
The recommended MINIMUM study time for a college course is 2 hours for every 1 hour spent in the class room. Typical classes meet for 3 hours each week, and therefore require an additional 6 hours of study time. That's 9 hours dedicated to a single class per week. (Provided you aren't the biggest slacker in the world, in which case 1-2 hours per week will suffice and merit you a solid C or D grade. I should know; I've tested this theory extensively.) A typical full-time student takes 4 classes, which equates to 12 hours in class and 24 recommended hours of study time. That's a total of 36 hours per week dedicated to school.
"Classes" I am interested in taking: German, Programming in Perl, Programming in Ruby, Literature, and Entrepreneurial Enterprise. Along with my actual senior thesis class, that's 6 classes I would like to work on. Dedicating 9 hours to each class would total 54 hours per week.
With my retirement check paying for basic bills until summer, I think this might be a doable plan. I'm tired of wasting so much time looking for a job that will work around my school schedule, so I'm making my school schedule be the only thing I have to worry about.
So starting Monday I'm putting myself into a self-designed school with a self-designed schedule that will force me away from the TV of Doom. Since I'm building in a literature section, I'll be able to get caught up on the stacks of books I have currently gathering dust, and such reading will be like a treat for me during the week. Things like tv shows and games will be limited to a more reasonable amount of time and saved as a reward for my hard work during the day.
Is this going to require a lot of self-discipline? You bet your ass it will. But it's what I need to keep from going insane with all of my worries right now. I'm just lucky that I'll have the funds from the retirement money to do this.
EDIT: I really should consider building in a PE time that requires me to jump onto my bike and ride around for an hour each day.