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Cyberlynx

Tag: education

  • 5 Essential Tips for Busy Adults Pursuing Higher Education

    Mark Evans, Jr.

    5 Tips for Pursuing a Degree as a Busy Adult

    Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

    Being a student while being a full-time adult is no joke! The 9-5 job, parenting, fitness, and home chores can have you overburdened and overwhelmed easily. When education is thrown into the mix, the likelihood of burnout is real.

    At one point this year, I absolutely burned out. The support of family, friends, and the workplace are paramount when pursuing higher education. I put together five tips I’ve leaned into for balancing online education with everyday life, along with practical solutions for the challenges that come up.

    1. Carve Out a Realistic Study Schedule

    Challenge: Between work, kids’ soccer games, the gym, and household chores, finding consistent study time feels impossible. Sometimes, my fiancé feels neglected when I’m glued to my laptop instead of spending quality time together. I also feel as though I am neglecting my family, at times. In turn, that feeling can further feed into the burnout.
    Solution: Create a study schedule that respects your family’s rhythm. I sit down with my fiancé whenever I can to discuss my plan for the week. Typically, I block off 1-2 hours for studying when the kids are asleep or during my lunch breaks.

    During weekends, time for coursework increases. Between chores and family activities, you can openly communicate a “breakaway” session to knock out some tasks. For example, the kid goes somewhere else to play, such as a neighbor- perfect time to outline and research for an assignment.

    2. Communicate Openly with Your Spouse or Partner

    Challenge: My partner wants to support my education but sometimes feels overwhelmed if I get overwhelmed. It’s easy for arguments to unfold when we’re not aligned.
    Solution: Honest communication is everything. I make it a point to check in with my fiancé regularly about how we’re both feeling. We talk about what support looks like—maybe we alternate tasking, or I take over weekend chores to give her a break. Acknowledging her efforts and expressing gratitude (a simple “thank you” goes a long way) keeps us a team. I also share why my degree matters to me, so they feel invested in my journey too. Also, buy flowers. You don’t need a reason.

    3. Communicate with the Workplace

    Challenge: Sometimes, I feel like work is consuming so much time, I cannot possibly balance it with home life, gym time, and coursework.
    Solution: Utilize lunch breaks for brief learning sessions, especially if your degree aligns with your career. This time can be used for forum posts, reading, or practice questions for an exam. Additionally, utilize flexible hours or PTO if planning a large assignment. Trust me, it works. Most importantly, don’t keep it a secret! When communicated properly, the right work environment will be nothing but supportive towards your educational goals. Sometimes, though rare, I plan PTO on big assignments, or end up working a bit during PTO if I have time.

    4. Leverage Online Learning Flexibility

    Challenge: A full-time job and parenting leave little wiggle room, and unexpected demands (like a sick kid or overtime) can derail study plans. However, an online platform can be adventageous when the unexpected arises.
    Solution: Online programs are a lifesaver because of their flexibility. I choose asynchronous courses when possible, so I can watch lectures or submit assignments at midnight if needed. When life throws curveballs, I email professors early to request extensions—most are understanding. Particularly in my undergrad, I utilized the online platform and the supportive professors for extensions at times during my programming courses. I also loop my family in on deadlines so they know when I’ll need extra support. This transparency helps us plan together and reduces stress on both sides.

    Pro Tip: Utilize an online note platform, such as Notion, to organize your thoughts. Since it is accessible from almost anywhere, it is the perfect tool to reference tasks, pain points, or reminders for your studies.

    5. Prioritize Self-Care to Stay Sane

    Challenge: I’m so busy juggling work, parenting, and studying that I burn out, which strains my relationship with my partner and makes me less present for my kids.
    Solution: Self-care isn’t selfish—it’s survival. I schedule 15-minute breaks to stretch, meditate, or just breathe. I also make time for small moments with my fiance, like watching a favorite show. Fitness is paramount- I go to the gym 4-6 days per week, strength train, and (poorly) golf. If possible, include the family in fitness activities. I take my son to the gym at least once a week. We bond during treadmill, versa climber, and strength training sessions.

    Honestly, there are entire days or weeks I have taken “off” of academic duties. It’s okay, so long as you stay on track.

    Conclusion

    Balancing online higher education with a full-time job, parenting, and family life is no small feat, but it’s doable with intention and teamwork. By setting a realistic schedule, communicating openly with my fiancé, communicating with the workplace, leveraging the flexibility of online learning, and prioritizing self-care, I’m making progress toward my degree without sacrificing what matters most. It’s not perfect, but it’s my journey—and with my fiancé’s support, we’re making it work together. Burnout is real. Notice the symptoms early, step back, and breath. Take breaks. Know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

    What are some of your strategies to avoid burnout, especially if pursuing higher education?

  • Is CISM Certification Worth It? Insights from a Certified Professional

    Mark Evans, Jr.

