finish my degree

I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote the first entry for this goal, it reads a little crazed to me now.

At the moment I’m just plugging on with doing one unit at a time via distance, part-time. I’ve figured that I’ll finish up just as all of our (3) children reach school-age, and so I’ll be able to pick up some part-time work while they’re at school.

My other reasons for doing the degree are that 1) it’s the easiest option for me at the moment without having to find and pay for fulltime care for our small children, and 2) I need to get some qualifications if (touch wood) anything bad happens to my husband as current sole provider eg – losing his job or becoming ill or injured, or – the worst – passing away. I hope HOPE nothing bad EVER happens, but of course I need to be realistic and have contingency plans in place so that we both can continue to raise our little family well.

People can live productive and successful lives without degrees. I don’t need to do this degree to have a productive and successful life. And yet I WANT to do it. I CHOOSE to do it! I CHOOSE to make it fun and challenging, and I choose to make a game out of it when I can.

Game rule #1 – No degree work for more than 20 hours per week, and no more than 5 hours per day.

Game rule #2 – Always finish a block of work with a positive feeling of knowing where to begin next i.e. don’t stop until you’ve worked out a way to pick up successfully next time.

Game rule #3 – Always follow a block of work with a REWARD time! Fun time, rest time, time out time, guilt-free play. On a busy day, schedule MORE reward/play time so that you can look forward to those days too.

Game rule #4 – Keep on starting. Finishing will take care of itself. When it is time to start the last thirty minutes that will finish the project, that too will be an act of starting – the start of the conclusion of your current project, as well as the beginning of your next. So forget about finishing. If you must worry, worry about starting. In order to finish, all you have to do is to just keep starting!

Game rule #5 – Think small. Do NOT aim to finish a book, write letters, complete your income tax, or to work continuously for even four hours. Aim for thirty minutes of quality, focused work.