Tag: study

Back to school

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

My course with Open University has officially started, and I have been doing some studying today. It is all textbook work so far, and I am trying to write my own notes to put things down in a way that makes sense to me. Which isn’t easy, because a lot of things don’t make sense to me. Something that is not purely unique to uni work. The world can be a confusing place.

I just need to make sure that now things have got started that I sort out my time management, and stick to my schedule. It has always been a weakness for me. As said before, I am okay with work, it is my days off I struggle with. So, maybe I need to run a day off like my work day. Get up, start at 7.30, have my regular break times ( like I would at work), and then finish at 6pm. Or whenever my work is finished. It might be a good shout, because I have been having a lot of problems with my arthritis, so I can’t always be a reliable studier after work. But, that may enable me to read or write in the evenings.

The fear I have is that I may start of alright, but I know I am really bad at sticking to a plan. I am such a defeatist. If I can work this out properly, it’ll be okay. I just need a bit of faith in myself. I know work is about to get real busy, and I have lots of things on, so I will have to be rigid enough that I will stick to a study day, but if something is on, then I can move that study day to another day. And still stick to it.

Life is about challenging yourself, so this will be a good challenge. Well… a hard challenge. But it is said that if a challenge is easy, it isn’t a challenge.

Plotting A Path

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

Further education has been a thing I have struggled with, over the years. I have always envisioned a life for myself higher up than the entry level where I find myself permanently situated. It is frustrating, but, I have to keep plodding on. It doesn’t feel like there is any other option, if I were to be completely honest with you.

When I was younger, I always wanted to be a Veterinary Surgeon. When it became clear that I wasn’t going to get grades that would allow that to happen, I leaned towards Veterinary Nursing instead. Fantastic. Except, when I was staying in Glasgow, to access the Vet School, I found myself really suffering under poor mental health. I didn’t fit in with anyone, and I felt pretty lonely. I remember being shouted at by one of the lecturers because I was helping look after a dog in the hospital, and I couldn’t remember something she asked me. It was in front of so many people, and I was degraded. I think I was 19 at this time, and it just made everything worse. With my mental health already being awful, I then felt I couldn’t do anything right. It became such a distraction, I failed the end of year exam. I went to work in a local vet practice, and the guys there helped me build a new portfolio to submit and helped me study to resit my exam. Unfortunately, my confidence was already rock bottom, so I failed again. At this point, I couldn’t afford the money to re-register as a student vet nurse, to re-submit another portfolio, and sit another test. I was so stressed, I got a job at Greggs and let it all go.

Greggs was not an enjoyable experience, the manager was awful. She was a bit of a bully, and she had a tendancy of firing people who didn’t agree with her. You cleaned a counter wrong, you were written up. It was horrible, so I decided to find a way out of there. I applied to Lauder College (now Fife College), to do art and design. I loved art, and creating things, so maybe I could do this. So I left Greggs, got a part time job in a call centre whilst I was in college. I made so many friends at college, and it was an enjoyable experience. The only problem was I was at college for 8.30am, and would go straight to work after, by the time I was home it was often past midnight. I’d sit up to the early hours doing coursework, going to bed at 3 am, just to do it all again the next day. No surprise, my mental health took a major dip again, and I failed to keep up with the workload from the college. So I ended up dropping out and working at the call centre full-time. It was a horrible job.

I eventually ended up in the warehouse job, where I am currently working. I have been trying to get an IT degree through the Open University. My mental and physical health problems have made any progress slow, but I am still slowly making progress. I think. The problem is, that I have been in my current job for 10 years, and whilst, once upon a time, working hard would see natural progression up the corporate ladder, that is not the case anymore. There are so many people who have degrees these days, they come in at management level, even without experience. So, the only way I thought that I could fix that, was to get a degree myself. As said before, my health problems don’t make it particularly easy, nor does the fact that my doctor suspects I have ADHD, which would explain so much. I have had to pause my studies for a year, to try and help myself, and am trying to get back into things after the summer.

I have come to the conclusion, that as easy as it seems to be for some people, to pick a degree and simply do it. Things aren’t that easy for everyone. It might take multiple attempts to get to where we need to be, and it might never happen. I do like learning, I just need to find away that it works. There is a special type of uselessness that comes with feeling stuck in the same role for multiple years, especially when it seems like everyone around you are progressing. And, I need to find a way to get rid of that feeling. As well as the possibility that I worry that my work may no longer be around in the next 5 years, so I have to work hard and focus on next steps.

Busy As A Bee

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Life has been extremely busy recently. Whilst that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it has been proving difficult to get anything done. Well anything that isn’t my work.

I work in a warehouse, and my department is in its annual post-Christmas busy rush. It always feels weird saying that, because most businesses who have retail connections hope for business before Christmas. January is the busiest time of the year, as my department is focused on customer returns. In other words, it is a little crazy. I am working 50 hour weeks, which is leaving me knackered. But that’s not all.

