Personal Blogs

Being young and still in school might seem like the best time ever. After all, it could seem like there is nothing more to do than just study and have fun. 

If you are a student, you might already be aware that things are much more complex than they seem. A typical student has to deal with school, projects, extracurricular activities, work, and much more. That said, it is no surprise that depression and anxiety are at an all-time high among adolescents.

Even if you think that you are managing the stress of studying with no issues whatsoever, there is no harm in making an effort to find an online therapist and seeing what they can do for you. Keep reading to find out how therapy can help you while studying.

Ways Therapy Can Help You 

First, you do not need a mental health condition to benefit from therapy. Students are just like anybody else, which means that the same everyday struggles that affect the general population, such as depression, stress, anxiety, etc., may also affect you.

Seeing a therapist can help you identify issues in your life and find solutions. A mental health professional can also assist you in building or developing confidence.

They can also aid you in improving personal and interpersonal skills and help you identify ways you can change your life for the better. 

Suppose you are starting a new school or university or simply passing on to the next grade. In that case, this also comes with its own set of issues, such as adjusting to a new environment and discovering your position and identity among your new peers or educators.

A capable therapist specialising in the area that worries you might be just the thing you need to overcome the hurdle you are currently facing.

When You Should Seek Help

Everybody faces hard times now and then. Sometimes, problems can sort out, and our worries turn out insignificant. That is why it is essential to know how to recognize the times when you need assistance from a therapist. 

• You should seek help from a mental health professional if:

• Your thoughts and feelings are getting in the way of your studies.

• You’ve been feeling stressed out for more than a week.

• You feel a lack of motivation or an increase in negative emotions.

• You feel more anxious than usual, or you’ve been lacking will for longer.

Some additional warning signs include a lack of care about your looks and personal hygiene. A decreased libido and no interest in socializing with others might indicate that you should seek a therapist. The same holds for sudden weight fluctuations and the urge to work too much or too little.

What to Expect When Talking to a Therapist

Talking to a therapist is a huge step toward improving your overall well-being. 

A good therapist will be there to guide you through your struggles and help you overcome them. Do not expect simple answers to complex problems.

You will not be told what to do. A therapist is there to listen and help you navigate your life's complexities. They cannot and should not live your life for you. A good therapist will help you change your behaviour for the better and improve your life skills, such as communication and interpersonal skills.

Likewise, a therapist should be impartial and non-judgemental. Your privacy should be their top priority. A therapist will not let your parents or guardians know what you talk about without your consent.

Therapy should be a place for you to talk about your feelings and troubles with an impartial professional whose sole aim is to help you. You should be able to express yourself honestly and openly without fear of a confidentiality breach or the feeling that you are being judged.

If you do not feel like you are getting that from your current therapist, it is probably best to seek help elsewhere. Keep in mind that your mental health is at stake here and that you are the one with the power to pick and choose whom you work with and talk to.

Benefits of Therapy for Students

Regular therapy sessions - in person or online - can improve your life in school and outside of it in many ways.

With the help of a therapist, you will apply the communication skills you have gained in therapy in real life. Once you learn how to speak about your emotions and thoughts honestly, you can also use this knowledge to improve your everyday communication. 

Once you learn how to communicate better and more efficiently, your interpersonal relationships will also improve. In therapy, you will also learn about conflict management and resolution, which are valuable everyday skills.

With the communication and cooperation skills learned in therapy, you will be able to improve your relationships and learn how to create a healthy bond with people around you while setting personal boundaries.

Your emotional intelligence will get a boost from therapy. In therapy, you will learn how to identify and manage your emotions, resulting in improved self-management.

Therapy will provide you with coping skills to deal with everyday challenges. With help from your therapist, you will learn how to manage your emotions healthily. 

Therapy helps with achieving better academic performance. When you devote some time each week to talk to your therapist and sort through any issues you might have, that leaves more room for you to focus on studying during the rest of the week.

