Planning
The most important thing that you can do to help yourself is to plan your week and schedule in advance. For me personally, I find it useful to have a monthly calendar in my room and a planner that I keep with me to remain organized at all times. I put all assignments, tests, homework and anything I have to do that week in the planner and put important dates on my calendar. This helps me keep on top of my work and make sure I don’t forget about any assignments that I have that week. For an extra level of organization, I like to put social and personal events on my calendar as well.
Class Schedule
One of the biggest struggles of e-learning will be staying on top of online lectures, especially if they don’t require you to listen at a specific time slot. Some classes may only provide you with a video or audio recording that you can view at any time, which may pose an issue if each week another video adds to the pile to ones you have yet to watch. A good way to avoid this is either making a daily schedule, as outlined in my first tip, for you that has a time slot to watch lectures and includes a time for doing work or readings. Another option is to follow your class schedule that you had at school and view your online lecture when you would normally be in class. This will force you to actually follow your lectures and work week by week instead of falling behind and cramming it all in the last minute.
Workspace: Something that may be overlooked but is very important is finding a good workspace where you can work effectively. This location needs to be somewhere that fits your learning style, so you must consider whether you prefer to work in silence or have background noise, be super comfortable or seated properly, etc. For me I need to have complete silence when working and I like to sit at a desk or table so that I don’t get too comfortable and slack off. I usually try to not work in my bedroom and find somewhere else quiet so that I can separate my work space and my relaxation space to help with my focus and de-stressing when the time is needed.
Resources
It is important to remember what helpful resources are still available to you even if schools are now online. Since you can no longer go in person to receive help on assignments from your professors or teaching assistants, it is integral that you remain in contact with them and continue to get the help you would before. Emailing for feedback or an answer to a question is still on the table of possibilities so make sure you are still taking advantage of any resources you have for help. It’s also good to stay connected with other students from your classes, as they are another resource from which you can ask for help or a second opinion.
Free Time
Finally, something you need to make sure you still have is free time to do activities other than school. As the semester is still ongoing, school, of course, should remain your first priority, but taking breaks and having time to relax is equally important as it gives your mind time to reset and refocus when you get back to work. Finding the right balance between working and relaxing is going to help out with your ability to focus on your work.
