Strategies for Successfully Managing Part-Time Caregiving and College Studies

In today’s fast-paced world, some people find themselves having to care for others while also working on their own education. This is particularly true for grandchildren taking care of their grandparents, but can also happen for millennial caregivers, particularly those trying to upskill. 

Taking care of a loved one while going to college can be tough to do – overwhelmingly so at times. However, it is possible to find a good balance between these two important parts of life. This piece looks at different ways and tips that students can use to take care of someone part-time while also going to college. 

We also consider the issue of priorities. What do you do when you can’t effectively balance school and caregiving? What are your options? What’s the best course of action?  

Why Study as a Caregiver? 

Studying while caregiving comes with a variety of challenges, however there are also some benefits to consider.  

Your Life Is Still Moving Forward 

Caregivers often feel like their life is put on hold as they support a loved one, especially when the caregiving role lasts years. Caregivers may find themselves behind their peers in terms of education and career experience, which makes it difficult to re-integrate into life. 

Working on your studies while caregiving allows you to keep moving forward.   

Your education and skills development will likely be slower because of caregiving. But, slow progress is much better than none at all.  

What you’re learning isn’t the only part of this equation. Continuing to study also helps you stay engaged with your future career and your passions. You can stay up-to-date with research and trends, rather than feeling entirely out of the loop.  

You Can Expand Your Identity 

Caregiving can be an all-encompassing role, so much so that caregivers sometimes lose connection with their personal needs and interests.  

College studies help with this, as they give you something external to focus on and be passionate about. This approach may even be more effective than hobbies because you have external expectations and deadlines.  

In short, you’re doing something for you, which helps you stay connected with who you are. 

There’s a Sense of Community and Belonging 

College brings with it a sense of community and belonging. There are people you can connect with and a sense of shared values and purpose. This is powerful, as caregiving can be such an isolating role.  

You may even find that some people you study with understand the challenges you’re facing. After all, many people have experiences with aging loved ones. Try asking around. You might find someone in a similar situation to you.  

You’re Developing Valuable Skills 

Studying while providing care provides you with a powerful set of skills. You may quickly become adept at time management and learn to juggle deadlines from multiple sources at once.  

You may learn to set boundaries faster than other caregivers too, simply because you need to.  

College studies also teach valuable life skills, including critical thinking, research, and how to find resources. Some of the skills learned will directly help with your caregiving journey, making it easier to advocate for your loved one and make wise decisions about the future.  

Such benefits aren’t even limited to fields that relate to aging, mental health, or physical health. Even a seemingly unrelated field (like engineering arts or literature) will provide a surprising number of benefits. 

How to Support Yourself as a Student 

Understand the Challenges 

The first step is to have some understanding of what to expect. You can’t plan or make wise decisions without this information.  

There are two aspects here – caregiving and studying.  

What are the responsibilities for each? How might expectations and responsibilities change over time?  

For example, if your loved one has a dementia diagnosis, their needs are likely to increase and they may eventually be unable to complete even the simplest tasks alone. But… if they were only recently diagnosed, their care needs might be relatively low for the duration of your studies. 

Take some time and talk to your loved one’s doctor and to people at your college. Ask the doctor about your loved one’s prognosis and what may happen with their health in the future. Ask college staff about the amount of time per week you’re likely to need to put in.  

No one can tell you what will happen, but they can give you a sense of what to expect.  

This information can help you decide whether it’s realistic to be a part-time caregiver while studying. You’ll also get a sense of the areas that are most likely to trip you up.   

Understanding challenges may also help you decide between part-time study and full-time study. Part-time study will often be the best answer, as this keeps your education ticking along, while giving you enough time to support your loved one.

Plan Your Time Well 

Time management can be complex for caregiving, as the person you’re supporting mightn’t be predictable and their health certainly isn’t.  

This means you need to focus on the areas you have control over. Here are some crucial approaches to try.  

