We made it to a brand-new school year, y’all!
As this strange Fall 2020 quarter begins, you might be struggling to get back into the swing of school and navigating this reality of Zoom University. I know I’m having a tough time being on top of things and finding a rhythm to my days. Looking back on my Week 1, I came up with this list of ways to do better in the upcoming weeks. The title says this article should help you have a “successful” quarter, which looks different for everyone, but here I mean that you are able to take care of your mind, body and responsibilities. So, here are a few things you can try out to start this quarter off strong!
1. Be kind to yourself
First of all, let’s acknowledge that this is a very weird time and you won’t be able to always be your usual “on” self (nor will your peers or professors) and that’s okay. I can’t even imagine all the things that must be weighing on your mind right now.
If these past few weeks have not gone as you’d hoped, don’t beat yourself up about it. Give yourself the space to process emotions and show yourself the kindness you’d show a friend. You’re not alone and we’re gonna get through this together!
2. Reflect on past quarters
Think back to past terms, especially (if you were here for it) the last Spring quarter, aka the first fully online quarter ever at UC Irvine.
What do you regret doing? Personally, I remember the time I procrastinated on a daunting project for my Humanities Core seminar that I knew was coming up. Maybe you had similar slip-ups, you spent too much time on social media or games, or you lost sight of your motivation to do schoolwork and fell behind on lectures. Now, what is something you are glad that you did? Maybe you hosted Zoom calls with friends you missed seeing on campus, went on walks, or found some new hobbies.
You can take this information and think about what habits you want to build and which to avoid in order to best support yourself during this quarter.
3. Take baby steps
At the start of new school years, we can easily set way too high of expectations for ourselves. Or we’ll think, “I’ll make this huge lifestyle change in one day!” and it just doesn’t work out.
I think we should focus our energy towards building small, sustainable and positive habits. Say your sleep schedule is wack (if it is, then same sis). Instead of deciding to immediately fix your sleep schedule and wake up at 8 a.m. instead of going to bed at 4 a.m., make your next goal super small. Make it so tiny and simple that you can’t justify not doing it. In this case, tell yourself you’ll go to bed 5-10 minutes earlier every day of this week. As another example, maybe you wish you went to office hours more last quarter. Well, you could make it your task for the day to poke around Canvas to look at when or how they’re held. That’ll be the first baby step to ease you into then clicking the Zoom link on a day you want to attend office hours and start talking with your instructor!
When you start with these ridiculously small steps, you’re able to satisfyingly check something off your mental to-do list while ultimately setting yourself up for an effective and realistic habit that’ll last.
4. Get yourself excited
Ok, I know our reality is a very disappointing turn of events. It seems like absolutely everything is an incredible mess all the time. This year will look so different from past ones.
But I think it’s nice to at least hype yourself up for this year and think of your feelings toward the 2020-2021 academic year as something you have control over. What can you look forward to this quarter? For example, is there a class you’re excited to take with a certain professor? Maybe there’s a course you’re gonna finally take and check off as a requirement?
It’s also fun to make your study space’s set-up feel a little special. I like to put lots of cute stickers on my notebook covers so I can at least smile at a picture of a dog as I log onto my morning Zooms. Perhaps you’d want to perch a succulent by your computer, put some art or quotes up on your walls, or just tidy up your desk so you feel ready to start working.
5. Figure out your schedule
Of course, we also need to do things like look through all our Canvas course sites, read our professor or TA’s emails, skim through syllabi, etc. As you do this, be sure to take note of deadlines and upcoming events in a planner or calendar. I like using a physical planner where I first write in my class schedule, club and work schedule, and then assignments that’ll be due that week. This way, you won’t have to worry about forgetting to submit an essay or a discussion post in the coming weeks. (This is a really obvious tip that I’m sure you didn’t need to hear, but I just wanted to give you a reminder that it’s nice to see your whole schedule visually! It gives me peace of mind knowing what’s happening this week and when I’ll have free time to chill and recharge.)
Then, you can now figure out a daily and weekly rhythm that works best for you! I’m struggling the most with this, but it’s important to have consistent times and days where you get certain things done. For instance, if you get the hang of sitting down somewhere quiet in your house and intensely doing homework on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons since you have less classes those days, then you’re less likely to be scrambling to finish assignments Sunday night while hating yourself for not doing this when you actually had the time.
And don’t forget to set aside time to do nothing! After grinding away at Zoom University and staring at screens for an ungodly number of hours, you deserve some time to veg out and relax. Also, make sure to take study breaks to get snacks, hydrate, maybe even take a walk around the block!
I hope these tips can help make your fall a little smoother. I wrote this partly as a message to myself as well since I really need to pull myself together for the rest of the quarter. But it’s okay, we got this! Take it easy.