Working from home can be difficult and distracting, although I’m hoping by sharing with you how I work from home, it can help you become more organized and give you some ideas on how to be the most productive you can be.
-
If most or all of your classes are online, make yourself a schedule. None of my classes have a set time and day for lectures except for one. Therefore, I made my own schedule! I do the lectures for three of my classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at certain times throughout the day. The same goes for Tuesday and Thursday, except I only have two classes that day. Doing this will help you get into a set routine and make school feel more like actual school.
2. It is important to eliminate all distractions in order to get your work done. For me, my whole family is home so it can be hard to stay cooped up in my room while hearing them talk about their day in the kitchen while you’re stuck learning about research methods. Find a space that works best for you! It is important for you to maintain and keep this place as your study space, that way whenever you go to that place in your house, you will be ready to work! What works great for me is when I am done with my school work for the day, I clean up my desk and organize everything so when I wake up in the morning, both the space and my mind do not feel as cluttered.
3. I don’t know about you guys, but I get distracted fairly easily. A YouTuber I love, Sienna Mirabella, has this technique which I really love. So she sits down to do her work and sets a timer for an hour and tells herself, “Alright all I have to do is work for the next hour, then I can do anything I want” which is kinda of a trick. Once you are an hour into your work, you are likely to feel more motivated and in the flow to do it. So once the timer goes off, Siena says she then sets another timer for ten minutes. During this time she gets up, stretches, gets water, goes to the bathroom, goes on her phone, etc. This way she can take a break and not get overwhelmed. Then once the ten minutes are up, she sets another timer for an hour to do her work, and so on. I have tried this and it really helps me get my work done! It is obviously modifiable for everyone, you can set a timer for thirty minutes if you want. I really recommend this method if you get distracted.
I hope the breakdown of my workspace from home set up helps you in your battle of online school. It can be tough, but with the right scheduling and discipline, you can get a lot done and not feel so stressed all of the time. I wish you all luck with the rest of this semester, stay strong!