The buzz of the year “Covid-19” has created a stir in the world. Every person, every sector, every community has been severely affected by its impact. Some died with the disease, some are curing. But one thing which is common is the urge to fight against the disease. To make our lives normal as it was earlier.
We won’t stop because the time never does. Many businesses have moved to remote work, shops have been shut down; school and colleges have no fixed date for re-opening. But What about those forces within our control? One needs to move forward by facing all the hurdles and should never stop innovating to make our future better. Online learning is a preferred choice for millions of students- it has both its side effects and benefits.
Your education is your personal choice and innovation towards your personal development. During this time one can continue to learn and get ready for better days ahead in life. Many colleges, schools, and even online websites have now started to teach students through online mode safe at your home without getting harmed by the disease.
Below are five tips that can help you to achieve success in online learning habits. We have prepared a set of best practices for your success. Although it’s a hard move, especially if you’re completely new to online or cloud-based learning, these tips will help you to adapt to online studies and keep your motivations up throughout the semester.
1. Find a study space for yourself
Transmitting yourself from class-based physical learning to online-mode virtual learning is not an easy task at all. It requires a lot of effort and preparation. The first step is to create an environment for learning – find a space for your online-mode setup. This will help you to get set up and a mindset for learning. Finding a great study space is a struggling task but very effective. Already you’re at your home with all members around you and surrounded by all the distractions, but creating a good setup will help you to concentrate more.
The first thing one should do is to make ensure that he/she has all the important and necessary tools – headphones, pen, pencils, markers, highlighters, hard drives, books, and devices. Collecting the entire things in one place will help you in smooth learning. You can also add some small decorations in the area of your set up to break the dullness of the room. This will definitely give you the feeling of “showing up for work” at home.
If you live in a shared room with your siblings, then it might not be possible to accomplish the mission. In such cases, you can find a peaceful corner at your hall or at the terrace and make sure your family or housemates are aware of the space you are claiming for your studies. Always set or clean your space before the class starts, to give a fresh feeling.
2. Stay Organized
Once you have found yourself a room to study in, then prepare a routine for your studies and stick to it. Planning a schedule is just as important as creating your study space. Everyone has its own style and preference for learning, and this can be achieved by home study. You can make your time table according to your choice. But make sure, it is produced with good hours of study sessions; otherwise, you are just wasting your data. (As one has enough time to waste in this pandemic!)
Note down your preferences in a piece of paper, and then schedule your study time accordingly. How much time you devote to each of your study sessions, your class schedules, break times, chill time, self-study, projects, and work/family commitments. Personally, I’m not so productive in the evening, so I tend to organize my studies and completed my work before sunset. This also allows me to chill with my friends or family in the evening.
Meet your deadlines and submit your work in advance will be all sort, once you will make and organized time table. The brain can only focus on about 90 minutes at a time. It is also important to plan a break to prevent yourself from a brain-burst. Don’t give your breaks too much importance otherwise those short breaks will convert into binge-watching sessions.
3. Complete NO to all distractions
One of the biggest challenges for studying from home is to make a distance from all the distractions surrounding you. And our homes are filled with distractions – siblings, family relatives, family planning, social media, TV, books, video games, video streaming, phone games, and the lists continues. These tend to divert your mind, and especially when there is no one to look after your seriousness towards studies like teachers do in classrooms.
Blocking you from distractions is much easier said than creating it. But here are some tips and applications that can help you. The first tip is to leave your phone to some other side of the room or in another room, because once you touch your phone then your break begins and ends after 2-3 hours. The other most important tip is to keep your social sites away from you.
Another essential tip is to use website blockers, as they will help you during stressful times when you really need to focus. Some of the popular blockers include Freedom, Self Control, Block site, Cold Turkey, etc. Don’t allow your brain to think of some fishy things, which might distract you from your goals.
4. Track your progress
When you work according to your routine, then it’s necessary to calculate the outcomes. To track your progress of the time you’ve spent at your desk. Make sure your calculation should be based on your actual study timings and not on the basis of just folding papers over and over again.
Set your weekly goals than monthly, before you start your session. It’s better to start by breaking your goals into parts so that you can achieve them easily, than jumping into something large directly. An example of this can be the week goal of reading, so your big aim might be the articles or chapters you need to read till the end of the month. Keep it real and achievable. Don’t give yourself too much in a short time or too short in much time, be calculable.
An effective way to keep a track of your progress is by making a daily report of your work done. It can be on your desktop or on a word document or by writing in a diary. It’s okay if you fail for the first two-three times, don’t beat yourself up. You’ll slowly learn how to manage time with practice, and next time give enough time to accomplish your goals in your next study session.
5. Keep in touch with your classmates
Making a sudden switch from happening classrooms to the mundane routine of online classes can be very difficult for one. Just because everyone is in self-quarantine, this doesn’t mean that you re all alone in this task, your classmates are in the same situation as you. It’s a good idea to discuss your study ideas with your classmates. Those ideas exchanging activity can be very helpful for you and to your friends.
Talk to your friends and peers, get energized, it might help you to boost your confidence. You can set up a social media group and organize a time for your virtual study group. Some of the major options for group video calls are- Zoom, Whatsapp, Microsoft teams, Skype, WeChat, etc.
At last, these are small-small things to boost your confidence, so one can live peacefully in this pandemic situation. Treat online courses as “real courses”; give active participation to online sessions, and webinars. You need to manage your time, make full use of it. Being active and eating healthy will help you to improve your stress levels. Take at least 8 hours of sleep every night. Above all, maintain clear communication with your friends and teachers, this will help you to stay engaged in the courses and will pass your time effectively during this challenging time.
