My studying has not been going so great in the past couple of weeks.  I am supposed to be taking an hour a week at work to study and in the past three weeks that has probably only happened once.  The time is actually blocked off on my calendar but other projects at work have taken priority over studying for the exam.  I am really focusing on getting on track in the next couple of weeks.

This is a very stressful time in the year when I am trying to prepare for final exams at school, get all my final projects complete, and prepare for the holidays*.  I make sure that I have at least an hour every evening to sit down and play with my daughter.  I’m feeling very overwhelmed and question myself as to if I have taken on too much.  I have two weeks until the end of the semester.  If I can just get through finals I will have a good month and a half to step up my studying for the CTP exam. 

The hardest obstacle I’ve had to overcome over the past couple of weeks has been work/life balance.   My daughter wants me to focus my attention on her while I am trying to concentrate on school work.  She will crawl up on the couch and sit on my book or if I’m sitting at the dining room table she wants to sit in the chair with me.  How am I supposed to look at her and say no?  I leave her all day to go to work, two nights a week I leave her for school, and now when she wants me to hold her I say no?  I hope that by the time I have completed all of my blog entries I have answered these questions and can help another parent that feels the same guilt I do for missing time with their children.

For now I am keeping my eyes on the prize.  My education is very important and so is passing the CTP exam.  As I write this blog entry I am reflecting back and realizing that I need to be much more disciplined and utilize my time better.  My next step will be to come up with a studying schedule that I can stick to.

* editor's note:  This blog was written as the candidate prepared for the Dec 2011/ Jan 2012 testing window.  The entries were submitted as they were written and the candidate did not have the opportunity to edit them once they were submitted.