Tips For Maintaining Focus When Studying From Home
Studying From Home During a Pandemic
Note about Author: Cara Ryan is an undergraduate student in psychology and a volunteer at our clinic. Today she is sharing some helpful insights on managing social anxiety in a university/college setting. Enjoy!
Tips From A Psychology Student
It is no surprise that COVID-19 has completely changed our daily lives and how we live in society. Social distancing, limited social gatherings, and cancellations, to name a few, have become the new normal.
Schools all over Canada have been switched to an online/hybrid-learning format. Some students in both elementary and high school have been offered the option to learn online from home or participate in hybrid learning, where in-person classes are mixed with online learning from home. On the other hand, universities in Canada have had almost all in-person classes switched to online learning for both their fall and winter semesters.
Online learning, for many students, can be very difficult to grow accustomed to. The sudden switch to online classes may put a strain on a student’s ability to maintain focus during the school year. Students who require one-on-one attention from a teacher and face-to-face interaction to succeed in their studies may find it challenging to focus on their course material and assignments. An individual’s home may be full of loud noise, interruptions, and distractions, making it difficult to concentrate and focus on important tasks. While relaxed in your home, it may also be awfully easy to lose motivation and become distracted by your phone, TV, computer, family members, and other home comforts. Although trying to concentrate in school may seem difficult during these uncertain times, there are a few things you can try to help maintain your focus.
Here are 5 tips to help maintain focus while studying from home:
1. Initiate a daily routine.
Establishing a daily routine is necessary to keep focused and motivated throughout the school year. Initiating a routine where you wake up, eat, study, attend online class, exercise, and go to sleep at a specific time every day can add much needed structure to your calendar. Try to create a schedule that would resemble a normal school year if it weren’t for COVID-19. This way, it will be easier to keep your focus on your required tasks and will deter you from taking too many unnecessary breaks. In addition, make sure your family members or roommates are aware of your schedule. With this information, others will be aware of when you are in class or focusing on homework, which can prevent them from making too much noise or unexpectedly interrupting you during a class or specific task.
2. Organize all due dates and class times on a calendar.
It is important to make sure you are organized and aware of any important dates you may have. It is easy to feel overwhelmed when your classroom and coursework are all completed online in one designated area. A calendar filled with class times and assignment due dates makes it easy to keep track and take note of what is coming up. It gives you a visual picture of when things are due so you can start working on them as soon as possible. This is beneficial as it helps you remember the important dates during your studies just by glancing at your calendar. It helps you maintain concentration and refrain from taking up time by constantly looking through class syllabi for due dates or class schedules. It helps with organization and directing your focus to important upcoming tasks.
3. Dedicate a clean area for studying.
There is nothing more inconvenient than trying to study in a cluttered space. Whether it is your bedroom, living room, or kitchen, where you study and participate in your online classes, a disorganized desk or untidy surroundings can be factors as to why you may feel unfocused as you study from home. Have you ever tried to sit at a cluttered desk to complete some work and felt as if you could just not manage to focus? Cluttered workspaces can have negative effects on your anxiety and focus. When physical spaces are cluttered and disorganized it is easier for us to procrastinate. Our brains like order, so when we observe things that are consistently disorganized it may reduce our ability to focus. Instead of accumulating messes in your study space over time, at the end of each day try to tidy up. By tidying up your messes each day you will have a clean and neat study space to work at right away each morning. This will help you maintain your focus during your studies along with helping you save the time and energy it takes to clean your study space after things have accumulated for days at a time.
4. Set realistic daily and long-term goals.
Setting both realistic daily and long-term goals is a good way to maintain focus while studying from home. The daily goals you set for yourself can keep you focused and on track of all your tests and assignments. These daily tasks may in turn work in favour towards your long-term goals such as receiving an ‘A’ on an important exam or a final grade for a course. Having these daily and long-term goals in mind can help motivate you to complete any work you may have to the best of your ability and thus help to keep up your focus as you work from home.
5. Make sure to reward yourself and take breaks!
It is extremely important not to overwork yourself. If you find yourself losing concentration and becoming frustrated while studying, it could be your brain’s way of letting you know you need to take a break. A good way to split up breaks is to have a 5 to 10 minute break after every hour of studying, and a 30 to 45 minute break after 2 to 4 hours of studying. By taking these breaks and rewarding yourself along the way, you give your brain time to relax, therefore reducing frustration and maintaining focus throughout the day.
The idea of studying remotely from home may cause confusion, uncertainty, anxiousness and anger in a lot of students. It is something new to get used to and can take a toll on a student’s ability to concentrate on their studies. Many students may find it difficult to keep their focus on school while they learn from home. However, by staying organized, initiating a daily routine, taking study breaks, setting realistic goals, and dedicating a clean place to study, it will become easier to keep your focus while you take classes from home.
Article Author: Cara Ryan of Wilfrid Laurier University