Online learning has been great for busy professionals who wish to continue their education or change careers but don’t have the flexibility to attend onsite classes.
If you are pursuing online learning for the first time, here are a few tips to help create a comfortable and supportive learning environment.
Find Your Space
Creating a comfortable dedicated space that is free from distractions helps to keep you focused. Setting up a new space every time you’re ready to sit down and study wastes time. Eventually, it will become a hassle, and you may find yourself less enthused to study. A dedicated space means everything you need is always going to be in one place, and you’ll have the quiet you need to do your best.
Create Comfort
Comfort can have a major impact on your ability to concentrate, too. An uncomfortable chair and temperature fluctuations can make focusing difficult. Find a chair that feels right to you. If you don’t have a comfortable chair at home, you can order cushions and back support attachments for it. Set the temperature in the room to a setting that feels comfortable. If you can’t adjust the temperature, adjust your clothing so that you’re not too hot or too cold.
Get Organized
You have a dedicated space with a comfortable chair, and the temperature is just right. Now you need to organize. Setup your work station with your laptop/desktop, chargers, headphones, books, pens, pencils and anything else you’re going to need for your studies. Having everything within reach is a major time saver.
Plan Your Time
If you do not have a set class schedule to follow, it’s important to plan what subjects, how long, and how frequently you’ll engage in your lessons each day.
Staying on top of deadlines is essential for online learning. Adding assignment deadlines into the calendar on your phone, tablet or computer is one way to keep track. If you prefer something a bit more robust, then you may want to invest in a planner. You can go new school and get a digital planner app. Or you can go old school and order a physical planner.
Most people will take a lunch break while studying at home. But it’s also beneficial to build in additional mini breaks throughout the day. Get up and stretch every hour. Use a fitness app to get in a quick workout, watch a little TV, or play your favorite game on your phone for a little bit. Once you sit back down, you’ll find that you’re recharged and more focused than before.
This article is AT&T sponsored content written by Jia Thomas, an AT&T employee and a TechBuzz contributor. The statements in this article are her own and don’t necessarily represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of AT&T.
