There are never enough hours in the day! Have you ever felt like that? Many of us have. Sometimes, we end up over-committing our time, and we aren't able to accomplish everything, or we don't have time for some things

Online courses often appeal to us because of their convenience - we can study and do assignments when it fits in our schedule. But, online courses take just as much time, sometimes more , than a traditional class.

So will you really have enough time to take an online course? And, how will you manage your course along with everything else in your life? What if the only time you have to study is 3:00 in the morning? Let's look at how to find the answer.

Here is a little exercise to help answer those questions.

First of all, let's determine how much time is actually needed to take a course. A general rule of thumb is that you need to spend 3-4 hours a week for every credit hour the course is worth.

If a course you want to take is a 3 credit course, you would need (3 x 3) or (3 x 4) hours a week: 9-12 hours a week to spend on this course.

Plan for the high end of the range if: the subject is a new one to you the technology is new to you you know this is a demanding course Helpful Hint

Once you know how many hours you need, you need to figure out where those hours will be. You must take into account:

• Work time

• School (traditional class meeting & study times)

• Daily/weekly activities (sleeping, meals, house cleaning, yard work)

• Family time (family responsibilities, social time, etc.)

• Community Activities (church, clubs, volunteer activities, social time, etc.)

Try to spread out study time over the week, rather than one huge block at once. Helpful Hint

Warning!