As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pervade our daily lives, distance learning has become an unavoidable part of our lives. While communicating online creates a lot more flexibility in our schedule, the long hours spent in front of a digital screen can be draining at times. Here are three main lessons I have learned in the past few weeks of online school:

Schedule events in a set calendar 

Being online for over half a day means every meeting that is scheduled is time that will be taken away from your schedule. Although scheduling events in our agenda or planners may seem like a given, it is extremely crucial during online school. Constantly staying online may create the illusion that not much time has passed, so having a calendar would allow one to keep track of how much time is spent on each event during the day. 

Breaks are crucial 

Constantly staring into your computer screen, whether it is to complete a homework assignment or study for a test, should be limited to a segment of one to two hours. Taking a break in between an intense study session should always be something that one should be aware of. For example, the pomodoro method is a technique that allows one to work in 25 minute increments and take a rest break in between. 

Become aware of your screen time

Other than taking breaks in between long sittings in front of the computer, being aware of how much time you have spent on your digital devices is also crucial to mastering the ropes of digital communication. If one always has a set goal of what they want to achieve when they go online, they will be able to complete the tasks in one to two hours.

Overall, the most important thing is to always make sure you are taking some time for yourself in between long hours of online meetings. Reserving some of your own time will allow you to refresh your mind and prepare yourself for another long sitting in front of the computer screen.