeping everything short and to the point, and will ensure you write correctly for your intended audience.

3. Always have an opinion

Are you the type of person that will argue tooth and nail to get your point across to friends or colleagues? If so, you are halfway to receiving your degree (good job!).

I am still shocked at the vast difference between my writing standard during my Bachelors degree and my Masters. And I personally believe it has everything to do with growing up, diving into topics that I care about, gaining experiences and formulating my own opinions. Lecturers are essentially looking for you to make an argument on a topic and prove to them that what your saying is the truth. If you don't even pick a side/stance and preach it as gospel how do you think you will sound to a career student? You will sound more wish-washy than a politician dodging a difficult question (...or me when my boss asks where some work is that I have forgotten about).

The key to this is simple, read the question, pick a stance immediately and then find 3 - 4 points that back up your stance. For fun, throw in a point that directly attacks an alternate stance simply to solidify your position. You should be writing your university papers like you argue with friends and family (minus the colourful language of course...).

4. Don't collect expensive pieces of paper (without good reason)

I am absolutely humbled to be supported by the Australian Defence Force to conduct my studies, an opportunity that I do not take for granted. But even with the support I receive, I will never tackle a degree simply for the sake of adding some letters next to my name, here's why.

Whilst working full-time in extremely demanding positions, sometimes coinciding with situations where I was left without technology or other commitments which added to my nightly workload, conducting a degree has had a significant impact on my social life. Do not take this point lightly, there will be times where you will have to tell friends, family or colleagues that you cannot attend a birthday, or you can't see that movie, or you can't go out and have some casual drinks because you have study to do. Many of them will not understand, many will try to convince you that it is not a big deal. But it is, and I am here to tell you that if you do not need the certification then don't spend the money and don't sacrifice your time. There are plenty of other ways to professionally develop that don't require years of commitment and dedication to cause.

The point is simple. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. There is absolutely no substitute for real-world work experience, the mistakes you make, the ability to socialise and argue a point in person, the capacity to focus on varying tasks at once. It is an absolute treasure trove of personal growth. A degree should be sought after for two reasons, firstly as professional development in a field outside your current line of work, and secondly as a pre-requisite to a higher-tier position in your current line of work. Don't sacrifice your hard-earned money or time with your loved ones simply to say "I got another one".

What lessons have YOU learnt?

The above points are my personal opinions based on my personal experiences studying over the last seven years, comment below some of your lessons learnt from your experiences, I would love to hear them and potentially expand on my own understanding!