Balancing Work, Home, and Studying for Certs

I see a lot of you are super successful (kudos to you) because you all seem to have a good balance between work, home and studying. I'm still relatively new to IT and I find myself struggling and feel as if I'm starting to burn out just a tad. How do you all balance it out? Do you plan? Do you just wing it? Do you find yourself with copious amounts of time at work?

For myself, I have hardly any time at work to study. I often work extra hours (either at home or the office), so we'll say between 45-55 hours a week. I have no kids, but I'm in a relationship (living with SO) and she doesnt work as frequently as I do. I know some of you have kids and the like, how do you manage? Any advice/tips would be appreciated!

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coreyb80

I study for my A+ cert on the way to and from work. I study at home while on the PC instead of just aimlessly browsing. Take an hour or 2 away from watching TV and use it to study. I have a wife and 4 children so it's definitely a balancing act for me. What drives me is the fact that I love IT and I want to be successful. Anytime the word "bored" crosses my mind I study.

Bigbill810

I am married with a two year old daughter. I feel your pain, while my wife is understanding and as hopeful as I am for the future...my daughter does not know any better. She is by far the biggest distraction to my studies. I love when she wants to spend time with me and the real balance is her. She deserves her daddy's love and attention, but her future is what I'm working towards.

I find that honesty is the best policy when dealing with significant others. Make sure she gets the same vision you have. Truthfully, if she doesn't care about your (and possibly her) future, then you know she isn't going to be part of that future. Make sure that the time you have together is quality, as quantity just won't be the same. Make plans for time that is strictly for you. No distractions. Just you & her; a movie, dinner, a walk, TV, whatever. DON'T TALK ABOUT I.T. DURING THAT TIME UNLESS SHE BRINGS IT UP. I can't stress that enough. Women read into the conversation further than we do. If you are staring at a tv show, then blurt out something about a router or your future with a router, she won't see that you are talking about a better future. She will see that you are not focused on her during the special time you set aside to focus on your relationship with her.

You know what really helps make women happy? Massages. We all win, she gets to feel better and we get to feel...her!

j23evan

My wife works retail and weekends, and I tend to run off 4 hours of sleep at night. So M-F 8-5 work, 5-8 Spend time with the wifey, 8-midnight/1am study. On Saturday I wake up at the same time as I do M-F and study hard core for an exam. I try to take an Exam at least once a week. With Microsoft's second shot going on I am a little more aggressive in taking them. I would say my pass/fail rate is 60%, but I have only had to take one exam 3 times(and pay for it twice). Though I should say that the MS exams I take each Saturday are ones that I am already fairly knowledgeable on and its more to just get the piece of paper than to attain any personal goals.

EV42TMAN

my work/study schedule is similar to j32evan but i'm not knocking out tests weekly. Unless its a topic that i know like the back of my hand (windows 7 etc) then usually do about 1 certification test a month. I've stuck on that track for school too, I started my first term at WGU doing the certifications that are required but i didn't have and so far its averaged 1 class/certification a month.

neathneathneath

j23evan wrote: »

I try to take an Exam at least once a week. QUOTE]

?? surely a typo?

Chitownjedi

I eliminated most of my social life. I was fortunate to participate in a few consulting roles where I was elevated support so we had fewer calls then most, we were there to tuck away issues most tier 1-2 couldn't. SO i was able to study lots of hours this year on the job

I bought gw2 the day it came out, I was playing it within 5 minutes of the servers going live, and I'm still not level 20 till this day. (That example will not help you if you are not into guild wars 2 or know how easy it is to level lol)

My son just turned 1 month this week. I've been able to study(thanks to my wife) but its more interrupted now, I've taken this last week off,(from studying) but I am just using my time to re-energize myself for next year cert run. No benefits, low salary, and tired of contracts are my motivation.. i've been passed burnt out so long that i feel almost sick to the point of physically feeling ill if i'm not studying 2-5 hours a day.

Right now whats most important to me is getting my education and positioning myself to give my family everything it wants. So right now i have razor sharp focus, but I am definitely frustrated a lot... I hate they city i stay in...Chicago, their is so much going here that is bad its not even funny, especially crime wise... I am trying to move to Houston area, but its hard getting the funds trying to support 3 people on the contract money I receive ... sigh... I guess if it wasn't for studying and getting certs I'd pretty much feel like i've been running in place. rant over.

coreyb80

I agree with you about Chicago as I live here as well. My wife wants to move as soon as I get a cert or 2 under my belt. She's stuck on ATL now.

dt3k

I'm married, no kids, wife is undestanding, I have no social life. My social life is going out to dinner with the wife a couple times a month.

Apollo80

Be cautious. If your wife is not happy with the social situation, it may not last.

dt3k

She's in grad school so we are pretty much at the same place right now.

f0rgiv3n

I'm married with no kids. We are both extremely motivated people. While I can overdo it at times, she is very supportive. Actually, she's the one that keeps me from going overboard with studying/certifications. For instance, I went a little crazy this year and did all 3 CCNP exams in 2.5 months, and also my Juniper certs were done within the first 2 months of my new job.

The biggest thing for me to realizing that we're living life right now, this very moment. Life won't wait until you have your CCIE, CISSP, C|EH, MCITP, PhD, etc.. etc.. So while you are studying for these things constantly and diligently, you still need to enjoy life. I do my best to continuously enjoy my life outside of IT, no matter what I'm doing.

Besides balancing family, you need to also keep yourself in balance so you don't burn out. I'm taking a "break" till March. The one thing that I do though is even make studying fun. I make changes like go and study at a coffee shop for awhile. Try a different study method: if you're always doing CBT, go grab a fat book and read it.

I guess the biggest point in here is to have fun. Once you are having fun in all aspects of your life (work, home, studying), that's when you realize that you are performing the balancing act correctly

. It's a constant battle and you never "arrive".

nethacker

I also have my time to study though even if my wife does not support me. I stay in the office till 10pm before going home. that way, i'm able to study for 5-6 hours. On weekends, I take it hard core. I think your study habit depends on your priority. If you have a deadline for a cert, then you have to find that time by all means. If you are not the lazy type and your wife is very understanding, i believe you can balance it.

jmritenour

It's definitely not easy, but it's all about prioritizing. Family comes before work, which comes before certs. I'm doing the certs to open up new career paths, to better provide for my family. YMMV, some have different priorities, but that's what has worked for me. I know it's time to put down my exam prep book when my daughter comes to me with her copy of Green Eggs & Ham.