With an endless cycle of assignments through online learning, it’s important to check in with yourself and make sure that you’re taking care of your mental health. While virtual classes might not be ideal, there are a few lifestyle changes that you can make to keep yourself falling into Zoom exhaustion.
Most assignments on Canvas are available far in advance, making work seem endless. In order to keep myself from feeling pressure to work ahead every day, I’ve found that keeping a written daily planner is extremely useful. Writing down due dates for the week allows me to realistically see what I need to get done each day as well as what is actually feasible to complete for the week. This way I can see what I’ve finished by physically checking tasks off of a schedule. Every Sunday evening I write down assignments, meetings, and breaks I have so I can look at what I have room for each day. Breaking down my life by the hour every day might seem extreme, but it keeps me on top of my work. Even simply writing down due dates for each day of the week can help you mentally prepare for the future. As a result, I feel accomplished each week and less guilty about taking breaks to clear my mind from the digital fog.
While completing assignments and studying is important, breaks are too! Staring at a screen for hours on end often gives me headaches so I try to find things to do that get me out of my chair and away from technology. One of my favorite breaks to take is going for a walk. Especially while the weather is so nice in Ann Arbor, it’s easy to recruit friends to get some fresh air. This way I can talk about something other than my coursework while also getting a bit of exercise. I’ve found that taking a thirty minute break like this every two hours is effective in keeping me on task because I know that I have something fun to look forward to. If going on walks doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, I also like to call my family, listen to a podcast, or of course the foolproof nap.
That being said, no matter how many breaks we take, there is no avoiding a drastic increase in screen time from the shift to virtual school so the last thing that I would recommend are blue light glasses. I have a blue light filter already built into my normal glasses, but my friends with better vision have found cheap pairs of blue lights on Amazon that they swear by. With the amount of time that we’re staring at our screens, our eyes are bound to get tired and blue light glasses help with that, especially at night. Avoid those technology induced headaches!
As midterm season begins, so do the later nights up studying, the midnight coffee runs, and the all-nighters. Now that online learning is the dominant form of education, it’s important to watch out for your mental health. Doing little things for yourself—like planning ahead, taking scheduled breaks, and preparing for those hours in front of the computer screen—can help break up your days to feel slightly more productive and normal even under these bizarre circumstances.