How to Keep Up with Studying for Your Online MHA Over the Holidays While Still Enjoying a Great Family Christmas!

A lot of stay at home moms choose to use the years they are at home with the kids to also study online for a masters to help them move into a more senior position when their kids are older and they want to return to work. If you career goals are in healthcare management and strategy, then some great colleges like the University of Cincinnati offer an online MHA degree that can qualify you for these kinds of roles.

Studying During the Holidays

Generally, moms do manage to find a good balance between studying and family life, fitting in their online lectures, reading and coursework when the kids are asleep or with other family members. However, there are some times of the year when keeping up on your studies can be a little trickier, and the holiday season is probably the most intense!

With Christmas not far off, you are probably already thinking about everything that needs to be done to make it special for your family, and also hopefully looking forward to a magical and memorable time. While you can of course simply take a break from your online MHA studies (one of the beauties of online degrees!), if you want to keep working on your MHA without missing out on festive fun, it is possible – you just need to plan ahead a little more.

Organize Your Calendar

There are likely to be some fixed events over the holidays that you want to go to, and some that are more flexible around when you do them, such as taking the kids to see Santa, going Christmas shopping, putting up the tree or having the neighbors over for drinks and mince pies. While it can be fun to be spontaneous, really, if you are going to schedule in study time, it is better to plan a Christmas calendar now, and work out where you have windows to study.

Set Up Your Study Windows

Then, set those study windows as if they were unmissable appointments. Don't say yes to anything without checking if it clashes with a time you allocated for your MHA degree work.

That's not to say if a really fun sounding thing comes up and conflicts with your study schedule you have to say no, either – that would mean missing out. It just means you look at your schedule, decide whether the invitation takes priority, and if it does, consider moving the study window to another time, just as you would treat anything else important.

While you may still find you do slightly less studying than normal over Christmas and New Year, this can be caught up in January, and as long as you had a good time with your family, that extra work will be worth it.

However, with this kind of scheduling approach you will at least be conscious of when you intend to study and should find you don't slip too much!