Not to mention that therapy can help you deal with anxiety,  depression, ADHD, and many other factors that could hurt your academic performance.  

With all that in mind, it is easy to see that therapy can help you while you study in many meaningful ways.

Therapy can give you the tools and knowledge needed to improve your academic career and your life in general.  Reach out to an online therapist or find one in real life and start making the change for the better.  

People have various reasons why they consider taking early retirement. However, very few people take the time to plan on how they spend their retirement days. Long gone are the days when retired folks would retreatment to their farms and experience the therapeutic nature of the country life. It was undeniable that all retired persons would get back to their farms and spend their days farming and look after grandchildren.

You need to plan on how to spend your time to avoid stress complications and dying early. You need to plan for ways of ensuring your brain remains active. What better way than considering to further your studies.  Studies have proven a credible way of not only spending your retirement money wisely but also your time. Hence, you need to plan on what you study for the first ten years after retirement to ensure your brain remains occupied and your money goes into proper use.

1.    Taking time to study is the best way of investing in yourself. You are never too old to either sharpen your skills further or add more knowledge to your life. Studies have a way of calming your nerves and ensuring your time is properly utilized and none of your time goes to waste. Studies have a special way of blending your busy corporate life with the life of a retiree by making sure you are not too idle for wild activities like alcohol drinking. Studies help you invest in yourself wisely; you can become a professor and offer valuable impact to the younger generation by teaching at institutions of higher learning. Besides, studies open you to lots of possibilities other than confining you to your house and reading magazines.

2.    You should take the time to study seriously after retirement seriously as it helps you keep your moods and general health in check. Retirees tend to have lots of free time at their disposal, and this can expose them to paying attention to small issues. Such petty matters have a way of preoccupying your mind and can lead to stress. However, studies take a lot of your time, and you end up lacking time to check on everything. The result is that your moods remain relatively stable avoiding lifestyle disease like high blood pressure. Studies conducted globally indicate retirees who take the time to study live longer than those who just idle around. Studies help you maintain a healthy lifestyle and helps you keep fit as you go out frequently hence you have not the time to add weight and lazy around.

3.    Studies help retired people avoid some social challenges associated with idle retired people. For instance, you will find retired individuals in some conflicts that do not make sense. Such conflicts can be easily avoided if a retiree takes the time to study. Conflicts are mainly domestic as the retirees want to exercise authority over their family members as they are used in their former places of work. Studies can help the retiree have a blind eye for such people since their time is occupied by books. A retiree can positively impact the society with their added knowledge as people will occasionally consult them as they are perceived beacons of wisdom. Consequently, studies are likely to improve on their social ranking.

4.    The structure and availability of pension funds influence people on when they retire and what to do with their time and money. If you live in a country where retired people are highly regarded, you may still consider studying a viable option as you are motivated to give back to the society further. However, in most countries all over the globe, retired people are considered as second class citizens, and they have to meet all their bills. No better way a retiree can regain their dignity than taking time and limited resources to study as you are assured of getting juicy returns. Universities and research institutions all over the world lack adequate professors. If a retiree advanced their education and attained the status of a senior professor, you are more likely to be rehired as a consultant. Such consultants are highly paid, and you are likely to get a return on investment for your finances soon.

5.    Retired couples who make the joint decision to study are likely to enjoy their joint retirement as opposed to when one person makes the decision to study and the other person does not. Besides, taking time study as a couple is a bold step that paves the way for the children to appreciate the value of education. Retired couples who choose to study are adored by the society as they hardly have enough time for conflicts. One sure recipe for conflicts is having lots of free time at your disposal. Hence, retired couples who choose to study are likely to appreciate each other more, as opposed to having a lot of time for finding fault in each other.

6.    Labor force anticipation and raising your kids can motivate you to study while you are retired.  Not all retired persons are done raising their children. As such, they can choose to study further to ensure they remain relevant in the current labor market. Such a decision secures the stability of their families as their cash flows remain steady. Besides, the retired persons who choose to enhance their study further are likely to cause less conflict with their growing children. Studies help them relate positively with their children as their mind is still active. 

