With tuition costs skyrocketing and student debt at an all time high, its more important than ever to be cautious and calculated if you’re thinking of taking a couple years off work to go back to school and upgrade your skills.

If you’re consider going back to school, here are some questions to ask yourself to ensure that you don’t waste time/money getting a degree you don’t need.

1. Do I Really Need A Degree?

Its easy to use a degree or certification as a crutch when we don’t know what else to do. Getting a degree or going back to school is a clear, defined path we can follow, while getting better at schmoozing clients, perfecting your sales pitch, or developing a closer relationship with your boss are not nearly as defined. Ask yourself if its truly the degree or certification holding you back, or if you can save yourself a lot of time and money by simply pouring your energy into your current work, improving your skills, and getting noticed.

Of course, there are instances where a degree will have a clear impact on the positions available to you, especially in the professions. If you’re a personal trainer for example, getting admitted to a top occupational therapy school and getting your MSOT opens up a door you couldn’t have access to simply by working smarter or working harder. On the other hand if you’re a chef, you don’t necessarily need to go to a top culinary school in order to hone your skills or expand your knowledge.

2. How Much Can I Afford?

When it comes to education people seem easily lulled into spending significantly more than they can afford. “But its an investment!” people will say to rationalize spending outrageous amounts of money. If I save X%, I will make back my money in 5 years! Perhaps that’s true, but if that’s the way you have to rationalize your education, what happens if the economy crashes and you can’t find that high paying job? What happens if technology advances and your new skill set is no longer in such high demand? There are lots of ways to increase your education and future pay without accumulating debt that will take you years to pay off.

3. There’s No Better Time Than Now

If you really do need the degree and you can find a way to make it affordable, then don’t wait. It might be scary taking the plunge, but if you have a plan and a purpose, there’s never going to be a better time to go for it.

Photo: Bryan McNair

Remember that you, and you alone, are in charge of your own happiness. Quit blaming your sadness on other people! It’s up to you to improve your life if you are down in the dumps. No one will do it for you.

Get inspired by other peoples’ actions. If you want to be inspired by some of the amazing feats that people have done, read an autobiography of a famous historical figure. You will want to achieve more after having read the biography of Winston Churchill, or Albert Einstein. Just trust us on this.

Reward yourself when you do something that you need to do, and make a habit of it. If you reward yourself, you’ll be more motivated to do the tasks that you need to do in the future. Besides, a good pat on the back is a wonderful perk to living.
Hanging out with motivated people is a good way to get more motivation. Why? Because whether we realize it or not, we have a tendency of adopting the habits and thinking patterns of people who we hang out with. So maybe, you should cancel hanging out with your unemployed friends who would rather hang out than search for a job, and look for new friends.

Getting good motivation comes from a variety of sources. The key to getting motivated and staying motivated is to find the motivation inside of you, and to get motivated from sources around you. After all, you can always find motivation if you look hard enough.

1. Are you ready to take a pay cut?
This doesn’t always happen but typically, going from a job where you are fairly established, in a field that you are somewhat experienced in, to another career where you’re in an entry level position will lead to a pay cut. Do you long for a new career so much that losing that money would be acceptable? Most say the career change is worth it if what you’re currently doing isn’t rewarding; becoming a medical technologist is considered one of the most rewarding career opportunities out there, and over time will lead to substantial pay grades.

2. Are you set on the field you’re considering?
Switching careers is very possible, and it happens all the time, but switching frequently is a mistake and it means you’ll never become well established in any one field. If you become a medical technologist, the only reason you’ll want to switch is when you’re rewarded with a promotion, or your continued education gives you a chance to earn a higher pay grade.

3. Education might be needed down the road
While every field generally has some entry level positions however most great paying career choices require some level of education. Would you be willing to return to school, even briefly, to get further in your career, or to go after a completely new field?

Keep these things in mind as you consider changing careers. It’s important that you make sure you’re willing to do what must be done to get your dream position.

The first thing you need to do before you can fully live your life is to answer for yourself: what exactly do I want out of life? Companies have mission statements so that everything is done for a singular purpose, and you need to have your own manifesto as well. If you don’t know what you want out of life, how can you expect to live it to its fullest? The discipline of knowing exactly what you want out of your life is a very important one.

A second tip to living life to its fullest is to go off of the beaten path. There is an expectation that people must go to school to get a good job, get a spouse and kids and a house with a white picket fence. While this can be part of a good life, alone it is hardly a fulfilling one. What makes life worth living is new and different experiences, and venturing off into uncharted territory. Ordering a new dish at a restaurant is a way to start breaking out of your comfort zone, but traveling, learning languages and skills and doing strange, new and even risky things can bring some zest to an otherwise ordinary life.

