Getting Organised

I've actually done two coursework postgraduate degrees. The first one I was living in a shared house with young adults and the second in a shared house with my children and my husband. In the first experience, one of the most valuable things I learned was don't set up your desk in the lounge room, because it's not very productive, especially with young adults. So I moved my desk to my bedroom. I also learned in that degree, because I'd come back to it after a few years away from my undergraduate degree, to be more organised. I started reading earlier, I drafted earlier, and so I was able to do multiple drafts, and got better marks for it. In the second degree, where I had children, I learned to maintain a separate space, obviously, because you don't put a desk in the lounge room full of children's toys, and full of children. I also learned to keep a family calendar, because it's hard for everyone to understand each other's schedules in a very busy family of five if you don't write these things down in a place where they can all see it. So that lives in the kitchen. My husband and I also recently set up online calendars, so that we can actually see each other's schedules all the time. And on that scheduling note, I've learned that managing everybody's expectations is really important, and that the time I'm away at uni for class is not the only time that I'm unavailable. Even when I'm at home, I block out times on the family calendar for study, to let them know those are times I may be at home but I'm not actually available.