10 tips to preserve your sanity while keeping up with school work during quarantine

Brought to you by your friendly Academic Strategies tutors.

1. Get out of bed! Staying in bed might make you more tired, since you associate it with sleep. Find a comfortable spot other than your bed to do homework and attend online lectures.
2. Change out of your pajamas (even if you just change into leggings and a tank top). It can be a good motivator to get you out of bed.
3. Organize your inbox with labels to avoid missing any important emails/deadlines. Make sure to also check your email at least twice a day (It should be the first thing you do in the mornings and the last thing you do before going to sleep).
4. Keep a clean desk space. This might motivate you to study in that particular spot.
5. Before class or video conferences with professors, place your phone where you can’t see or reach it (like you hopefully would for an in-person session). This might curve the temptation to surf the web or scroll through Instagram while your professor is sharing pertinent information. Preserve a focused time and space for your courses and be careful about how you divide your attention.
6. Make a to-do list. This will help you keep track of all school work. (Bonus tip: Put due dates next to the task(s) you need to complete; this will help you with prioritization.)
7. Get some sunshine. It might help you wake up! If you can, try opening your window while doing your homework to let some natural light in.
8. Stay active! This may be walking around the house, going for a walk, running, or taking your pets out, among other things. (Make sure you are adhering to social distancing rules though!).
9. Put a timer on any activities to avoid spending more time than you should on them. Setting a timer can also prevent burnout and may help you stay more focused during select times. On the other hand, be honest with yourself; if you know you have an essay due at midnight, do not set the alarm for 11 p.m.
10. Keep a healthy sleep schedule. Try not to sleep in or stay up too late. Even if you don’t have a class on that particular day, waking up at about the same time every day can help your body build a natural clock and can also help avoid fatigue.

We hope this helps!

The Academic Services Center (ASC) is as busy as ever and, if you haven’t already heard,  we have transitioned all of our tutoring services to online consultations. Please contact Grant Kittrell (gkittrell@randolphcollege.edu) or Tamlyn Austin (taustin@randolphcollege.edu) with any questions or concerns about securing assistance during these unusual times.

We have a number of resources on studying, organization, time management, and goal setting (among other things), so do not hesitate to reach out.