A final tip to living life to its fullest is to immerse yourself in the present moment. When you are where you want to be, when you know what you want to do, and when you experiencing what you want to, there is no need to let that little voice in your head keep you up at night with worries of the past or future. When you’ve got the important things taken care of, you know that you can live your life exactly how you want to, here and now, enjoying every experience to its fullest.

A great additional benefit when it comes to this delicious and versatile drink is that coffee can be used to boost concentration and performance, however only if you are taking the right dosage. If you go overboard and ingest too much caffeine you can end up having the effects reversed, making it difficult to concentrate and burned out. Knowing the optimal amount of caffeine to drink throughout the day is important and while many people rely on it to get them going, it can actually leave you feeling fatigued. Knowing when to stop can help you stay productive and on top of your game.

For most adults the right dosages of caffeine range between 200 and 300 mgs; this means about two to four cups of coffee a day. If you find yourself drinking five or more cups you can end up suffering from insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, irritability, a faster heartbeat, muscle spasms and more. In addition, if you don’t drink a decent amount of water afterwards you can also become dehydrated. Make sure to know the limit and try to stick to a moderate amount of coffee throughout any given day. Some people have bad reactions to even a small amount of coffee but for most of us it leads to energy, and maximizes concentration and performance. One way to ensure you don’t drink more than the recommended dose is to use single serve k cups. An added benefit is that the convenience might allow you to drop your regular Starbucks runs, allowing to save money as well.

We all react differently to caffeine, but as long as you stick to the recommended dosage you should be able to enjoy coffee and boost performance without having to worry too much. Make sure not to go overboard and enjoy your coffee rather than rely on it.

We’ve all been here before…

Read a Novel
Taking a break from whatever task you can’t seem to dig into and sitting back with a book you enjoy is a great way to spark the thought process and help you retain energy while doing whatever you are trying to do. There are several things to do when bored at home and reading is near the top of that list.

Be Sociable
When you’re trying to get something done and just can’t find the will to focus taking a bit of time to socialize social can make the process a lot smoother. Talking to people, especially motivating people (never negative) will make you feel alive and interested, and help you get focused and eliminate whatever is holding you back.

Home Improvement
Whether you go outside and mow the lawn, organize your closet, complete a home repair project or just clean up the kitchen, doing housework is always a great way to get productive. By focusing on something that is easy to do but beneficial at the same time, it’ll give you something to do when bored and eliminate the fear of zoning out and ending the day on an unproductive note.

Eat something
Give yourself a pick me up by enjoying a quick, light snack that includes protein that can give you an energy boost, and maybe a cup of coffee to go with it; you’ll get a little pick me up that will make whatever you are trying to accomplish a little easier.

Play a game
Whether you like board games, card games or video games, playing a game can help you build up some energy and focus on something enjoyable. You can stop zoning out and start zoning in on one of these fun games for a while in order to bring yourself up to top speed. Once you are done gaming (make it a quick one) you’ll return to your first task with a bit more focus.

Ultimately, there is a nearly infinite list of things to do when bored but you might not always be able to come up with them off the top of your head. Use this list to keep yourself from losing focus and being unproductive. By doing something you enjoy, and keeping your energy levels up, you’ll be able to improve your productivity in no time.

There is a definite link to marijuana and creativity. Marijuana’s effect is one that causes the user to feel relaxed, and it’s quite common for people’s minds to wander while they are in a more relaxed state of mind. Letting one’s mind wander will naturally allow you to think of things that you normally would not have thought of before, which is why many people use pot to become more creative. There is also the belief that pot smoking causes neurogenesis – the formation of new brain cells – which may also contribute to a person’s ability to come up with new ideas and learn new skills.

It isn’t as if the link between more creative ideas and marijuana usage has been simply myth, either. A large scale study has found that people who smoke marijuana are significantly more creative than those who aren’t. Moreover, there are plenty of anecdotal stories that one can reference in terms of the creative perks of being a pot smoker. Don’t believe it? Ask George Carlin, Snoop Dogg, Afrika Bambaataa, or Cheech Marin.

So does marijuana usage contribute to artists’ best work? Quite possibly, but then again, creativity has also been historically linked with binge drinking.  Ultimately, it depends on whether or not the artist actually smokes it. Overall, the scientific community is starting to realize the benefits of marijuana, both for medical purposes and creative purposes.