How to keep your schedule under control while learning online
Are you struggling with your time management while learning or working online from home? Here are some tips for maintaining control of your time. First and foremost, get up at your normal time and complete your morning routine, including getting dressed and eating breakfast! Learning and working from home can cause you to focus solely on working. Second, set up a workspace away from your bed/bedroom. Third, at the time you would leave, go to your workspace, and prepare for your day.
1. Have a calendar with time slots, electronic or paper, available to plan your day
2. Plan your day including:
a. Work times
b. Activities at specific times, such as class, study, lunch, and breaks
c. Meals
d. Communication with colleagues, family, and friends
e. End of workday
f. Bedtime!
3. Use a timer or electronic reminders to move to the next item on your list.
4. Begin working.
5. End working.
Set aside time for cooking, cleaning, leaving to exercise (even if just in another room), weekend activities, and shopping if needed. Finally, remember to include due dates for assignments. As you plan for your day above, check the learning management system (LMS) used at your school for assignments, activities, and meetings. Add these to your calendar as well. At the starting time of your class or job, begin working.
For those of you working together on projects, there are several ways to communicate easily. Programs such as Zoom, Skype, and social media applications can reduce the perception of distance. Download these easily from the appropriate website onto the computer and phone. Classmates can set up daily review meetings in Zoom. Learning management systems also have Wiki features for discussions.
This may seem obsessive, but as said above people either focus on one thing for a while or shift from one thing to another in minutes without completing any given task. By creating a schedule to work with and using a timer or alarms, one can complete many tasks and feel accomplished at the end of the day. Using the regular schedule will assist in returning to a normal schedule when the isolation period is over. With a schedule in mind, new habits can be formed to assist in a normal schedule later as well.
Anne Montgomery
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November 21, 2023
Living in a dormitory is a staple of the college experience. Many students make friendships in college that carry on for years. Others…well…do not.
There are so many things that you can do to meet new students. You can offer help to those who can’t get a handle on the homework, go to the gym together, or even host a movie night. But what are some of the best ways to meet new people? Especially in a dormitory.
It’s always beneficial to meet new people in your dorm because of the ease of access. Having friends in your dormitory means that you don’t have to wait until class to see someone again. Is it easy to make friends in a dorm? Well, that depends on how open you are to meeting new people. If you are, and keep in mind that most people are friendly, then you too can make friends in a dorm using these tips.
1. Smile at everyone
Remember to smile at others. That is a very important skill if you want to know how to make friends and expand your social circle. Smiling at others lets them know that you are friendly and open to talk. In turn, they can relax around you and open up a bit.
Protip: If you meet someone you like, make sure to ask what their name is and REMEMBER IT! One thing that we all have in common is that we love to hear the sound of our own names. And when in the middle of a conversation, be sure to actually LISTEN. Don’t just prep what you’re going to say next while they’re talking. People know when people are really listening to them.
Want to know how to grow a social circle even more? When somebody invites you to do something with them or their group, say yes! This will lead to you meeting all kinds of different people. It’s okay if you’re busy, but please remember that saying no too many times will cause people to stop asking, whether you have a good excuse or not.
This skill is also great if you want to know how to make friends in community college. These types of schools don’t usually have dormitories, but smiling at people is a great thing to do no matter where you are.
2. Attend as many college events as you can
This next step is perhaps the most effective step for making friends in college. Don’t just stay inside your room playing video games or reading Reddit posts. If you’re truly interested in meeting students with common interests, make sure to join a club. This way, you are guaranteed to meet people who have a passion for the same things you do.
You’ll learn more about your passion since your classmates will have a different perspective on it and might look at the same thing from a different point of view. They can tell you something about it that you didn’t know about. You can also discover what your strengths and weaknesses are in a particular area.
Attending events is an important lesson in how to make friends in college if you are shy because you can find a sense of belonging. There is something prideful about being part of a group where everyone has something in common. This is also important because you will learn how to work with a team of people. This provides you with soft skills that you will need after you graduate, especially when you start work.
