Hi future legal assistants!
We hope you’re enjoying school so far! We recognize that online school can be stressful and not as motivating to actually attend class as it would be if we actually were in school; to that end, some of your Executive team has come together to provide some advice from their perspective. We hope this helps you out. If you have any questions or want some clarification from your specific Executive team, please feel free to reach out to your specific peer – we are here to help you along!
Without further ado, here we go!
Mack – I am the most productive in the early morning so I made a makeshift workspace in my kitchen with little distractions and spent the first half of most days doing school work for whatever class I would have had that day, taking breaks as needed.
Kristi – I know for myself I like to do my work at night as I’m much more of a night owl, this of course leads to strange hours but it’s relaxing. I rely on to different schedules, I put everything in my phone/computer so it reminds me as well as having a written copy on my desk so can scratch things off as I go. I have a hard time focusing on things for particular amounts of time so I never set specific I’ll do this and that and these times but rater I have to have this done by this date and could chip away at projects as I go.
Sam – I’m also more of a night owl so I tended to do the most work in the afternoon, making sure to be somewhat lenient with myself and take plenty of breaks. I used Outlook (as well as washable chalk and my window) to keep track of what projects were due when. I worked on the most immediate deadlines first until I felt overwhelmed or drained, then I would work on something else. I would also make sure to do my day’s work first so that I wouldn’t feel guilty about relaxing at the end of the day.
Daniella – I am most certainly not a morning person, so having that extra bit of sleep was incredibly beneficial in the mornings! I would attend my lectures (very grudgingly) and then take a few hours in the afternoon to get out and enjoy the weather (if I could…), and then do my homework in the afternoons and evenings. While I enjoyed learning from home, I sorely missed my friends, so we made “group plans” in Teams and just sat together and studied, which really helped out. I played background music while working – either “coffee shop sounds” or lo-fi music on YouTube, so I wouldn’t feel so alone!
One thing that I found really hard to adjust to was getting the motivation necessary to actually do my homework, so I used the Pomodoro technique – 20 minutes of dedicated studying, then 10 minutes of dedicated time doing whatever I want, then another 20 minutes of dedicated studying… rinse and repeat. I found that setting large batches of time was daunting, but small amounts of time were easier to deal with.
Karina – I am more of a morning person and I usually function better earlier in the day. When the semester switched to online learning I set up a designated work area specifically for my school work, and I would organize my work based on deadlines, courses, and their importance. I would put important dates and assignments into my Outlook calendar, but I also used an old-school agenda to hand write everything down as well. I find that writing things down in a certain spot, for me, helps me remember them better.
Another thing that was already mentioned, that I agree with, is to take breaks. Do the work, but also make sure to let yourself rest and recharge. I found going outside and getting fresh air really helped me function better, and things like eating regularly and sleeping well were just as important.
In summary:
Want a quick TL;DR? Here you go:
- Have a workspace dedicated to doing school work.
- Find what time you are most productive and work then
- Limit distractions
- Be organized. Know deadlines for courses and projects and organize workflow around that.
- Have a plan for what you’re doing when you sit down. Know what your goals are for school work that day
- Take breaks (I am a big fan of the method you use, I will try it out this semester.)
- Make plans with peers to connect via Teams or another method
- Mental health checks with peers
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