I also have an assessment due in a few weeks for my Uni course. And, due to technical issues over the festive period (my PC died), I have fallen behind. I am learning JavaScript, well, learning bits of JavaScript. It is interesting, and I do love doing it, but it is a LOT of work. I am expected to do 20 hours minimum of studying every week. On top of the 50 hours of work… it feels like there isn’t enough hours in the day.

It is why I feel like everything else has fallen aside, purely because I am exhausted. I haven’t had much time for meeting friends, or do anything social. Which, gets old really fast. It is only temporary. More money means, I can pay my new computer off quicker, and finally get a new car. It is a pain, but it will be worth it.

Work It

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

I work full-time in a warehouse, 40-50 hours a week, standing on my feet every day. As much as I try to look at the benifits that a physical job can bring (25,000+ steps a day), I feel like I should be doing something better, be building some kind of career. I have seen myself ‘window shopping’ for something a bit more developmental. But after 9 years in my current job, I find jumping into the unknown of that new job, is something that I really don’t have the disposition to currently deal with.

My job is currently 4 days a week, as stantard. I often work an extra day, to try and get the extra money required for the things I want (i.e. a new car). Even with that extra day, I have 2 days off work a week. A weekend that falls on a Sunday/Monday, and allows me to plan to have a life. Note: as much as I do plan for a life, I often flake out on most things, and do a whole lot of nothing instead.

So as much as I would like to not work in a warehouse for the rest of my life, the standard, reliable shift pattern helps me. My brain isn’t very great at dealling with stuff that changes, especially without me having any notice of said changes. In fact, work is the one routine that I keep. I am forever missing appointments, be them doctors or otherwise. Because I feel like I know my job, and am mentally comfortable in the enviroment, it means I actually find the routine helpful for my mental health.

What is the answer? How do I give myself the challenge that I feel my life is missing? After some reading around different possibilities, I landed on the Open University a few years back. Maybe try to study something, so that I would be able to get more opertunities, maybe even in my current workplace. So I started an IT and Computing degree. There has been a few roadbumps along the way, as I struggled with my mental health. This month, however, I have started Level 2 of my degree. For part-time learning, 2 units are taken a year. There are 4 units in each level, and there are 3 levels. So,I am about half way through. The problem has been that the work load is a tad more than what I had planned for (someone doesn’t read things properly).

The University says that it should take about 20 hours a week to get through the course material (10 hours per unit). This is a lot, when working full time. Not too much, just means I have to be disciplined and do my studying when I plan to. Luckily, I am enjoying the material, so it is not as hard as I thought actually working through the material.

I like this new challenge, and hopefully I am still able to combine it with work. I just hope it stays being a challenge I can do.

Technologically Fighting

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

My computer is ready to die.

Which is great. I have a maths assessment to complete, but Microsoft Word, the programme I use to create the assessment document, is going very slow. Which is great. I bought this laptop not long after I started my current job. That was 8 years ago. Which is absolutely crazy. Time flies when you are having fun, I guess.

It is all so typical. I am suffering a lot from muscular pain, as well as the normal mental health stuff, so it has been a drag to get the energy to sit down and actually do the work I need to. Either, my body is too sore to sit at a computer for hours, or my brain would rather have me disassociate and stare at a wall for a few hours.

The one way I have been trying to get through tasks, and keep my focus, is to write a to-do list. Not everything gets done, but it does mean that if I do find something difficult, I have other things ready to do. So although Word isn’t working, my internet browser is. So, rather than get grumpy about it, I just put my focus elsewhere. Which, is still a fairly new concept for myself, but it is something that I am willing to try.

I have been having difficulty posting through the mobile app, so my normal way of posting hasn’t been available. Because, expressing what is in my head, has always been helpful. But, I just haven’t got the will to carry on when there is problems. Especially when you spend the best part of an hour, typing up a post, only for the page to refresh, and nothing saved. So, technology is really not my friend at the moment.

It’s okay though. I am currently window shopping for a new laptop. One, that is a little better at multi-tasking. Part of me really wants a Mac, because I have wanted one for many years, but the other part thinks a gaming computer may be better for what I need. I plan to buy a new computer after Christmas, but that all depends on how well everything else, goes. The MOT for my car comes first, and I do think it will cost a wee bit to fix. I can never remember school warning us, how expensive adulthood would be.

A warning would have been nice.

Doesn’t All Add Up

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

Today I have been doing maths. It was never my favourite subject at school, I didn’t like it. Some stuff made sense, whilst others flew right over my head. And I never knew why. I was so frustrated.

