I'm back!
Hello its Seo from tbhstudying, as you can probably tell from the background, I am safely back home.
Thank you to everyone who really kind messages, and yeah,
It's nice to be back home that I am in a two-week quarantine and my school just transitioned to online learning and
quite frankly,
Although I 100% believe that your health and the health of your loved ones and your financial and your housing situation are far more
important than school ever will be, I know that a lot of you are also transitioning to online learning as well,
so here are some tips for making that transition a little easier on yourself, and some tips for making it work.
So let's go!
First off, maintain your normal routine. This means waking up at the normal time,
brushing your teeth, making yourself breakfast, making your bed, putting on makeup, whatever it is
you normally do in the morning, stick to it.
Not only will this help you maintain some sense of control over your life and
maintain a sense of normalcy in your everyday lives, this also gears you to be more productive and motivated for the rest of the day.
Also with the current situation that's going on and because I'm in quarantine,
I find that if I don't do anything like that to get myself ready for the morning,
I just fall into like this really apathetic, almost depressive state of being. *laugh*
So just getting up and forcing myself to go through those actions truly has helped me these past couple weeks.
And for me, I'm also experiencing jet lag
because I normally go to college on the East Coast, which is three hours ahead of the West Coast, where I live.
So I've just been leaning into that by sleeping early and waking up early, and that's helped me maintain my routine as well.
And also, it's helped me stay ready for online lectures that are going to be held at the normal time that they are back home.
Wait, back at college not home.
Although I will say, college has felt like home for the past couple of weeks, and it's really sad not being there but
Moving on.
Next, create a space for yourself!
It should be separate from your bed and the places where you generally like to relax.
For me, that's my desk.
I'm a big believer in establishing different places for productivity vs. spaces for relaxation.
It just gives you a discrete place to focus and it helps you reinforce your productivity.
And everyone has different study preferences, so your space may look different than someone else's.
But for me, I just find that if I study on my bed or the couch,
I'm just not as productive and I end up falling asleep instead of studying.
For people who are in small houses, or in temporary housing, or live in big families,
this might be a little more difficult for you to achieve,
but just try to have some separate space, whether that be a closet, or a space on the floor, or a small corner.
Just have that space where you can dedicate it to your work and just your work.
After that, eliminate distractions.
Put your phone on airplane mode, or turn your phone off.
And for the love of god, do NOT play
Netflix or whatever else in the background of your Zoom lecture or whatever, because your professor knows
On Zoom, I don't know about different programs,
but on Zoom, you can tell.
Forest, Tide, and Flipd are great apps for you to keep yourself off your phone and reduce your screen time.
And website extensions like Cold Turkey can help block distractions on your laptop.
Also in general, I feel like for me, reducing screen time has been a really big thing for me during this quarantine.
I know that distractions from my phone do help pass the time by very quickly, but I'm starting to find that
Obsessively checking my social media and just constantly being on my phone hasn't been the greatest for my mental health.
So just reducing your screen time in general is great.
If you can do your work without using the Wi-Fi turn it off,
but I know that's not an option for a lot of people so just
eliminate distractions as best you can, and be honest with yourself about it.
Talk with the people that you'll be living with about your schedule
and what time you'll be online for lectures and things like that
so that way they know to give you some space and quiet during those times.
And if all else fails, phone earplugs are a very cheap way to reduce and minimize sound around you.
Then schedule and manage your time with all the force of a great typhoon,
with the strength of a raging fire.
We might not be Mulan, and the Huns may not be attacking us,
But you'll still be amazed of how easily time passes by!
Also, why is the lighting suddenly like
so bright?
Should I..?
Now that's a little too dark..
Ah, yeah. *finger snap* That's good.
It doesn't matter if you use a planner, a bullet journal, Google Calendar
Whatever it is find something that will help you keep track of due dates and times,
especially if you go to a college in a different time zone.
I prefer to do my online coursework at the time I would normally have it scheduled in the day
And also now that everything is so digital, I find it hard to grasp
What day of the week it is, or how much work I've actually done?
