Let’s face it, we are all tired of staring at our laptops for hours listening to Zoom lectures and participating in somewhat awkward breakout rooms. Online school has been both a bummer and a blessing. It’s great that I can wake up at 7:58 for an 8 a.m class, and I don’t have to look completely presentable. There’s also been plenty of hilarious Zoom moments.
To prove my point, let’s play a little game. Put a finger down if you embarrassed yourself during a Zoom meeting because you forgot to mute yourself. Put a finger down if you didn’t realize your camera turned on during a Zoom meeting where nobody had their camera on. Lastly, put a finger down if you texted your friend something funny in class just to see their reaction on camera. Oh, we’ve all been there. But, with that being said, I do miss the feeling of being in a community and casually hanging out with large groups of friends. Don’t worry! With the first semester of online classes being almost over, I’ve gathered some personal tips and tricks to make Zoom classes a little more tolerable.
- Have a Designated Zoom Study Spot
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Pick a well-lit area with tons of desk space to place your notebooks and pens while you attend a lecture. Put your phone away from your desk in order to keep yourself from getting distracted. Make sure to keep this area constantly organized and ready to go for last-minute meetings or classes. Add a scented candle or a plant to create a peaceful and ambient atmosphere in order to focus. Have some light snacks and water available as well! Sometimes changing up your Zoom spot can also help! Grab a chair and sit outdoors on your patio or balcony under some shade to enjoy some fresh air while attending a meeting or lecture.
- Try Using Blue Light Glasses
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Staring at a laptop screen for the majority of the day can take a toll on your health. You know the groggy feeling you get when you spend too long on your phone or laptop? The headache that comes with that feeling is the worst! Approximately 6 in 10 adults experience symptoms of digital eye strain after using devices for more than 2 hours. Symptoms of digital eye strain include headaches, blurry vision, and dry eyes. Blue light glasses to the rescue! With protective technologies, blue-light blocking glasses can reduce the impact of blue light and digital eye strain. They can help alleviate the discomfort from too much time on devices and improve sleep quality. There are plenty of affordable styles and colors available on Amazon!
- Create a Weekly and Daily Schedule
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Having your entire college experience online can be exhausting. Jumping from one Zoom class to another while trying to balance extracurricular activities and meetings is challenging. Sometimes it’s easy to forget about a quick scheduled Zoom one on one meeting in between classes. Writing an apology email in order to reschedule is not exactly my forte. For this reason, I find it helpful to have a bullet journal or a blank notebook to stay organized. I use one page for an overview of the entire week. I list all the days of the week and label what meetings and classes I have on each day. In order to avoid forgetting what meeting I need to attend at a certain time, I dedicate a page in my bullet journal to a list with the time of my classes and meetings in chronological order for that specific day. I’ll admit, it is quite satisfying to cross out the meetings on the page as the day progresses. I also use the same page to write daily targets that are attainable and keep me productive!
- Keep all Zoom Links in One Document
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I cannot express how many times I’ve been late to a meeting or class because I was looking for the recurring link buried somewhere in my email inbox. I always end up thinking I deleted the email with the link! Some classes or clubs send out a new meeting link each time, but the majority of the time, the link stays the same. In order to prevent a potential mishap, I made a google doc with all the classes and clubs I am involved in and put the Zoom link for each one. This way, I can easily access the document and click on the link without having to dig through my messy inbox.
Even though school is online this semester, find ways to stay productive and engaged! Hope these tips help make online school a little easier!