The Covid pandemic has altered our lives significantly. Billions of people have to work from home in order not to jeopardize their health. And students are no exception. Learning from home is a novel concept that has its pros and cons. With education switching to distance learning, students got more tasks to complete. And it is no surprise that they use an academic writing service, like essayshark.com. Such writing agencies can review and edit papers to help students get the highest grade. But does it mean an online format is doomed to fail? Absolutely no. It will stay with us for a long time, even if we return to traditional learning soon. However, it is essential to learn how to cope with distance learning so that it is effective.
Table of Contents
Limit Screen Time
It is easy to spend the entire day in front of the screen without noticing it. Undoubtedly, you can compose papers all day long with a view to improving your writing style. However, with this comes sleepless nights and a lack of concentration. Using your laptop, PC, or phone late at night reduces your melatonin levels, which is a hormone that our brain produces in response to darkness. Precisely melatonin makes us fall asleep and improves our REM and non-REM sleep stages.
If you can’t fall asleep and/or feel dizzy in the morning, you are likely to have low melatonin levels. This might decrease your desire to get up and tune in to the lecture. But you can tackle the issue quickly and easily, and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. What you need to do is stop using your phone an hour before going to bed.
Take Regular Breaks
Attending classes, doing homework, working, and interacting with friends rely on devices. And using them without breaks tires us immensely. A sedentary lifestyle is debilitating, so it shouldn’t surprise you that at the end of the day, your back hurts, your eyes are dry, and overall you don’t feel well.
Try taking regular breaks. Simply stand up, walk around the room, stretch your body. You can also do several pushups and situps to circulate your blood over the body. Doing that every hour will help you remain focused.
Employ Learning Techniques
Getting prepped for midterms and finals is, by default, a challenge. But when you study remotely, the complexity level of such learning doubles. Staying at home requires being attentive and concentrated, which is often not the most straightforward task. Fortunately, this is when learning techniques come into play. Cramming before exams isn’t the best strategy, especially during online learning, as students report they’ve started getting much more material to learn. Moreover, exams tend to last less, as teachers try to prevent students from cheating and use their knowledge instead. Indeed, it means you have to study more, but thanks to the following techniques, you can surge your productivity and spend less time learning a subject:
- Active learning: Once you have your notes, don’t reread them unconsciously. It won’t have any effect. Instead, use Google Sheets, and rather than rewriting notes, in one column, write a question, and in the other, write an answer and color it in white.
- Spaced repetition: Needless to say that most of what they read evaporates before exams. Try learning and revising a subject on schedule, say, every three days. Compared with the mentioned tip, you will learn any topic from the inside out.
- Pomodoro technique: It is easy to get distracted, especially when you study from home. To maintain your attention span, use Pomodoro Technique. This method divides your learning session into four equal parts that last a specific amount of time (usually 25 minutes). A short, 5-minute break follows every part. Once the final part ends, a more extended break begins.
Follow 20-20-20 Rule
The world is beautiful when we can see it. Eyesight is essential in our lives, so it is vitally important to take care of it. Blue light from gadgets affects our eyesight, and with distance learning, we have to spend much more time in front of our laptops and computers.
While studies demonstrated that blue light doesn’t severely impact our eyesight, it is still better to be on the safe side and prevent eye strain. Set the alarm for every 20 minutes as a reminder to take a break. Stand up and look at the window during the 20-second break. The third 20 in the 20-20-20 rule refers to 20 feet distance. Although it can be hard to judge this distance, look at a tree or any object you think is within 20 feet of distance.
These are the tips on how to cope with distance learning. Using them daily, you can improve your productivity and make distance learning doable. If you are using any other ways to handle online learning, please let us know in the comment section below.
