5 Tips on How to Stay Focused This Year

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    Hi everyone! I know it's definitely been a long time since I've last posted, but I'm back and I've missed all you readers. I had been working on finishing my bachelors degree and am happy to announce that I've finally graduated! I'm still keeping myself busy with work but hope everyone is doing the best they can despite this pandemic. 

    School is going to be online this year, many people are still working from home, and I know it's definitely easily to get distracted so I thought I'd put together a little list on how I've stayed focused and on track during my years of taking online courses! 

1. Create a dedicated work space

With the lines being blurred between work and play at home, it's important to make an effort to separate the two in order to better focus your mindset. Before quarantine, my friends would often say they prefer to study at a library instead of their house simply because they are able to concentrate more. I know not everyone's home situation is ideal, but even having a small table in the corner of a room is sufficient. By creating a dedicated work space, your mind will associate that environment with productivity instead of relaxation.

2. Eliminate distractions

I am often prone to picking up my phone and getting carried away with spending too much time on it instead of my work. The easiest way for me to avoid this is to simply put it away. "Out of sight, out of mind" is a well-known phrase for a reason! I also put my phone on do not disturb mode but still allow phone calls in case of emergencies. By eliminating all temptations, I force myself to be focused on nothing but my work. In the case of surfing the web, there are always plugins that you can install to block you from accessing social media websites for a certain period of time.

3. Mark all important dates on a calendar 

It is incredibly easy to lose track of time and the days, especially when everything is virtual. The first thing that I do when receiving my course syllabus is to mark all important exam and due dates on a calendar. For work, it is especially vital to be organized and keep track of client meetings. I take it a step further with my calendars and colour code to differentiate between assignments, presentations, quizzes, and exams. I love using TeamUp because it can sync across all my devices! 

4. Create to-do task lists

I'm the type of person that makes lists for everything and I definitely recommend creating a list for things that need to be completed. It can seem daunting and overwhelming when being faced with a load of tasks but I find that nothing helps ease that stress more than actually working on what needs to be done. Furthermore, it's such a gratifying feeling to be able to cross off a completed task, similar to deleting all those open tabs after finishing writing a research paper. 

5. Set goals to complete before taking breaks

Obviously, it is important to have a healthy work-life balance. However, it's hard to discipline yourself enough to maintain that balance. While working on a task, I like to set mini goals for myself like finishing reading a chapter before rewarding and allowing myself a break such as checking my phone for notifications. By mandating your breaks and the criteria for those breaks, you create an easy guideline for you to follow and not get carried away. 

Best wishes for a successful rest of the year! 

x

Melissa