• Talk to professors and the administration about your situation and the challenges it can bring. You’re likely to get much more leniency and kindness if everyone is aware of your situation ahead of time.  
• Use tools like calendars and apps. These tools are powerful, as they allow you to see your schedule and make plans visually. Doing so can be a game changer for balancing deadlines and appointments.  
• Work on assignments early. Sudden caregiving challenges can wreck havoc on your plans. Being ahead with assignments and study helps, as you have more flexibility when you need it most. Plus, if things really go sideways, you’ll be able to prove that you’ve at least been working on the assignment.   

• Prioritize tasks. This is essential for both academia and caregiving. You should be focusing on the most critical and time-sensitive tasks first, while allowing time for deadlines that can creep up (including assignments). 
• Break tasks down into steps. It helps to break down large tasks into smaller and more manageable steps. You can then start to plan these individual steps.  
• Talk about boundaries and expectations. As a caregiver, it’s easy to do everything that’s asked of you, even if your studies suffer as a result. Setting boundaries helps, especially if you set them early and clearly. Doing so may even help you keep track of where your focus should be.  

For both caregiving and academics – allow much more time than you think you’ll need. This is a crucial time management technique, as life goes exactly as we would expect.  

The challenge is doubly true with caregiving. Seriously. Some days a simple 20 minute takes close to an hour. Other times a task might never get completed at all. If your timing is too tight, you’ll be constantly stressed, overwhelmed, and have little time for your own needs.  

Engage In Financial Planning 

There are also financial aspects to consider.  

Think carefully about how you’re going to fund your education. What about caregiving? Are you responsible for additional costs, like medical supplies? What happens if the senior regularly lives outside their means? 

You may be able to find additional financial support through scholarships, grants, or senior programs.  

It’s important to dig into such options before you start studying, as your time will be more limited once you are studying and providing care. Plus, knowing where you stand financially will help you to plan and make wise decisions.  

Carefully Consider Part-Time Work 

Part-time work is the most obvious way to increase your financial resources. It’s also a double-edged sword, as working takes time away from your caregiving and your studies.  

This isn’t something to try lightly. Trying to work, study, and be a caregiver is an overwhelming idea that could easily burn you out.  

Honestly, if part-time work is the only way you can finance caregiving and studying, it might not be the right time to start studying.  

Account For Your Resources 

Think too about the resources available to you. This includes physical resources, like medical supplies, incontinence products, computers, stationary, and more, and also less tangible resources, like friends and family who can help with caregiving.  

Start to list the things you have and the things you might need. Are most of the gaps covered? Are there crucial resources missing? How could you access them? 

Seek Support 

You’re going to need a support system for this journey. This could involve friends, family, academic staff, aging experts, neighbors, doctors, and anyone else significant in your life.  

In doing so, it’s crucial to get away from the modern idea of “I can do it myself”. This remains a really common value. It’s easy to think that we should only ask for help when we are unable to complete a task ourselves – yet that’s not at all accurate.  

It’s much better to seek help often and early.  

Doing so is better for those around you too, as you’re less desperate when looking for help and the requests often aren’t as dramatic.  

Indeed, asking for little pieces of support from many people is one of the most powerful approaches. People generally like helping, as long as your requests are within their values and capacity.  

Sometimes you simply need to be honest with people around you. Let them know what your situation is, what you’re balancing, and how it can be difficult sometimes. Connecting honestly like this can be powerful for your mental health and helps to promote resilience.  

Support may not just come from family and friends. Some colleges will have policies and approaches that allow them to help students who are caregivers. For example, they may give you more flexible deadlines or allow you to complete some papers remotely rather than in-person. Be sure to ask about support, as some services and policies mightn’t be immediately obvious. 

Take Advantage of Technology  

There are many powerful technological tools these days. This includes apps for caregivers, mobility aids to promote senior independence, and plenty of tools to support online education.  

The online aspect is particularly relevant. You may be able to do much of your studies online through virtual classes and webinars. While this approach means you miss out on some face-to-face interactions, it does provide much more flexibility.  

