Starting a degree on maternity leave

I've taken a giant leap of faith and have started my degree in Psychology. It's quite scary because I've just seen my tutor assessment dates, and I will be due to hand in one assignment a week or so after sissy's due date.

The good news is Froggy has really taken to his new gentle bedtime routine (he loves that candle so much!) So by eight he looks like this:

Which gives me a couple of hours, four nights a week to do my studies. I'm a bit nervous about how it will go being that I'm six months pregnant but I'm really excited at the same time.

Here's my five steps to keeping on top of studying whilst pregnant or on maternity

1. Take little chunks of study when you can. 45 minutes whilst dad takes the baby out, during a nap time, before bed.
2. Annotate your study material- with things you cover in lectures or related learning material. Try and pop it in the column near something relevant to boost your revision.
3. Plan your essays. Do a mind map for each key point you want to make. Note your references, key terms, concepts and points. If you get caught short or the baby wakes up it will be easier to return to an essay with a plan than one without.
4. Study something you love. If you don't love what you study it won't come easy.
5. Dive in to the study material. If you can download the audio or video to your phone and relisten whilst doing chores or caring for your baby you will make cognitive connections to the material.