Life is all about juggling.  There is a constant battle between all of the things in our lives that seem to be in competition with each other for the spotlight.  Sometimes, there are just too many balls in the air and juggling may seem impossible.  Some people thrive when faced with the challenge of having to do too many things at once.  They face their over-packed schedules head on with great result.  If you’re like the rest of the world who find themselves overwhelmed by trying to balance study, life, and work, you’re in luck.  There are some great tips and techniques that will help you stay your path and best of all, do it successfully.

Make a plan

The first step to a maintaining a well-balanced life is to make a plan.  The best way to stick to the plan is to make the plan reasonable.  Overloading yourself with too many tasks in too short an amount of time is the fastest way to failure.  One tip for making the best plan is to put it in writing.  Whether you use a computer organizer or a daily journal, writing down your plans for the day is the best way to hold yourself accountable. 

Make a list of all of the tasks and events you have coming up.  To go the extra mile, color code these events and separated them by urgency.  For example; big exams and deadlines should take precedence over an upcoming party.  Most people are very visual, so being able to actually see all of the things they need to do written out in front of them helps them to stay focused.  Over time you will find that this repetition will help you to not only create a habit but also to change the way you plan things in the future.

Stay organized

Once you have your planner in place, the next step to a seemingly balanced life is to organize it.  Many times a chaotic life is a direct result to the disorganization in your life that may already exist.  While there is beauty in chaos, it’s not the ideal way to juggle your life.  The best place to start organizing is in the area that you do most of your work.  Whether it is your home office, a study desk or even your favorite spot on your couch, organisation is the key to a stress-free life.

When starting the quest for organization, it is perfectly fine to use tools at your disposal to help you along the way.  You are only human after all.  Did you know that one of the best tools available to you is already in the palm of your hand?  Cell phones have come a long away from clunky devices that do little more than make a phone call.  You can not only organize your whole life on your phone but you can customize the way you do things as well.  Whether you are setting reminders for yourself to help you stay on task or are keeping track of hours worked, there is no other technology that is so easily accessible and that also is already such a large part of your life.  People are constantly on their cell phones anyhow.  So why not use it to your advantage?

Find time to play

While the important things like work and study will naturally be filling up your dancing card faster than you want, once and a while it is okay to find time to play.  Not only is it healthy, it is also a whole lot more fun than working.  Some people confuse finding the perfect balance in their lives with just staying on top of work and study, but life is equally, if not more important.  Taking care of your mental health should never be overlooked.  Making room for activities that keep you happy is the key to making everything in your life rotate the way it should.

Recently, I took a Saturday afternoon off study to help the kids put up new wall stickers.  We had bought these about a month before and they had been sitting waiting on me to find space in my schedule.  Just taking the time out and doing it left me feeling much better – and left the kids much happier.

Having a life isn’t always a distraction.  Certain activities can actually help your brain to focus while also keeping your motivated.  Hitting the gym with friends or any group activity that keeps your body moving will not only help to give you enough endurance to tackle a week’s worth of daunting tasks, but will also release endorphins so that you can blow through your work with a smile on your face.  So while planning out your week, skip the pencil, and pen in a social life.

Hold yourself accountable and forgive yourself

The last step to finding the perfect harmony in your life is to stick to the plans you make.  When it comes to keeping your life in order, you are the boss.  So hold yourself accountable.  If you plan out your week, try your hardest to stick to it.  There are few feelings in the world as good as setting your mind to complete a perfect week and then actually doing.  The satisfaction you feel from succeeding will be even greater when you know that you were responsible for it.  If you have followed the first few steps to a perfectly balanced life, being able to keep your life in check is no longer impossible.

On the other side of things, is failure.  Failure is okay.  Along with accountable is forgiveness.  Being too hard on yourself for letting one of the balls in your life drop to the floor will not always motivate you to pick that ball up and try again.  Give yourself some credit for everything you have already managed to accomplish and keep pushing forward.  When you accept that balancing your life doesn’t always work out perfectly, you are more likely to try harder the next time around.

