It is important to manage your environment, time and responsibilities effectively and efficiently.
Environment
Have an organised and dedicated work area for your distance education schoolwork. The area should:
- have a clear ‘desktop’ free from clutter and distractions
- be well-lit and well ventilated
- have a comfortable chair
- include essential equipment to assist you with your work, such as pencils, highlighters, ruler, paper, etc.
Resources should be easily accessible and organised into subject areas to help you focus on each subject’s work as you are completing it.
Time
If you don’t manage your time, it will manage you!
Developing good habits and creating a realistic schedule are essential for you to achieve your best and maintain balance in all areas of your life. This will allow you to meet your commitments and still have time to do the things you enjoy and look after your health.
When creating your weekly schedule, you should add information such as:
- Schoolwork
- including time for coursework completion, assessments, study and revision
- limit blocks to a maximum of 2 hours to maximise concentration
- Part-time work
- Mealtimes
- Sport / exercise / recreation
- Family Commitments (church, helping with housework etc.)
- Special activities (favourite TV show or meditation time)
- Socialising, including social media
Be as specific as you can when you create your schedule and make sure that there is a balance that works for YOU. If it is important, allocate time for it, and remember to create realistic limits.
Display your schedule somewhere that is visible, such as at your desk or on the fridge to help you follow it. Can you add events to your phone calendar and set alerts to notify you when to start or stop or change tasks?
Make tweaks and changes as required to ensure that it works for you. Remember that you will slip up at times; that is a reality. Be kind to yourself when this happens; acknowledge it and move forward.
Distractions
Think about what distracts you and what you can do about them. Consider these:
- put your phone in another location, turn off notifications on your smartwatch, turn on focus time
- have a water bottle on your desk
- let people around you know that you have scheduled work to do
Procrastination
Social media is designed to capture and keep your attention. It is easy to lose track of time when viewing it and it encourages procrastination.
Do you find yourself procrastinating?
Watch Mel Robbins YouTube: The only way to stop procrastinating