By Dr. Dave Becher
Associate Vice President, Institutional Research at American Public University System
The decision to pursue an advanced degree as a working adult with a family deserves careful consideration. I write from experience, as I have earned both a master’s and a doctorate degree while having a wife and two children.
Earning these degrees required hard decisions and was accompanied by many challenges and many sacrifices. The keys to success for me are to stay organized, focused, and motivated.
Finding Focus
I knew that if I wanted to advance my career in higher education that I would need at least a master’s degree. In reality, to be a leader in the field in which I work, a doctorate degree is usually required. Both of these degrees were unique experiences.
I earned my master’s by attending part-time and my doctorate by attending full-time. The decision to go back to school for the degrees was easy; balancing everything proved to be the biggest challenge.
Time Management
What became apparent was that time management was going to be important if I was going to achieve my goals. When would I complete my assignments? How would I be able to attend my children’s educational and extracurricular activities? When do I make time for myself to rejuvenate in order to avoid physical and emotional burnout? These are all questions you need to address prior to starting a degree as a working adult.
What I quickly realized is that I could not think about the how long it was going to take me to complete all of my courses and earn my degree. It was overwhelming to think about completing the 12 courses for my master’s degree and how long it would take to do so. I could not set a timeline to finish the program, as it added unnecessary pressure and stress to the entire process. So, I set smaller goals and chose to take one course at a time and complete those courses one assignment at a time.
Daily Task List
“Compartmentalization” became my motto and proved to be the best approach for me. Forcing myself to focus only on the assignment that was due next prevented my work and life from being negatively affected.
To help keep this focus, I found and installed a task management app on my phone and integrated it into my daily routine. Each morning, I would take ten minutes and create my to-do list for the day. Not only did this keep me organized, but it was extremely gratifying to be able to check things off as I completed them, which was helpful to my emotional state.
I knew that if I could get through my list each day, then I would not have any additional stress heading into the next day. Keeping the to-do list manageable was the key. For example, I would add such items as “find five sources for research paper” or “write one page.”
The tasks did not have to be huge, but they had to be done every day in order to keep from having to write an entire paper the night before it was due. Procrastination was the enemy!
I have managed to use this compartmentalization approach on my way to earning two advanced degrees in the last six years while also working full-time and having a family.
About the Author: Dave Becher is the associate vice president of institutional research at American Public University System (APUS). Dave has been with APUS since 2006 and has held positions in Information Technology, the Office of the Provost and, most recently, in the Office of Institutional Research. During Dave’s time at APUS, he has earned his Masters of Science in Business Intelligence at Saint Joseph’s University and Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania.
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