Committing to a degree while continuing your full-time career is not easy, but it is undoubtedly heroic. Though some degrees can be replaced with experience on the field, that isn't always the case. Anything in healthcare, or law, has formal qualifying barriers that you cannot avoid if you wish to further your career and reach the higher tier of positions. Healthcare, in particular, will not allow you to advance without your formal degree, a passed exam, and hundreds of clinical hours. 

All of this stress and effort, and then you have a full-time job on your hands. Add kids into the mix, and your responsibilities can feel like they are ready to bubble over and burst. Burning out is not an option, and you can avoid it while continuing to make smart, practical steps towards both your career and your education by following this guide: 

Choose the Right Degree for Your Career 

When you are going to go through the effort of completing a degree while continuing to work full time, you are going to want to be 100% confident in the degree you choose. Learning halfway that it doesn't offer what you need is a waste of your time and hard-earned dollars. 

When searching for degrees, there are several factors you will want to keep in mind to ensure that the degree and the support it offers are perfect for you. 

1. Can You Fast Track? 

Fast-tracking means, in simplest terms, that you can either use your existing education to speed up your degree, or you can combine degrees. In nursing, for example, you could look into an online DNP option over an MSN. Rather than go from Master of Science in Nursing to a Doctor of Nursing Practice, you can immediately jump towards your DNP and receive your MSN along the way. It will help you kickstart your career and cut down the need to go back to university again, later on, to receive your DNP to qualify for top positions as a family nurse practitioner or as a nurse educator. 

2. Is It Specialized? 

If you need to get a degree to further your career, then there is a reason. In nursing, that reason is two-fold. You need to advance your knowledge of general medicine, and you typically need to specialize your skillset into one of the six main types of nursing. An FNP will go through a different education track than someone studying to become a nurse anesthesiologist. 

With this in mind, you need to ensure that the specialization options suit you and are highly recommended. Aim to be taught by those who used to work in the role you are aspiring for. 

3. Is It Accredited? 

There are a lot of scams out there, and fake universities are included in that list. Then there is the issue that you need to make sure that the degree you are working towards would even be recognized. Check both to make sure that the university is legitimate if you have never heard of it before, and that the degree you would be earning would be recognized by your industry. There are state-by-state rules, so it's always worth the extra effort of ensuring that the degree is worth it. 

4. What Are Its Qualifiers? 

A degree that helps you achieve the qualifications you need and pass any state-wide exam is a good one, but that is the standard. To choose the best degree for you, look at student satisfaction, career support, alumni resources, rankings, and more. For specialist degrees that require more than just study, like nursing, you will also want to make sure that they cover all your bases. Your university should be there by your side to help you get those clinical hours you need to qualify as an APRN. 

5. Can You Work and Study? 

Not all online, part-time degrees are actually perfect for work and study. You need to have a degree that knows you are continuing full-time education and has designed itself to help you achieve all your goals. Online nursing degrees are typically very good with this, but other industries are still just dipping their toe into the work-and-learn mindset. 

6. Is It Affordable? 

Flexible payments, financing help, grants, scholarships, and loans should all be options you can explore. It doesn't hurt to apply to all the possibilities, especially if it means you can cut down on your student debt. Make your loan the last step after exhausting all other options. 

7. Does It Help You Achieve Your Goals? 

Taking all of the above into account, you should be able to answer with a firm "yes" that the degree you are applying to offers everything you need to not just qualify for the next level but to achieve all of your goals. 

The Delicate Balance of Studying While You Work 

Hopefully, you will have been accepted into one of your top choices and are set to begin your online education soon. To help you avoid burnout and continue to progress through your degree while you work, use these tips: 

Create New Routines Before Your Course Begins 

Routine is your best friend. It helps you manage your energy levels and helps to put you in the right frame of mind to do everything you have set out for yourself in a day. Starting a new routine, however, can result in a lot of stumbles. 

That is why you will want to make any changes to your routine before you begin your degree. Try to set up a set bedtime and wake up call, when you eat, and when you will study around your workday. During this study time, you can read anything your course leader recommends, or just spend the time on a focus-heavy hobby to get you in the right mindset. 

