When you’re doing online study, it can be difficult to stay motivated. This bit of advice can help to prioritize.
While there are numerous advantages to online studying, such as not having to rush to class on campus every morning and being able to view lectures on your own time, it is not without its drawbacks.
It’s challenging to keep focused, concentrated, or even physically and mentally healthy when studying online from your dormitory room or home. We’ve produced this cheat sheet with online studying tips to help you be more efficient in your online courses and maintain a more pleasant study-life relationship.
- Make the Most of Your Study Area:
- If feasible, set aside a designated study area, preferably somewhere peaceful and with good lighting.
- Studying in bed is not a good idea.
- During each study session, light a scented candle or diffuse of the same essential oil to signal to your body that it’s time to concentrate.
- Change the background of your computer to something motivating, such as a motivational message.
- Keep a bottle of water on your desk.
2. Organize Yourself:
- Make digital folders for the documents for each lecture.
- To view your documents from any computer on campus, sync your desktop with Google Drive or One Drive.
- Organize your notes using an app, a digital folder, or a physical notepad.
- In each of your classes, get the contact information of at least one colleague.
- Make your own study playlist on spotify with your favourite soundtracks.
3. Remove all potential sources of distraction.
- During study sessions, put your phone in a separate room.
- To avoid visual clutter, close browser tabs when you’re done with them.
- Play instrumental focusing music or hear to nature sounds.
- While studying, avoid watching television.
- During the workday, only check your email or text messages twice.
4. Do smart studying
- Read the materials provided in class.
- With your classmates, discuss the readings.
- Review your notes, flashcards, and study guides over multiple weeks or days to use spaced repetition.
- Quiz yourself on the content to use active recall.
- If you can still understand your lecturer, increase the speed of ` to 2x if possible.
5. Good Time Management:
- To keep track of key assignment due dates, use a Google Calendar or a monthly paper calendar.
- Make a to-do list every day, with one thing at the top that must be completed that day.
- Start with the most difficult or time-sensitive task.
- Make assignments that have a big impact on your overall grade a priority.
- Breaks can also be scheduled using calendar-blocking!
