School-from-Home Study Essentials: What You Need (Or Want!) for Online Classes

By Kristine Gaile Gregorio

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ILLUSTRATION BY ISTOCK

With schools closed and people stuck in homes because of the coronavirus pandemic, distance learning has been the way to continue our education. A lot of students, like me, have been forced to stay at home and carry on with schooling, without getting the hang of how all of these work. Even with the rise of technology that we were born into, learning from home isn’t the best choice for most students.

If you need help with what you think you’re missing, here are some stuff to make our lives easier to include in your routines to survive school-from-home.

Planners

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Planners are great for keeping you focused on what tasks or activities you will be doing for a certain time of the day. It will also help you track your daily schedule so that you’ll not lose yourself when everything’s piling up. Although there are lots of online planners we could use, others prefer to jot down their schedules to a piece of paper. I have my minimalist notebook planner by Veco. It serves both as my planner and my journal, and I could even have my whole month planned out because of its monthly, weekly, and daily schedules, as well as dotted sheets for extra notes.

Laptop Stand / Phone Holder

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One way to prevent neck strains is to get a laptop stand, especially if you let yourself sit in front of the computer for the whole day. Aside from hindering neck strains, laptop stands make typing easier and less hassle. With having its angle, you can continuously key in hassle-free without forcing your wrists! Phone holders also keep off nuisance if you’re having classes on a tablet or your phone. You can jot down notes and listen to your professor simultaneously without a struggle.

Headphones

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With all that is happening inside our houses, we cannot avoid all the noises it has to offer. Especially when our living/recreation/bed spaces are also our learning space, it is best to have reliable headphones that also have noise-canceling features, to further prevent hearing your pet barking, the rooster crows, or tricycles passing by, inside the class.

Ergonomic Office Chair

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Having to sit in front of the computer all day guarantees you back pain. Investing in an ergonomic office chair will have your back thank you. With its reclining and adjusting features, it will let you rest for a while without having to leave your workspace. You don’t have to go to your bed all the way, making the risk of sleeping on your tasks. Sounds convenient, right?

Productivity Apps

Do you often find yourself sitting in front of your computer, feeling motivated with all aspects of you, ready to type in, but ending up scrolling through your social media apps? This Chrome extension called Motion is an app that blocks distracting sites like Facebook, Twitter, and especially, Youtube (I know it). It also gives you one minute to rapidly check up on something you need to attend to. There will be a report on how much of your time online is spent distracted or productive.

Being in charge of your own time and schedule is necessary. If you are one of those people who prefer scheduling apps rather than having a physical planner around, try Google Calendar. It allows you to organize all your classes, events, extracurriculars, and assignment deadlines across your phone and computer. You could set up alarms for upcoming deadlines, events, and to-dos so you won’t miss anything!

When note-taking seems like an impossible task because of all the highlighting, different colors of pens, and having unreadable handwriting, then Microsoft OneNote is just perfect for you. You can treat it as a digital notebook, and it creates separate notebooks for different subjects, which can be organized into sections, and further into pages. Highlight important ideas, record voice notes, make handwritten notes and doodles and type out your lecture notes. Just as a notebook can do.

Something to help you focus and feel successful

So this is a personal one. Since distance learning has started, I knew I had to get a corkboard. I envisioned having a corkboard on my study desk, with my class schedule, to-do list, pictures of people who are dear to my heart pinned to it. It is very easy to see, and whenever I look at it, it serves as a reminder that whatever academic fatigue I feel or just feeling drained with everything, it will all be worth it when the time comes.

Having your family and your friends as your biggest cheerleaders will keep you grounded and to look back on your journey as a student.

Good luck as you go on board, continue the journey, and pursue your dreams! With this stuff you have now, walk towards the path of your goals and keep on pushing!