A few basic tips:

  • Decide what times you are going to study and stick to them. Make sure that others in your household know that you will be studying at these times.
     
  • As far as possible, make yourself a study space with everything your need and as few distractions as possible! Try to keep it clean and organised.
     
  • Create a to-do list and make sure you know what you want to achieve each day. It is helpful to be realistic and recognise that different tasks need different levels of concentration. Plan a varied and manageable schedule of work, with proper breaks, and use a timer where appropriate to keep you focused while you're studying and enable yourself to take guilt-free breaks when it's time. We have a few suggestions for making a study timetable if you need them.
     
  • If you are struggling with distraction from your phone, either turn it off or use one of the productivity apps available (e.g. Forest).
     
  • Take care of yourself so that you're in a good condition to work well when you sit down to work. e.g, get enough sleep, eat well, drink water, get some exercise, make time for friends and family (even if virtually).
     
  • Some people find it helpful to dress as they normally would for school! This is a choice and doesn't work for everyone, but it can help to put you in the right frame of mind for study and distinguish that time from other activities.
     
  • Find study-buddies (other students in your classes) and schedule Zoom / skype chats so that you can discuss ideas, analyse texts together and swap tips. It's a good idea to plan what you're going to talk about in advance and try to stick to it so that you don't get distracted on other things.
     
  • Do your best, but don't be hard on yourself. Studying on your own is difficult. Everyone is different so find what works for you and what doesn't. Compare notes with friends who are also studying at home.
     

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