7 tips to survive online classes

Attending and learning lessons from classes is difficult enough. Pair that with the current situation, and it’s ten times even harder. With the pandemic seeming to stay longer than anticipated, here are some things that have helped me survive my first year of college.

1. Write out your schedule.

• Before even attending the classes, one thing you should already have prepared for is your schedule. Don’t try to memorize it because you for sure will forget about it because being stuck at home makes you lose your sense of time. Set up alarms, write it out on paper and paste it near your bedroom wall, or take a picture of it and make it the wallpaper for your phone. This way, you will never miss out on classes.

2. Clean your room every day.

• Yes, this is necessary. Virtually attending classes every day also means that people might see what’s behind you. So you better clean your surroundings before joining your class. Cleaning your room is also a good habit to be consistent with so that you’ll be more motivated to finish other tasks.

3. Always eat your breakfast.

• Don’t ever skip out on breakfast. The food you eat for breakfast will give you the energy to participate in classes, so how could you expect to endure it if you don’t have the energy to start with? So be sure to eat before you ever attend any class because this will also help you avoid getting distracted from eating snacks during your professor’s presentation.

4. Remove all distractions.

• Classes are boring, and there is no doubt about that. Meaning that you can get easily distracted and be tempted to do other things such as playing games on your phone; checking your social media accounts; listen to music, or even sleep. To minimize getting distracted, try to put only your notebook, pen, and laptop on your desk. Focus on your classes first and play later.

5. Write out your notes.

• Don’t just take pictures of the presentation of your professor or download the PDFs provided to you. Write it out in a notebook, and you will be more likely to recall that information during quizzes or long exams. This tip is not purely based on just observation but is also supported by a study titled “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking” by Mueller and Oppenheimer in 2014 that found students who wrote down information by hand remembered it better than the students who did not. So always prepare your notebook and pen.

6. Reinforce your understandings.

• The professors I have just read their presentations and expect us to get high scores in exams. And personally speaking, I learn more on YouTube than what my professors have taught me. And sometimes even, they make the topic even harder to comprehend than it has to be. So my advice is to try to find other sources online if you get confused on a certain topic. There is a lot of educational material on the internet, you only need to find them.

7. Unwind and take a rest.

• After all the work has been done, try to relax and think about nothing. Do what makes you happy such as watching movies, playing with your pets; read a good book; play computer games, or talk to your friends. Don’t feel bad for taking a break, everyone needs time to chill and worry about nothing. You’ve done a lot today, and you deserve that break.

I know that spending several hours on virtual classes is very tiring, and most of the time difficult. But try to look on the bright side: you get to spend more time with your family, more time to play with your pets, and spend more time talking with nearby friends. I hope the tips I provided will help you get through this phase. You can do this!