I have returned to the ‘Land of Maths’ thanks to the course I am doing through the Open University. I am doing a degree in Computing and IT, to try and improve my career opportunities. Without a degree, it is very hard to step into a higher role at my work, or any other. So, I can do it part time, alongside my full-time job. It’s nice to have something to focus on. I did take a wee break, because my mental health was rubbish, but now I am back studying again.

Before I start my maths course, in October, I have a ‘refresher’ set of mini-courses to go through, to re-familiarise myself with things. It’s recommended to go through the pre-courses, to help give people an idea of what is coming up in the course. Part of me just wants to skip it, but it is always good to challenge yourself. And it is all for a better future, so it’ll be worth it.

I just wish it was English, instead.

Head In Sand

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Recently I haven’t been sharing at all. Which is not like me, but it’s hard when you are dealing with something that you’d rather not be dealing with.

Unfortunately, life is not that kind. I have been sick, had a major crash with my mental health, had course work due in and the busiest time of the year for the ol’ day job. And it all kind of left me functioning, but that was it. I didn’t want to talk about it, still don’t, because I didn’t want to think about how much stuff was happening all at once. It’s kind of calmed down a little, my coursework is done and Christmas is a week a way, which means no overtime. And it’s allowing me a little time to reflect on why I burrowed myself away from the internet.

For years the internet was where I could let my feelings go, where I could write about stuff that no one cared about. It was very therapeutic and it was completely disconnected from my real life. However, every day there seems to be more merging of both my private life and the one I talk about on line. People who I know in real life, are able to access what I am writing.

Now, this doesn’t seem like a huge problem for some, as they see things being made public, and surely it doesn’t matter who reads it. But… that’s not really how it goes. In my life, I try to put a smile on as I soldier on through whatever the day throws at me. Inside, I may be falling apart, but I don’t want people to see it. I always feel like my mental health issues makes me a burden on others, so I don’t want them to know. That way people don’t feel pressured into being nice, they are being nice because they want to, not because I’m not right in the head. And when these people I share my daily life with can read what I really feel, I feel like I have let them down. I mean, surely I should be able to talk to folk, right?

So, sometimes it is easier to bury my head in the sand. Pretend things are okay, when they aren’t. It’s not perfect. But, it can get me through times where I don’t have the strength to deal with questions about things that I don’t know how to put into words. That’s what writing helps me do, sometimes, put what’s in my head into words that (kind of) make sense.

A Testing Time

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

These last few weeks have flown by. It is that time of year, once again, where assements and summer seem to collide. I am studying through the Open University, which gives the ability to access high level learning, whilst still working full time. Which is what I am doing. It gives me a sense that I am working towards something, which is what I need, after being in my current job for 5 years. It is a very good thing. However, the recommended study time, doesn’t actually sound like much, like 10 or so hours a week. But once life gets in the way, that 10 hours is a lot.

Key to doing anything like this, is being honest to yourself, and honest to the people there to help. Be it people at work, friends, or folk at where you are studying. When looking for help, it is easy to forget that there are actually lots of things set up to help you succeed. Managers and tutors are their to help you, their job is to make sure that you have as much support as you need. So, just tell them what the problem is and they can help, even if it is pointing you in the direction of where you can get support.

No matter where you are, you will here people saying that the people who are supposed to care about them (like managers) don’t care about them. But, a lot of the time, when you question them further, you can find that no issues have actually been raised to their managers. As clever as some people like to think that they are, noone is actually a mind reaer, they sometimes only know something is wrong, when it is pointed out to them. So, no matter how silly you may feel, speaking up can make things a lot easier, and help release the pressure.

However, that can be easier said than done.

Study Hard

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

The last time I tried to do education and work together, I kind of failed. I got very stressed, and struggled to do almost everything. It was the time in my life, when I really began to get effected by mental health issues. I think, the development of mental health issues, made it really hard to focus on stuff. So working full time, and studying full time did not work for me. It is no wonder, as I barely left myself with time to function.

Last month I started an IT course through the Open University. Something I was very scared to do, after the last time I did any proper education. The good thing about the Open University, is that you can study at a time more suitable to yourself. Which is handy, especially at this time of year. My work is focusing on the run-up to Christmas, which is always fun, but can also be stressful. Lots of temporary workers come in, so that we can meet customer demand, and it can get a little crazy. The good thing about it, is overtime. Which is really good, when I am trying to clear my feet, financially, before the end of the year. So, I end up working extra days, which means that I have to change when I study. The University information on the course, says I should have to spend 10 hours, or so, a week on studying. Which is perfectly manageable.

The good thing about doing this new course, is that it has given me a bit of focus. All the information you have to work through, is split into smaller chapters, which makes it a lot easier to work through. Like, tonight, I was able to relax, and then study a couple of sections. Because I can break everything down into steps, it is helping me keep on track in getting all necessary tasks completed on time.

It’s nice to feel like you are working towards something.