So, you’ve decided to pursue a career as a medical assistant. Congratulations! A new and rewarding life experience awaits you. Of course, before you can become a medical assistant, you’ll have to undergo training.

If you’re already working at a part-time job, you may be wondering how to accomplish your career goals while continuing to work. The good news is that it’s entirely possible to keep paying your bills with your job as you receive your training as a medical assistant; you just need to implement the following life hacks.

Plan, Plan, Plan

The key to being able to balance the demands of your part time job with your training is to plan. Without a plan for how you will divide your time, you won’t have any map to reach your goals and measure your progress.

To begin your plan, you’ll need to think about how many hours a week you are currently working at your job, as well as which days you work. This will give you an idea of how much time is available to devote to your medical training.

Of course, you can’t devote every minute to training; you’ll also need to schedule time for you. However, for now, think about your goals. For example, your main goal may be to complete your first level of training in six months.

In order to accomplish this goal, you will need to break your time and focus down into smaller goals. Think about what level of study you’d need to accomplish in your medical training programs in NYC over one week that will help you reach your main goal, and plan your time accordingly.

Find the Flexibility

Another way to balance your training with your part-time job is to see if there’s any flexibility in terms of schedule. Can you change the days and hours you work at your job so they are more evenly distributed?

Perhaps you can attend your medical training only on your off days. You won’t know unless you ask, and you may be surprised at the many options available to you.

Don’t Forget to Re-energize

You may have decided to go for it and work as hard and as much as you can to get your training. However, it isn’t worth sacrificing your health. You need to be able to have time to relax—and, by relax, we don’t mean the time you spend sleeping.

You need to schedule time to spend with family and friends, but you also need your alone-time to pursue your own hobbies, whether those are reading, staying fit, or learning the guitar. These moments of relaxation are vital; they will help you regain the energy you need to keep your work/training balance in check.

Check In with Yourself

One of the keys to being able to balance your life, work, and medical training is to know yourself. This includes identifying your stressors and understanding your own limitations. For instance, if you typically take on more work than you can possibly accomplish in a given amount of time, this can cause you a lot of unnecessary stress.

Knowing how much work you can handle can help ensure you don’t overload yourself— something that is very easy to do when you are trying to hold down a job and train for a medical career.

Hand in hand with knowing yourself is knowing when it’s time to seek help. If you’re not doing as well in your classes as you want to be, and nothing you’re doing seems to be working in your favor, it may be time to talk to a friend or a professor to see if there is anything they can do to help. Seeking assistance is not a sign of weakness; it is evidence that self-care is important to you.

Having a rewarding career as a medical assistant means hard work. However, so does ensuring your mental, physical, and emotional health. Implementing these life hacks and knowing when you need support can help you maintain focus and reach your goals.