I tell people straight what I'm doing and I tell them that I'm going to be prioritising it over pretty much everything else. I haven't had any real hassle over it (only the Job Centre but they hassle me over absolutely everything I do that indicates I have a life beyond jobhunting). I don't have that many massive commitments. I turn up to things I've promised to do in advance and I don't turn up to things that I've agreed its OK not to turn up to. I only promise to do things that are really important, I tell people months in advance that I will be magically disappearing in November. Sadly, I don't see much of my family anyway.