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When you’re not surrounded by peers and teachers it can be hard to stay focused. In this article, we’re going to give you a detailed guide for study planning and maintaining motivation at home.
As you would study for any exam, studying and learning during a period of self-isolation or a school-shutdown requires planning and a systematic approach.
If you have to study for all subjects over a prolonged period, you need to have a practical series of processes to:
Only, doing it remotely, as we have discussed, comes with a unique set of challenges.
When you are away from the classroom, you need to be able to set your study priorities.
In the classroom, your teacher is in a position to help you find out what your (or your child) is struggling with and needs to work on. Outside of the classroom, it’s going to be more difficult to have teachers identify these weaknesses. You need to use the tools at your disposal to identify weaknesses yourself so you can focus on the areas you need.
It’s easier to focus on your strengths than struggle through your weaknesses!
So, how can you do this?
Matrix+ will make sure your learning doesn’t stop when everything else does. Learn more.
School is organised, so you should be too. To make sure you don’t waste time or fall behind while you’re outside of class, you want to follow this process:
This plan is about more than organising your day, it is about setting yourself boundaries and limiting your ability to procrastinate. Two weeks, or longer, of not studying during term can put you months behind. You must make sure that you don’t give yourself the opportunity to procrastination.
Studying from home brings a lot of flexibility for students. But it also presents the sorts of challenges that remote workers face. Some of the issues that remote workers struggle with are:
Here are the top 5 tips for staying motivated while studying away from the classroom:
Make yourself a daily routine.
You have one at school where you wake up, go for a jog or to the gym, have breakfast, go to school. You need to mimic something similar at home.
Even if in isolation, NSW Health has said that you are allowed to go out for exercise as long as you are well and avoid other people.
Aim to have a morning routine that includes:
You must have an appropriate study space.
A classroom is a dedicated study space. One of the reasons they are effective is because we know the specific purpose of the space.
If you are unable to study at school, for whatever reason, make an appropriate study space at home. It is best if you can set this space up in an area that is not a bedroom or one where there is a TV. You don’t want to have it in the back of your mind that this is a space where you can relax or be distracted.
You need something which you can say is “my classroom.” You can find ideas for creating a good study space here.
Stay in touch with your peers and teachers
Peer groups and communication with your teachers will help you stay motivated and focused. You don’t want to become isolated as it will be hard for you to have goals.
You want to organise a study plan for each subject with your teachers. Ask them:
Similarly, you want to create dedicated study discussion groups with your peers. Matrix students can take advantage of our online discussion groups in LMS. But, a WattsApp, Facebook, or similar group. Even a daily Skype or video hookup with mates can be a good way to:
It’s also important that you share documents amongst one another and share responses so you can proof and critique each others writing. Finally, you want to keep each motivated and positive. Make sure that you encourage one another and help each other stay focused.
Let your family support and push you
Staying motivated means being willing to accept help from your family but also letting them push you when you are settling into a funk.
Before you start studying or begin planning your learning, discuss your concerns with your parents. Discuss a plan for them to help you achieve your best. Some things to discuss are:
If you are all home together, you should consider timetabling when people use spaces around the house to allow you a calm and practicable
Set practical and consistent goals
The best motivator is to have goals you can check off. When we ask our high achieving students what helped them the most, they consistently say that goal setting is at the top of the list.
One of the first things you should do when planning your study is to write up a list of goals for you to achieve. Once you have this, you then have something to aim for and can have the satisfaction of ticking off your list once it’s done. The things you may want to consider including are:
If you set yourself the goal of finishing a task, you are more likely to finish the tasks.
In our blog, many of our alumni have shared their experiences of goal setting and planning their study. Some good articles that may help you with this are:
In our next article, we’re going to show you how to learn online. We’ll give you a step-by-step process so you can ensure your learning doesn’t stop while everything else does.
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