Transitioning to online school is no easy task.
Stresses with Online School
Sometimes we just need to take a step back and analyze what we are currently doing in our routines, and how we are feeling about our daily habits. Managing a healthy social, educational, and emotional life can seem hard in our current times. Here are seven tips that may help make the switch to online school smoother for you!
1. Treat Yourself With Some Good Old Air
Sometimes all we need to recharge both our minds and our bodies is a little fresh air. Sitting couped up in front of electronics all day can become overwhelming, even if you don't realize it. Time can fly by and, before you know it, it's the end of the day. For our own personal well-being, we need to try to make sure that we just take a step out of the door, inhale, and take in nature around us.
Especially with online school, it can be hard to utilize the outdoors. If you find yourself left without time to take a walk, or simply take your studies outside, open a window. Letting the air in, and the stuffiness and stress out, can help us get rid of some of that piled up video-call-fatigue.
Connecting with your surroundings can help bring peace of mind. Digital lights can be replaced by just basking in the sunlight. Soak up nature and use the special energy the outdoors gives us. Just because we are online more often than most of us usually would be, doesn't mean that we have to neglect the offline.
2. No Need For Isolation in Isolation
Quarantine doesn't mean that we have to isolate ourselves. Being stuck at home for our own safety doesn't mean we have to give up our social lives. Talking to people can give you a sense of normalcy in the abnormal online school setting. It's important to keep in touch even when everything around us feels out of touch.
It may seem like it's never the right time to keep in touch, but once you let go of your hesitancies, you'll find that it leaves you feeling connected. Sending a simple “Hello” text to a friend or classmate can make us feel like we aren't alone, and make others feel like they aren't alone. Although we may not be able to get together physically, we can still connect virtually. It always helps to have a friend while learning the ropes to something new.
3. Covid-Community Building
Students may find that their academic workload is piling up due to reduced instruction time, and increased self-paced activity. Due to many sports closures, and inability to go to places that would've offered some stress-relief, students may feel like school is taking over their entire life. While education is beyond important, your happiness is too. Finding happiness in hobbies is a good place to start.
Try to get involved more with your community. Find online opportunities to widen your career experience, find new talents, or just explore activities to do when you need a break from all the academics. Consider joining your school's online clubs if they have them. Being a part of a community can help us make valuable connections with those around us, and center us in shaky times.
4. To-Do: Make a List
Making to-do lists can help us stay grounded and organized throughout the day. You can make different categories such as: homework, social, after-school self-care. Setting up timers on your phone or computer to check in to your to-do list throughout the day can add an extra layer to productive time management. Time management may be your key to further adapting to this tricky online setting.
5. Melodic Healing
Most students are used to noise. The loud conversations in high school hallways, chatter in college campus cafeterias. Now, after we are finished with our online classes for the day, we can be faced with too much silence. Silence can allow for peacefulness, but can also allow our minds to wander when we want them to stay put.
Consider listening to music. While studying, cleaning, doing really anything. Music can up your mood. A little background noise is healthy, and hearing our favorite songs can be the best cure for a bad day.
6. Communication and Education
With no physical face-to-face interactions, and little to no one on one time, getting in touch with teachers and professors can seem intimidating; but now, more than ever, students need help. With new troubles navigating through online platforms, it's important to get our questions asked. Self-advocating is important, so try to reflect your inquires without coming off as demanding. Know that you are not alone in your online education hurdles, your teachers are also navigating through the school switch.
Online school shouldn't stop you from getting the education you deserve. Ask questions you need to know about class material, or kindly ask for advice for difficulties with tech. Your teachers won't be able to understand your academic issues if you don't let them know.
So politely let them know. In order to receive help, you should seek it.
7. Stay Calm and Video-Call On
Whether it be an internet outage, or piles of homework, try to stay calm. Some healthy stress is good, but be able to recognize when it gets to be too much. Online school leaves us vulnerable to failures, Wi-Fi failures or not. It's important to remember that failure is natural, even when it feels like the most unnatural event that could happen.
Panicking over everything that goes unplanned in our lives may leave us tense and unhappy. It's important to think: why am I stressing over this, is the amount I'm stressing over this normal, should I be looking for solutions instead of lingering on problems? If the stress gets to be too much in this uncharted territory, you may want to reach out to someone around you, let them know how you are feeling. Realizing the difference between anxious feelings and anxiety can be tough, so try to get professional help if needed.
Because, at the end of the day, education is important, but your mental and physical wellbeing both come first.
