You may have chosen to travel to another country to work there, or perhaps a backpacking trip later turned into not wanting to leave.
In either case, while it previously wasn’t possible to study for a master’s degree without attending a university campus, that’s no longer the case. For instance, there are counseling degrees online which are available to study wherever you are in the world right now.
It’s not always easy to focus while studying abroad, so here are some tips to help with that.
Reduce the Number of Distractions
Distractions are the bane of students especially part-times ones who are trying to get through the course syllabus in a reasonable amount of time. Getting into the flow state is important to retain information, but it can take up to 45 minutes to reach it and achieve “flow.” The exalted state is then completely lost when interrupted just once and takes up to 45 minutes to get back to that state again.
To reduce distractions, we would suggest:
1. Turning off email notifications on your smartphone/tablet and computer
2. Blocking unproductive websites using a web browser add on/extension
3. Letting people know that you’re studying between certain time periods to help them not interrupt you
4. Getting enough sleep the night before so your mind can focus better
Create (or Find) a Conducive Study Environment
Not every place is great for studying. Some are public areas with people talking and moving around in a way that’s painfully distracting. Even rooms at home might not be ideal if the neighbors are noisy, the kids won’t stop running around or there isn’t a spare room to go hide out.
To retain information and learn faster, most of us need a quiet place to go through the course study materials. A few people can study through any kind of noise imaginable, but if that’s not you then you’ll need to create your own study environment or find a suitable one. If there’s a basement that you can use, then it can be soundproofed through insulation and set up in a way that’ll support your goal of graduating. Alternatively, a free library might work too.
Time Management
When you’re already working abroad, then finding time to take a degree like the masters in counseling programs at Bradley University is difficult because you’re in a time crunch. You cannot make more hours in the day and cutting sleep doesn’t help the brain to absorb what you’ve learned that day (the brain re-organizes new knowledge while you sleep). Therefore, you must make do with your waking hours as they are and figure out how to make them work for you.
Being abroad, you may either be working, using time meeting friends or sightseeing. Either way, you must get serious about your time. The top priorities are going to be work time and study time. Seeing friends, sightseeing, running errands and everything else is going to have to fit into the time that’s left. Doing it the other way around by working (if you are) and having fun, then trying to squeeze in study time after that just never works out well.
It comes down to what are you willing to give up to succeed. You cannot spend the same amount of time as you have been on the same things because there won’t be any time left for education. So, one or more things have to go and other things must be heavily reduced to slot academic studies in as your #1 or #2 priority item. There’s really no other way.
There are now many types of online degrees available for study while abroad. They’re affordable, accessible and awaiting your application. Ultimately, just because you’re not in your home country right now doesn’t mean you need to stop advancing your career prospects.