Ever since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic last year, our day to day life has changed drastically. This change is no more apparent than in the education sector, which has since tried to acclimate to the change via distant learning solutions. Unfortunately, while this change did prove significant in maintaining the momentum of daily classes, the whole system is wrought with problems.

Distance learning is not a viable solution for extended periods. Students need the day to day interactions with their peers and, more importantly, their teachers. So it is no wonder that countless reports of students not paying attention or not taking interest in their online classes have surfaced recently.

While it is true that distance learning is not a perfect solution, students still need to adapt to it so that when things do get back to normal, they are not caught off guard by their dwindling performance.

In this article I will share tips that will help you stay productive during your online classes and maintain your grades.

Create a Schedule

Have you noticed how your day merges into the next without really feeling like you did something? This is becoming quite apparent because students traditionally associate their college with learning and their homes with leisure.

Since in-person classes aren’t a thing anymore, it is very easy to fall into a haze without knowing what to do and how to proceed with your day. You see, as human beings, we perform most productively when we have some sort of a structure and routine in our lives.

Waking up and sleeping at fixed times, leaving our home to get to another place for either work or study, socializing with people from our work/school etc., is what helps carve our days. Therefore, it is no wonder that you feel disinterested and unmotivated for online school as there is no real distinction between home and school.

So how do we fix this? We fix it with a good ol’ timetable. Sit down and make a schedule for every week in advance to know what you have to do on any given day. Instead of mindlessly following your whims and feeling out of place, stick to a routine so that it feels more like a school day and less like a vacation.

Here you can find some of the Best Schedulers and Planners for College Students.

Separate your Workspace

Ask people who have been working from home professionally for years if they work and hang out in the same room. The likely answer you are going to get is that they have a home office.

But why is this important?

It is crucial to separate your workspace from the rest of your house because if you don’t, the two will merge. Also, you don’t want your mind to subconsciously think that you are “free” when it’s work or study time, or you won’t be in the right mindset.

We are creatures of habit, and we need clear distinctions between work and leisure. Often when the two come together, we end up missing out on both work and leisure.

You may be lying in your bed studying, and thoughts may pop up in your head telling you to take a nap. Or you may all of a sudden feel like watching Netflix or just chatting on your smartphone. The reason these thoughts may appear is that your workspace is not distinct from your leisure space.

Hence, if you have access to multiple rooms, assign one of them to be your study/workspace and treat it as such. Don’t leave this room whenever you want, and don’t take breaks that you otherwise won’t.

Only leave for the day when you know the time is up and when you have accomplished what was on your timetable. This may seem like too much work but believe me, if you want to stay productive, this will surely help.

Here are some great ideas on how you can set up your room as a proper office or study room.

Set Aside Your Smartphone

You might be sick of hearing this all the time, but sadly our smartphones are a constant distraction. You don’t realize how addicted your phone is until you have to set it aside for a couple of hours at least. I know that technology is fantastic, and it has made many things possible for us, but at the same time, it has also wrapped us in a virtual world. If you check your smartphone every other minute during your online classes, you need to fix this.

If you follow the tip above and separate your workspace, it will also help set aside your smartphone. The idea is that you need to associate your workspace with work or study and we all know constantly using your smartphone is not tolerated well in such places. I am sure you have experienced firsthand a professor strictly banning the use of smartphones in the classroom. Well, you need to do the same for your online class as well.

Sure, your professor cannot keep you from using your smartphone during distance learning, but this is something you need to do yourself. Once the online class is in session, turn your phone to silent and set it aside in a drawer somewhere so that you cannot see it.

Dress Up

I know this will sound odd but bear with me. As I have mentioned multiple times before, the association between work and workspace is significant for online learning. Therefore, you need to do everything you usually do to stay in that work/study mindset. And one of these things is to dress up for college or school.

Putting on clothes you would typically wear to college would trick your brain into thinking that you are going to college. This will, in turn, put you in a mindset conducive to learning.

On the contrary, if you wake up at odd hours and start your online class in your PJs, your mind won’t accommodate the class and instead treat it casually.

I am not saying you have to put on a tie and suit every day. That is not the point. The point is to get out of whatever you went to bed in and make an effort to differentiate your home attire and work attire.

Take Notes

Just because it is an online class doesn’t mean that you are absolved from taking notes. You may tell yourself that you can record the class or borrow notes from someone else, but that isn’t a good approach.

