One of the biggest things that I'm hearing from all of my friends about their online Zoom courses right now is that it's hard to keep track of what's due and when. I agree with this 100 percent!
Right now, being a college student is one of the most difficult situations to be put in. All of my courses are online, while some friends have schedule half in-person/half online, and others have all in-person with some required online activities. Overall, no one's schedule is easy in the slightest, no matter what courses you're taking.
Here are 3 things that I do that help me not get behind in my online Zoom courses!
Get up early and refresh your mind
My classes don't start until about 9 in the morning, which isn't super early for a normal person but for me, it's very early. One thing I've started forcing myself to do is to wake up every single day at 7 AM. I make sure that I eat breakfast and shower before doing anything else. This helps me wake up and get into a better mood.
By 8 AM, an hour before my classes start, I sit down at my laptop and go through course by course reading the syllabi. I make sure that I have completed all the work I needed to, and look at the upcoming projects.
By doing this every single morning, I get a refresher on what the day will entail and what my afternoon will look like homework wise. I've found that this helps me mentally get prepared for my day before it actually starts.
Use calendars (plural!!)
One thing that I've always been bad at is keeping track of things. This semester, however, I've invested in a planner (Amazon has them for cheap!), a calendar from the dollar store, and the Google Calendar on my laptop.
I use the planner to mark down specific school assignments. I invested in a weekly planner so that I can break down my week easily and see clearly what all I need to do. Color-coding classes is highly recommended!
I use my wall calendar (just a regular, plain, monthly one) to write down fun things such as birthdays and holidays. I mark off the day every morning and it always makes me happy when I see an upcoming fun event (rather than something school-related).
Finally, I use my Google Calendar to put literally everything on. I set alerts for most events so I see them while I'm on my laptop and phone which is really helpful. I can also look at the calendar and get a clear look at what my month, week, or day will look like. It's also easy to color code things to your liking, which makes the calendar really pretty to look at.
By investing in these three different calendars, I've reassured myself that I won't miss anything. It's also very refreshing to be able to cross things off of multiple calendars!
Talk it out
Right now, life is really complicated and hard. Not just being a student, but living in this time can get really stressful and overwhelming. Something that I've had to learn is to talk out my week with someone. Normally, I call my boyfriend and tell him what all my week will entail, what I'm excited about, and what I'm not so excited about.
By having this line of communication, and by sharing what my week at Zoom University will look like, I always feel more validated in my existence. Sometimes by sitting at home and doing classes, I find that I can really lock myself up and not talk to anyone about the stresses of school due to feeling almost alone.
So reach out and talk to anyone that you feel comfortable with about what your week will be like!
These are just a few things that have helped me stay on track while managing online courses. Remember, to always reach out to professors or advisors if you start to feel overwhelmed or can't get a grip on something. Life is really tough right now.
You got this!
