Needless to say, this isn't a post that I had scheduled to write in my drafts list but it is one which, in the wake of these unprecedented circumstances, I believe to be crucial to get out - particularly to those of you in Year 10 and Year 12. Admittedly, working from home can be a lot more difficult than it sounds - be it for a lack of an authoritative schedule or continual distractions - but I am here today to add my take on what other study bloggers and YouTubers have already uploaded about how you can make the most of the current situation and stay productive. If there is anything I missed that you believe would be helpful, do not hesitate to let me know in the comments section below - along with, of course, any general thoughts. I hope you are all well and if you ever need anybody to reach out or speak to, please don't hesitate to message me at @everylittlethingstudy! Without further ado, let's jump straight in...
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T R A C K A N D S E T G O A L S
Something which I and many others have found is that, what with school closures and cancellations of exams, we have to some degree lost a sense of purpose in our lives - gosh, doesn't that sound gloomy? It's far too easy to now see the work that is being set by our teachers and think "What's the point?" or "It's okay, I can always get this done later" - but that's simply not the case. The fact of the matter is that, particularly for the younger year groups, the decisions you make today can have a significant impact on the results you will receive further down the line - and that's something you have to continually remind yourself: self-teaching is by no means easy, but the efforts you make now will be far better than just sitting and giving up. That being said, I understand it's perhaps not that simple - and for that, I suggest setting smaller, daily goals in addition to reminding yourself of the bigger picture. Those of you who have been here for a while will know that I am a great fan of To-Do lists and believe you should be too; set yourself smaller goals such as going through, say, a topic's worth of vocabulary the day before so that, from the moment you wake up, you have something to work towards and hold yourself accountable for.
F I N D A S C H E D U L E T H A T W O R K S F O R
Y O U
I suppose one of the perks of all this is that we no longer have to get up at 6am every morning following 5-6 hours of sleep - that being said, however, it's crucial to not let ourselves go too much in this respect. At the end of the day, if you're waking up at, say, 11am each morning, there's just no way that you're going to be working productively for as long as you would be in school - as there's simply not enough time in the day. I'm of the firm belief that you should aim to emulate your school timetable, but make it more flexible in that, rather than starting at say 9.10am, you start at 10.10am but finish at 4.30 or even 5.30 in the afternoon if you allow yourself to have more breaks. That's another thing, be sure to give your brain plenty of breaks and try to get some physical exercise in between - be it following a 'Home Workout' tutorial from YouTube (I must say, I'm a great fan of Pamela Reif's videos) or simply taking your dog for a walk (no more than once a day, of course). For this to work, though, you do have to have a certain amount of self-discipline and I would encourage setting alarms to both get up and go to bed - as well as having somebody close to you to hold you accountable to the goals you set yourself.
C U T O U T T H E D I S T R A C T I O N S
Again, one of the easiest and most destructive habits that I've found myself falling into is that of scrolling aimlessly through social media for hours on end - which, unsurprisingly, doesn't bode well with trying to complete another task. If you were at school, you most likely wouldn't be on your phone 24/7 - so treat this period of time in exactly the same way and be cruel to yourself in order to be kind further down the line, whether that be by turning your phone off or giving it to a loved one to look after. I hate to break it to you but, given that the entire country is in lock-down, nothing that interesting will be happening on social media so cut out the FOMO and get on with what it is you have to do. Similarly, I would highly suggest downloading another browser which you use strictly for work purposes and another which you use for everything else.
M A K E C L E A R D I S T I N C T I O N S
I don't know about you, but I have more possible distractions in my room than I can possibly count - that, and my desk is situated in my bedroom, a place which I automatically link with sleep and general winding down. For that, something which I've found to be very helpful is setting clear boundaries between my workspace and my everything else space - I've often started working in the dining room now and, as the weather seems to perk up bit by bit, it looks like I'll have the opportunity to soon study outside as well. This means that when I go and sit at my desk in the garden, I know automatically that that is my space to be focused and to get work done which helps me to just get on with it. Similarly, I think it would be helpful to aim and continue life as normally as possible by distinguishing your weekdays and your weekends - perhaps allow yourself to have a lie-in on Saturday or start the day by watching a film, for example.
D O N ' T L E T Y O U R S E L F G O
Given that we no longer necessarily need to leave our houses for work or for school, it's easy to just slip into your comfiest pyjamas and spend the day looking like you've just come straight out of the Stone Age - but, again, I think it is important to try and resume a certain level of normality by taking the time to still make yourself look presentable and put effort into, say, drinking enough water and/or eating even healthier than you would normally. Again, I don't know about you, but I'm far more likely to just sit down and get on with my work when I look and feel the part - maybe it's just me, though. Linking in to what I have said above, I think it is also important to get your exercise (safely, of course) and do your best to emulate your day-to-day life- rather than using weights for my workouts, for example, I've been using some resistance bands I ordered from eBay, it really is that simple!
M A K E Y O U R S E L F B U S I E R
This one may seem strange given the nature of current events, but the more tasks you set yourself to do (within reason, of course), the more likely you are to strive to get these done - it is when you don't have enough to do that you begin to procrastinate. In addition to doing my school work, for example, I've managed to create a CV, apply to various supermarket jobs, I've started to learn Latin to assist me in my change of university course, I'm investing more time in blogging, tutoring so on and so forth. Better still, having more things to do can help to relieve the stress of this period as it will provide you with a distraction. Why not complement the work you already have to do by learning a new skill, or taking that online course that you've always wanted to take? Similarly, I think it's very important to schedule some time of social contact in, such as a FaceTime call, to keep up your mental health and perhaps give you an incentive to be more productive as you know that, at a certain time, you will have to stop doing your work and commit to something else.