Final Thoughts

Finding out how to balance study, work and life is a whole lot easier said than it is done.  By making a plan and following through, half the battle is already over with.  Like everything in life, finding that harmony will be full of trials and errors but as long as you remember to keep moving forward you will find that over time, the never ending juggling act will almost be second nature to you.  Good luck.

I mentioned in my last post about the Camino, that I walked while being a mature student.  Leaving behind my accounting career and studying English Literature and Philosophy was not started with a new career in mind.  It did however, lead to a new career in marketing, by a circuitous route.

I had always loved writing and reading and wanted to be able to express myself better in written form.  That was one of my main reasons for the subjects I choose to study.  I had tried unsuccessfully a few times to write a novel. After tearing up the last one I woke the next morning thinking I should build a website. Where that came from I have no idea, but it was the beginning of a new direction.

I spent some time learning HTML & CSS, there are many free courses online that will help.  I then started writing, and immediately thought - this is what my study prepared me for, research and writing.  I loved it, web writing was short concise articles and that suited me better then than trying to write a novel, (it is still a dream). I built a website that nobody visited and that resulted in me learning marketing.

A Word on Dreams

My dream to write a book eventually came about.  I wrote a guidebook, it is the most difficult single piece of work I have ever completed.

Just because something is a dream does not mean it will be easy.

How the Open University's Free Courses Can Help

A friend studied addiction part-time while working in a completely unrelated field.  More than 15 years later she now runs a counselling centre, and another friend retrained to work with children, (after much more study). The cost of a part-time study is not expensive, but your time is, and making large mistakes in direction can be costly in the longer term.  

There are a multitude of free courses available via Open Learn.  For example, if you think becoming a therapist is for you then this free course on diagnosis in counselling and psychotherapy might be a place to explore how strong your desire is. This could lead you to study the degree in counselling.

Marketing - The New Dream Jobs?

Someone else I know decided early on that marketing was her main love and was going to be her career.  But, even once you know what you want to do and become qualified enough it does not mean that learning is not required. She is now the marketing manager of a company that installs SAP Business One for small businesses.

This type of job requires intimate understanding of your product and service.  You are not expected to install SAP Business One, but you are expected to know every way it can help a business and all of the details that are involved in setting up.

Learning really is life long.

Do you think a new career in marketing is for you?  Look at these free options to get you started: Marketing in the 21st Century, Stakeholders in marketing and finance, or Products, services and branding.

I have read in many places that we are all marketers - at least you should be of yourself, especially in this age of social media and openness online.  The above courses give a great introduction to different areas of marketing, and if they spark your interest there is a degree course in business management that specialises in marketing.

Commitment is Required

Just because a course is free does not mean you can just treat it lightly.  This is the road to failure.  I don’t know the statistics for OpenLearn dropout rate but I have seen stats on free course dropout for Massive Open Online Courses and the percentage is staggeringly high.

Start planning.  I have a two-year-old, this makes a huge difference compared to being child free.  My only time for study is 90 minutes between his bedtime and me becoming too tired to study more.  I study four nights per week - Mon to Thur.  Even though I have worked in this job for ten years, and don’t ever imagine doing something else, it changes constantly and study is required to stay relevant at the cutting edge.

Each course in the OU will give indications of time commitments.  Decide when you will have that time available and stick to it, miss it once and it becomes very easy to miss again.  Once you do that it can become hard to catch up, do everything you can to avoid becoming disheartened.

It takes some time to understand a new discipline.  So, stick with it.  You might not understand much for a while, but breaking study down into smaller goals helps.  Talk about your study, explain the class you have just taken to someone else - these all help to gain a better understanding.  Write, write, and write - this is how I learn.  You might be different, but I still remember research from essays I wrote at university.

My last bit of advice.  Turn off the television, this one simple action can free up many hours to create a better life.