Prep Healthy Meals in Advance 

Most people are very familiar with the importance of a healthy diet, but at the end of a long day, cooking those healthy meals is more a fantasy than a reality. The trick to eating well even when you are exhausted is to prep meals in advance. If you can make a healthy dinner in the same number of steps as a ready meal, you will be so much better off both in your degree and at work. 

Don't prep all of these meals on your own, either. You have friends and family that want to help you succeed, so rely on them. Take one of your days off to spend time with your parents and work together to prep healthy meals for you during the week. You'll have healthy meals within reach and be able to wind down and socialize with your loved ones. 

Work with Your Fellow Students and Nurses 

There is a resource that many students forget to take advantage of, and that is their peers. You don't need to be friends to work together. You don't even have to live in the same city. Connect with those taking the same course as you online and work to split the course load. You may all need to read a specific chapter, but if you take turns making notes, you can save yourself energy and still have excellent study tools at your disposal. 

Meet up in person, in a video chat, and through email or instant messaging. If you have a question, they are there for you. If you need to vent, they are right there in the same boat as you. Their support and help are going to play an instrumental role in your success. 

Combine Study with Everyday Tasks 

Your commute to work is an everyday task that you can take advantage of. When you are driving, you can rely on video lectures or the built-in text-to-speak feature on your phone to listen and learn on the go. If you are on a bus or train and don't get car sick, then you can read and take notes. 

There are so many ways that you can take advantage of this otherwise wasted time in your day. By putting in the effort here, you can actually free up your personal time and use it for relaxation and fun. 

Rewrite What You Learn 

We all learn differently, and rewriting or reworking what you learn into a format that suits your needs best will help you succeed beyond just your degree. Some learn best through listening. In this case, make voice notes. Some learn best through simple explanations; in that case, write notes. 

By reworking what you learn into a format that is clear and easy for you to understand, you will retain that information better for your degree, the exam, and your career. 

Slow and Steady 

Nurse and doctor burnout are a critical issue without adding the extra stress of a degree on top of everything. Online degrees designed to be completed while you work full time are perfect for helping you juggle a healthy balance because you can take on more or less. If it takes you longer to get all the credits you need, it makes you longer. In the interest of your career, health, and personal life slower and steady will win your race. 

Know the Opportunities and Resources Available to You 

If you don't take advantage of all the opportunities and resources available to you from your institution, you are not getting your money's worth from mental health services to subscriptions to academic journals, to even an email newsletter about opportunities in your field. Higher education is valuable when you take advantage of all its elements, not just what you are told to learn. 

Pay particular attention to the benefits available to the alumni and be sure to use those benefits throughout your life. From networking, to further education opportunities, there are so many ways your university will be invaluable to you. 

The Importance of Breaks, Fun, and Relaxation 

You will hit a wall. It will feel physical and impenetrable. You may not be able to study even with all the will and effort in the world. You'll know it happens when you reread the same paragraph over and over and still couldn't say what it was about. You'll know it when every time you think about what else you have to do in the day, all your mind comes up with is a firm "no". 

We are not designed to work hard from morning till night. We need fun. We need breaks. Taking these breaks is not a weakness, and no, there is not something better you could be doing with your time. 

Taking breaks has been proven to improve productivity. By giving your mind and body a rest, you can return to your work or study and do better. Forcing yourself and doing a poor job at studying or at work is going to ruin your future. 

Set breaks in-between study periods. Have days where you don't study at all. Spare one day of your weekend for free time, fun and friends. You will enjoy better results and can keep going for longer. Avoid fun, and you'll crash and burn. Recovering from such a fall is very difficult for many, so avoid it and treat yourself to regular breaks and a personal life. 

Commit to Ongoing Education 

Once you achieve your degree, you won't want to put those great habits to waste. Scale it back absolutely, but do continue to learn every day. Learn for fun, learn for your career, even just read an in-depth journal you've subscribed to. 

Every career will benefit from this. Every person will benefit from this. Learning on your own will benefit your mind, and it will make it a cinch if you need to go back and get more formal qualifications later on. 

Remember to branch out as well. Read, take online courses, go to workshops, or talks. Watch videos. Learning is the single most wonderful, invaluable gift we can provide for ourselves, and there are free, enriching options everywhere.