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8 tips for home studying: How to be disciplined when you're studying from home
Schools in the UK are moving over to distance learning. Here we give you our top tips for how to make the transition as easy as possible for you as a student.
8 tips: How to maintain your study discipline
1. Fixed times
Make sure you set up a schedule and stick to it. Example schedule:
- Start at 9 o’clock every morning.
- Take a short break and stretch your legs once an hour.
- Eat lunch at 12 o’clock.
- Return to your studies at 1 o’clock.
If your school requires you to be present during certain times, you should of course stick to these.
2. Decide what you're going to do
Make sure you have an objective every day. Decide on three tasks you're going to do during the day and work consciously towards these. You can count anything you manage to achieve in addition to this as a bonus. You can use digital services to make it really clear what you need to do for each one. For example, tools like: Trello and Asana.
3. Set up a workplace
Make sure you have a space at home that you dedicate to your studies. A space where you keep your computer, headset, books and important papers. And above all, make sure you have an ergonomic working position. If you have a desk in a separate room, this is perfect.
4. Peace and quiet
Makes sure that your parents and siblings know this is your quiet study place and that you don't want to be disturbed.
5. Stick to your morning routines
Don't just lie in bed in the morning. Get up, get dressed and have your breakfast just like you normally would. You’ll feel better and healthier if you stick to your routines.
6. Communicate
Keep in contact with your classmates so your social life doesn't come to a grinding halt. It’s easy to start feeling isolated if you're working remotely for a long period. By communicating via video link, so that you can actually see your classmates, you can top up your social interactions. For example, you can help each other to study, produce work in a group or just hang out during your coffee breaks. Examples of tools: Facetime, Zoom, Teams and Skype.
7. Fresh air
Simply sitting with your nose in your books for several hours makes you tired and absent-minded, and you’ll find it’s hard to focus and take in what you're reading. So go into the garden and blow the cobwebs away, or open your window so you get a little fresh air. If you can, combine this with moving your body too.
8. Don’t forget to eat!
Make sure you eat breakfast and have a proper lunch every day. And don’t forget the essential coffee or tea break in the afternoon. By topping up your body with fuel, you avoid unnecessary energy dips. There are also a number of study techniques that can help if you find it hard to achieve self-discipline, for example the Pomodoro technique, which includes a lot of what you’ve just read in this guide.
Test-winning headphones with noise cancellation
If you want to study undisturbed, you may want to invest in some noise cancelling headphones. When the noise reduction is activated, the headphones (if they are good ones) should be able to effectively block out outside noise. This pair of headphones can handle this well with a sense of style, along with amazing audio quality, wireless control on the cover and great microphone sound quality.
A popular and cost efficient webcam
Remote studying can mean lots of video meetings, for which you'll need a good webcam. Many laptops have built-in webcams, but if you currently lack one, this Logitech model is a fantastic alternative.
Load up the printer
Make sure to keep an eye on the ink levels in your printer and that you don't run out of paper. You'll find the best price on paper here.
More tips and advice on how to protect yourself from illness
In order to make it easier for you to find great content on the theme of protection from illnesses, we've created a collection page for all of the related stories and content we've made on this topic. The page is updated on an on-going basis and here we'll gather guides and tips we hope will be of use and helpful to you in these flu-ridden times.