So for me, having a paper to-do list in my bullet journal, or just on a pad of paper, you know,
it doesn't have to be super expensive.
Just having that written down helps me keep track of what I have left to do,
what is due, and all of that good stuff.
I personally recommend that you start your work in the morning rather than waiting until the afternoon or the night to do it.
You don't have to roll out of bed and immediately you get to work, I don't do that myself.
I like take my sweet time in the morning; brushing my teeth, making breakfast, all of that good stuff,
but it's just easier to get the work started and done during the day rather than pushing it off constantly in the night.
Also, I'd rather spend my nights calling my friends, or playing video games and doing online homework if you know what I mean.
And also starting the work early means you can end the work early, which is always good.
Always turning your things early too.
Please for the love of God turn in your things early!
Technology can and will fail according to Murphy's Law,
and if you try to submit your assignment a few minutes before the deadline,
all the other people in your class are probably gonna be doing the same exact thing, and the website could crash.
Just saying, I've had too many tragedies like that, it happened to myself with TurnItIn.
Now for the actual courses themselves.
Make sure to communicate with your professors about literally anything and everything that is going wrong.
Whether you have bad internet connection,
or if you don't have a lot of access to electronics,
if you have extenuating circumstances like work or family or health issues, let them know!
I'm sure all of them will be understanding and they can accommodate you for these different things that come up,
and if you don't tell them, they won't be able to help you.
So just let them know, and if you have any questions,
let them know A.S.A.P. so they can figure out a way to communicate it better to you,
or to teach it in a different way that will make more sense.
If you have to attend online lectures via Zoom or some other similar program,
have the courtesy to mute yourself if you're in a noisy environment
and pin and spotlight and video of the professor to make it like the biggest one to help you focus better on the lecture.
Also, back to my point that I made earlier,
Your professors, on Zoom at least, can tell if you're in a different window
and they can also pull attendance records from the server I believe.
So just, you know, keep that in mind.
And when you solve problems using online homework programs,
be super super vigilant about checking all of the small details.
I personally have to use a program called Sapling for my chemistry homework, and you have no idea
no idea how many questions I've gotten wrong just because I missed one formal charge, or I forgot one hydrogen
so be really careful about that.
For typing papers, I personally prefer using Google Docs
because it constantly saves, so I never have to worry about my papers
disappearing off into the void if I forget to save it,
which has happened to me before.
Like, I've had way too many papers just gone like that, soo
Google Drive is free. However, if you don't have a reliable internet connection,
you can either download the web browser extension for Google Drive
which lets you use Google Docs offline and it just saves when you get back online,
or if you have an .edu like Education College email address or something like that,
You can sign up for free Microsoft Word, which is a great word processor that doesn't require internet connection.
Just make sure to save and make sure your autosave is indeed on because
I have lost many papers.
Stay in touch with all of your classmates whether that be through
texting, or emailing,
or some app, whatever is most comfortable for you guys to use. That way
you can contact each other for help and sort of create a support system for your class.
Right now I've used Zoom and FaceTime to video call with my friends to help each other for
organic chemistry and things like that.
and we regularly text each other on iMessage and Discord and Whatsapp.
My classes are using a website called Piazza to create an online forum.
I don't know if your professors are also using that option
but you could let them know about that,
or you could just set up a Piazza for yourself and make a forum for your own classmates to refer it back to.
Google video tutorials on Youtube if you don't understand anything,
and do not hesitate to reach out to your professors, or your friends, or your classmates for help.
Ask them to record a video if you don't understand it,
or just call your friends. Do whatever you can to make sure you get the best learning for yourself,
however difficult it may be in these tough circumstances that we're in right now.
And above all else, take care of yourself.
Your health should be the number one priority right now for you and your loved ones, not education.
Because in these times, if your health fails, you can't study.
If you're in the hospital, you can't do other things.
So just please make sure to take care of yourself.
I hope you all are doing well,
and that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy.
If you're not home right now or if you're having a tough time getting home,
I wish you the best of luck, and I truly hope that you're in a safe space right now. So take care of yourself!
I hope this helped and I will see you in the next video.
Bye!♡♡