Some universities will even offer hybrid classes, where much of your work can be completed online, but you still get some aspects of an in-person education.  

Take Care of Yourself 

Self-care is essential for caregivers.  

The term refers to taking care of yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It includes meeting not just your needs, but your wants too.  

Notably, none of us do well if we are in constant hustle mode.  

Slowing down, doing things for ourselves, and finding joy are all crucial aspects of doing well. Skipping these steps quickly leads to burnout (and burnout is much harder to recover from than it is to avoid). 

Some research suggests that key aspects in recovering form burnout include having time away from regular day-to-day requirements, relaxing, engaging in tasks with a sense of mastery, and ensuring there are some activities where you feel that you have a sense of control. These factors are likely to reduce the risk of burnout too.   

Set Realistic Expectations 

Caregiving is challenging. So is studying.  

It helps to be mindful of this. Recognize that you’re not going to excel at everything every day. Sometimes it might seem like the whole world is falling apart and you get barely any of the tasks done that you need to.  

That’s okay. Take a deep breath. Tomorrow’s a new day.  

Also, crucially, being a caregiver is likely to negatively impact your studies. That’s true regardless of how well you plan. You may even miss deadlines or get lower grades because of the caregiving role. If you’re unhappy with this, ask yourself whether now is the right time to study.   

Lean into Flexibility and Adaptability 

Earlier we talked about planning. That’s an important aspect of doing well with studying and caregiving, but you can’t plan everything (especially not as a caregiver!).  

You also need to be flexible. This includes having backup plans and alternative ways to solve challenges.  

Sometimes it’s simply a matter of remembering that you’re resilient and you have this. You can effectively pivot, even when plans change dramatically.  

Use Effective Techniques for Studying 

Finally, it’s important to study smart. This includes finding the study techniques that work best for you.  

For some, working in groups is a good idea. You might spend some of the time teaching others, which is a powerful way to learn. You could also look at summarizing information, doing extra reading, and finding interesting online discussions.  

Using smaller and shorter study sessions can be beneficial too, instead of attempting to cram all the information in right before the deadline. 

The best techniques vary from person-to-person, so experiment until you find the best ones for you.  

What Happens When Everything Becomes Too Difficult? 

The approaches we’ve highlighted can all help you provide effective care while studying.  

But, they’re only effective up to a point.  

Things may reach a point where you simply don’t have enough time, energy, or capacity to provide care and study. What then?  

First, trying to muster extra energy and push through isn’t the answer. After all, your studies are likely to get more difficult as you progress and your loved one’s care needs may increase as well.  

You may find that you need to reconsider your priorities.  

Here are some questions to ask yourself:  

• Is it essential that you provide care? There may be other people that can support your loved one. Or, they might have the financial resources to hire in-home care. 
• What about family? Is it possible to change the balance of tasks, where some family members start to help out more? 
• What happens if you study later? Sometimes it helps to postpone your studies so that you can focus on them fully, rather than spitting your attention between study and caregiving. Other times, waiting may lead to a loss of opportunity or momentum, and isn’t wise (if you’re young, waiting too long may put you on the back foot for much of your life).   

You might also consider whether you should refuse to provide care. Harsh as this sounds, caring for an aging parent is more a choice than an obligation. Walking away is often possible – and sometimes essential for your sanity.  

If you still want to provide care and study, you may need to radically rebalance your priorities. This involves carefully considering where your support is actually essential.  

Part of doing so may involve thinking about your loved one’s wants versus their needs. You may need to stop trying to make them happy, as their happiness isn’t your responsibility and isn’t in your control anyway.  

Final Thoughts 

Combining study and caregiving involves a considerable amount of support, planning, and flexibility. It isn’t an easy road and isn’t always the right choice.  

Still, if you can pull it off, the combination can be powerful. You get to support your loved one, while still moving forward with your own hopes and dreams. Some aspects of your education might even make caregiving a little easier.