More than anything now, colleges, universities, highschools and even businesses are moving all courses, assignments and operations online.
Under normal circumstances, the leisure to work from home and take online courses would have been a dream for a lot of people but, instead we feel stuck
And because we are homebound with our families it’s increasingly difficult to focus on your assignments, study from home or even listen to what your professors are saying in your online classes
I get it,
But the truth is, that assignment still needs to get done and your research paper still needs to be submitted
So we are going to move from feeling stuck to getting stuff done
6 ways to stay focused and productive while studying or taking online courses from home
Routines
Routines are one of the hardest things to adopt, but one of the easiest ways to set yourself up for success. Routines or sometimes called rituals, are continuous sequence of fixed actions that you do throughout the day
Routines require discipline, but once you have mastered them, they become habit and make the rest of the day easy
Because routines are so personal, there are no exact steps to follow but there are good and bad routines
Take a look at this
Routine A: Wake up, lay your bed, take a shower, breakfast, journal/meditate/listen to podcast
Routine B:Wake up, check instagram, send a quick tweet, respond to email then take a shower
The first routine will set your day up nicely and inspire you to get to work or studying
The second routine will get you distracted and perhaps give you a mental fatigue even before you start the day’s work
So, before you move on to the next point, I hope you are brainstorming ideas of what you want your productive day routine to look like.
Productive time of day
This is the difference between the early birds and the night owls.
While some people believe that waking up early enough to get some work or studying done is the most effective, I say do what works for you.
You know yourself more than anyone. Figure out what time of the day you are the most productive and schedule your study time to fit those time slots
Because, you will be dedicating those hours to studying, whatever other tasks or chores you need to get done, either do it before or after
You want to ensure nothing comes between you and study time
Mindset
Nothing tricks you in or out of something like your mind.
If you think you can, you definitely will
Just like this article you are reading, even after procrastinating to write it, I keep battling these random thoughts that it won’t be done by this night.
Read till the end to find out if I finished it this night or not. I promise to be honest
Block out the limiting beliefs that make you feel like you can’t or you just don’t have enough time. Whenever the thought pops up, simply ignore or just change it to something positive
Tell yourself you have time and you will get your work done
And so what if you don’t, tomorrow is another day to achieve your goals
Music
People think it’s counterproductive to listen to music while trying to study but I beg to differ.
Music actually helps you to avoid background distractions and power through your study session
With that being said, music can be quite distracting so the kind of music you listen to while studying is important
Imagine trying to write a paper or study for biology test and listening to Whitney Houstons, “I Will Always Love You”
You can’t listen to such powerful song and not want to sing along and while you are studying, It’s definitely a terrible idea
On the other hand, White noise not Whitney has been empirically proven to help improve focus and memory amongst young people with attention deficit disorder
If you care, you can find more information here,
But from firsthand experience, whitenoise are my go to when in dire need for intense focus and concentration. You can find a playlist on any streaming platform
Source:psychology today
Dedicated study area
If you don’t already have, get a study area that you can comfortably work at everyday.
If you are looking to get a lot done, studying on your bed or while lounging on your couch isn’t the proper way to do it. Your bed and your couch are way too comfortable and so you just might toss and turn till you fall asleep
Why set yourself up for failure?
To prevent that, set up a dedicated study are within your home with a desk and a chair for studying
Study Buddy
If you can’t get your friends to come over, then get a virtual study buddy. This is my favourite weird thing to do
When I am in need of push, I just youtube “study with me” videos.
It is basically someone studying for a period of time and you join them with your own work. Some creators do it live and others upload edited videos
Either way, there’s something about watching someone studying for 5 hours that makes you feel you can do it too
In conclusion, even though we are all locked in, studying and working from the comfort of our home and the noisiness of family members around, we can always make it happen
And since I promised to tell, Yes I did because I finished writing at a stretch and No I didn’t because while I was writing it past 12am. so technically the next day
If you aren’t sure what I’m talking, then you need to start from the beginnig *wink*