    The Beginning

    Sometime in 2020, I decided to pursue the CISM certification. As written in a previous blog, my employer covered three exam attempts due to a job requirement. After two CISSP failures, I began to research the CISM. According to the ISACA web page, “the Certified Information Security Manager® (CISM®) affirms your ability to assess risks, implement effective governance, and proactively respond to incidents.”

    Who should take it?

    As the name implies, this is a managerial certification. Similar to ISC2, ISACA requires at least five years experience in at least three of the four domains. The CISM domains are as follows:

    1. Information Security Governance
    2. Information Security Risk Management
    3. Information Security Program
    4. Incident Management

    https://www.isaca.org/credentialing/cism/cism-exam-content-outline

    Honestly, I would recommend 2-3 years of solid IT work at a minimum to start thinking about this one, possibly longer. You should ALSO have the strong desire to manage, now and into the future. It helps to have a very strong background in cybersecurity project management, as well as interfacing with senior management regularly over the course of multiple years. If you have the foundation mentioned above, the study material will make sense to you.

    I want to be clear about something. This certification isn’t for everyone and my career has been extremely unconventional. Although I had great success with this one, ISACA certifications such as Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) or Certified in Risk and Information Control (CRISC) may be better for you. It all depends on your line of work and future goals. Everyone is different.

    As a professional in the Risk Management field, it seemed to fit the bill. I was legitimately interested in the material as well. I even crack the book open from time to time today, in 2024. After only a bit of research, it was time to start studying.

    The Studying

    The only book I used

    For the CISM, studying consisted of the All-In-One guide, along with the official ISACA Questions and Explanations (QAE) bank.

    The latest guide can be found here:

    http://CISM Certified Information Security Manager All-in-One Exam Guide, Second Edition https://a.co/d/032VneNc

    As of today, the QAE bank is $299 USD for members and $399 USD for non-members. I highly recommend for paying for the ISACA membership first ($145 USD), at least for year one. You can find out more here:

    https://store.isaca.org/s/store#/store/browse/cat/a2D4w00000Ac6NNEAZ/tiles

    With the ISACA membership, you get discounts on most products, including exam fees and renewals. You also get access to free webinars, local ISACA chapter events, and other CPE-earning opportunities at low or no fee.

    There are sample questions for free and other “pay to play” material via ISACA and other means. However, my best advice is to always keep things simple.

    When I received the book, I dove right in. Over a couple of months, I read the entire thing and performed each set of practice questions at the end of the chapters. At the time, I was a Reservist in the Navy, which meant a lot of downtime. I was able to handle a huge chunk of these studies during drill weekends. Looking back, I don’t know if I’ll ever swear by reading an entire study guide cover-to-cover, but here we are. I called them “intentional reading sessions”.

    If you’ve read my CISSP synopsis, there are a lot of similarities here, but there was no battle. There was no fight. There was no lack of understanding.

    After reading the full study guide, I entered a “drill and kill” mode in the QAE bank, doing reps of 10-20 questions until I was comfortable. I would study during lunch and in the evenings, mostly. Full disclosure- I was actually doing quite poorly at first, but “reset” the QAE bank about midway and my scores improved.

    After being exposed to all 800 or more questions (it is now over 1,000), I was scoring well above 80 percent on the practice exams. I would go back into the book and re-read the topics of contention, and then I scheduled my exam.

    The Exam

    The exam itself is timed for four hours and 150 questions. Unlike the CISSP, it is NOT a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) format. Basically, what you see is what you get. Everyone has four hours and 150 questions, no matter what. It does not shift scope based on your answers, while CISSP can sense towards what you are getting wrong, and hone in on that topic. The exam will not end early. You will see the full 150 questions.

    Going into the exam, I was confident. Granted, it was years ago, but I don’t remember too many questions that threw me for a loop. Nothing was surprising. It was still a long, challenging exam, however. I do not recall how long it took me, likely around two hours or less. I did not come close to the time limit whatsoever.

    This is a bit anticlimactic, but I passed. I was both proud and grateful to be done, meeting the requirements to keep my job in the DoD (yes, seriously). I also learned some valuable stuff that I still use today. Bonus- ISACA is even kind enough to share your actual score. I shattered the minimum.

    Summary

    I’d like to reiterate that my career has been very, very unconventional. I’ve been a “jack of all trades” administrator on a submarine, who basically fell into Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) after applying for positions out of the military. Everyone’s journey is different.

    If your journey lies in GRC, management, or another non-technical facet of Cybersecurity, the CISM could be the right path. I wouldn’t say it’s easy, not by a long shot. It takes months of preparation and heavy reading.

    Additionally, it is pricey ($575-$760 USD), so only do it if you are truly ready to invest in yourself. If you have an employer cover the costs, definitely take the opportunity to explore an ISACA certification. I learned a lot on the way, and will continue to learn. Overall, the answer to the title is a resounding “Yes”. It was worth it and I will continue to hold the certification. In my studies, I became more confident in communicating and assessing cyber risk to multiple audiences. You can too.

    In the future, I look forward to writing more, and diving into multiple topics. Feel free to reach out anytime.

    • Mark E .