Staying motivated has proven to be a challenge this past year as online school became the new norm. With everyone working remotely, the line between school and home has blurred, leaving students with the struggle to maintain productivity.
Ingrid Vorbrich ’22 expresses, “I feel that I am the most productive when I am not at home, so being home all the time, and not being able to go places was really hard for me … there wasn’t a change in environment that allowed me to distinguish schoolwork from being at home.”
A helpful tip for trying to differentiate school work from being at home is to use two different locations, one for being productive and the other for lounging around. This differentiation will mimic an environmental change and hopefully will improve productivity.
Ishan Khurana ’22 shares, “What worked well for me was just writing a list of all of my assignments and keeping a planner and stuff like that, just to make sure I keep on track.”
This is beneficial because it allows you to see all of the work you have accomplished which brings additional motivation. Khurana also finds it helpful to, “cross stuff off when I finish it.”
Another tip to stay on task is to take timed breaks every 30 minutes and start with the assignments that are the most important, rather than doing what you want to do. Although Vorbrich says that “Breaks did not work for me,” it is important to recognize that what works for one person may not work for everyone.
Ultimately, staying motivated is more important than ever now that we have returned to hybrid learning for the second semester, so find what works for you.