Here is the thing with note-taking. Sure it provides relevant firsthand information that you can consult when preparing for an exam. But it also helps you focus and avoid zoning out during lectures. When you actively listen to the lecture and note down the information, your brain focuses on the words helping you retain and stay attentive.

Don’t worry about getting it all down. That’s not the point. Instead, have a pen and a register handy, seek out important information from the lecture, and write it down. It doesn’t even have to be complete sentences. As long as you can derive meaning from your notes, it doesn’t matter how you write them.

Take a look at some of the most Useful Note Taking Supplies.

Overcome Procrastination by Following a Simple Rule

Motivation is a weird thing. Some days you feel invincible and other days feel as if even existing is a chore. We have all been there, and the one thing that is the most essential is not to let yourself get trapped in a vicious cycle.

The problem with procrastination is that one day quickly turns into two and then a week. Before you know it, you have spent months doing nothing, and then the anxiety sets in.

The best way to avoid falling into this cycle is to stop it the minute it begins. Here is an exciting thing about motivation. Contrary to what is traditionally believed, you don’t need the inspiration to start working. Instead, it would help if you worked to build up motivation.

This may sound like one of those platitudes, but it’s not. Jeff Haden breaks down this concept systemically in his book “The Myth of Motivation“.

The idea is that that motivation is not what gets you to do something. Instead, it’s the “doing” that brings about inspiration.

Try it out.

If you need something that needs doing and can’t bring yourself to it, tell yourself that you will do it for 5 minutes only.

However, once you start and get past that initial resistance, you will find that you want to continue working even though you initially didn’t. This idea goes by different names, such as the 5-min rule or the 2-min rule. The critical part is that you commit to the time you have selected, whether it be 2 or 5 mins.

So, the next time you don’t feel like taking that online class or working on that assignment, use this rule and see the difference.

Organize Virtual Study Groups

When I was in college, I would get surprised at just how many students study in groups. I didn’t even know this was a thing, but I had friends who swore by it and wouldn’t study independently. Of course, as individuals, we all have our preferences, likes and dislikes. However, the only thing that matters is sticking to it if something works for you.

Now I know that it might be a bit tough to organize study groups since schools are closed. However, why not use the virtual learning apps that are already available? Just because schools shut down doesn’t mean you can’t study in a group.

Send out email invitations to your classmates and see if they are interested. Once you have a few students who want to form a study group, invite them to a zoom session at an agreed-upon time, and you are good to go.

Eliminate Distractions

One of the more significant challenges faced by students at home is the constant distractions. Of course, we have already covered smartphones, but that is only a single aspect. In college, most students visit the library to study as it provides peace and calm. This, of course, is not a possibility under a lockdown as you are forced to learn at home.

If you are bothered by the TV volume or the family talk making its way to your room, use earplugs when studying. You will be surprised at how effective earplugs are. They can block up to 40dB.

Additionally, you can also invest in some noise cancelling ear plugs or headphones when you take an online class. This, of course, will cost money, but the budget segment in personal audio has grown quite a bit. And you can find some decent options for around $50.

Stay On Top of Deadlines

Sitting at home, it can be easy to forget what’s due when. To stay on top of deadlines, I highly recommend that you use a planner. Physical planners with a calendar and ample space to write down tasks are cheap and effective options.

If you want to use your phone, tablet or smartphone, numerous free and effective apps can help you track deadlines.

One such app that I love is Calendly. Calendly allows you to make a schedule and then share it with people who want to hold a meeting with you. Once they have your schedule, they can choose a time slot that they deem fit. This takes out the need for a lot of those back-and-forth emails trying to schedule a meeting.

Hence, with the help of such productivity apps, you can delegate some of the planning to a program without doing everything yourself. As a result, it saves you time and energy that is better spent someplace else.

Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

Students new to distance learning think that since they don’t have to show up for a class physically, they can take on much more work. However, this sort of thinking often backfires as too much work can easily overwhelm you.

Indeed, you don’t have to meet in person for 3 or 4 hours multiple times a week. However, the only thing different here is that you don’t have to commute to and back from college. Other than that, your classes will probably be the same duration, and your coursework and assignments will stay the same as well.

Only take as many courses as you comfortably can. Don’t let the illusion of free time trick you into assuming more responsibility than you can handle. Otherwise, what will happen is that you won’t be able to concentrate well in any one class and would likely end up doing badly on all of them.

It is essential to plan your workload realistically lest it ends up biting you in the back.