Speaking of starting work, you’ll be able to add your participation in a group to your resume. Joining a group proves that you have learned certain skills that will be useful to the company you want to work for.
3. Try to leave your door open
If you consider yourself an open person, consider keeping your door open. Many students are extroverted and want to know how long it takes to make friends in college. If you want to start quickly, this is great because you can meet new people without even getting up from your chair.
When keeping your door open, you’re telling people that they are welcome to come into your room and chat you up. It shows that you are approachable. Eventually, other students will pop in and say hi. Some students are afraid to walk up to a stranger because they don’t know if somebody is open or not. Leaving the door open kills the nervousness that comes from trying to walk up and approach people you don’t know.
Protip: if EVERYONE keeps their doors open, then it will be very easy to make friends with everyone on your floor. This is great if you don’t know how to make friends in class. Keep in mind that people WILL pop into your room. This tip is not for everybody, so if you’re the type of person who prefers privacy, maybe you can consider one of our other tips instead.
In Conclusion
With these tips, you will be able to meet people anywhere and know how to make friends in college when everyone already has friends. But no matter what tip you try, always remember to be approachable. Keep eye contact. Listen to others. Nobody wants to be around somebody who is in a bad mood all the time, so be sure to keep your spirits up when out and about with new people!
If you would like more tips on how to succeed in college and university, follow the Nerdify reviews blog for a comprehensive game plan on how to achieve great results in your studies.
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October 4, 2022
There’s no shortage of movies and TV shows depicting college life. As a result, many of the lessons American teens have learned about the college experience come from pop culture. Not all of those lessons are based on accurate reflections of the college experience. Although some college movies and shows are more realistic than others, in general, pop culture has given rise to various misconceptions regarding what college life involves.
The following are some noteworthy examples of beliefs you may have about what college will be like based on pop culture myths!
1. Every Party is an ‘Epic’ Occasion
An American high school student who has never attended a single college party could still probably describe one if asked to. They’ve likely seen plenty of movies and TV shows featuring college party scenes, after all. In movies, an average college party takes place at a house packed with energetic young coeds who all look like Abercrombie & Fitch models. Music is blasting and partygoers are showing off their moves on an impromptu dancefloor. Everyone is consuming extremely copious amounts of alcohol, and some are openly using drugs. Additionally, every spare room in the house is occupied by people hooking up.
The reality of a college party isn’t quite as over-the-top. Yes, college parties can get lively, but the real-life version of the party described above is not exactly the same as the Hollywood version. Will a college party take place at an off-campus house? Often, yes, although it’s also not uncommon for parties to take place in small dorms and apartments. Is such a party overflowing with people? Sure, college parties can get crowded, but not everyone there will be a supermodel. All types of individuals attend parties. Some are loud and energetic, dancing along to the music, while others are content to sit in a corner with a few friends enjoying the casual conversation. The music itself won’t be too loud either. No one hosting a college party wants to have the police called on them for a noise complaint.
Nerdify reviews data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism indicating that more than half of college students between the ages of 18 and 22 will drink alcohol in a given month. However, college students don’t have unlimited budgets for alcohol, nor do they wish to try and get arrested for using illegal drugs, so many partygoers don’t drink or use drugs at all. Finally, Nerdify reviews stats from the American Psychological Association showing many American college students will experience some form of romantic experience, but these experiences are not as common as some incoming first-year students assume.
2. RAs Are All ‘Buzzkills’ or ‘Creeps’
A Resident Assistant (RA) is a student who lives in a dormitory and is responsible for keeping an eye on a certain number of students/rooms. In movies and TV shows, RAs tend to be depicted in one of two ways. They are either power-mad enforcers of the rules who exist solely to ensure no one living in a dorm has any fun, or they are slightly creepy older students who try to use their RA status to strike up relationships with younger students.
Do some RAs match these descriptions? Probably, but not always. Often, an RA is a helpful source of support who can lend an ear when a student is feeling homesick, help roommates get along more easily, and organize dorm-wide social events where students can meet each other in low-stress situations. True, part of an RA’s job is to enforce campus rules and policies, but this doesn’t make an RA a “narc”. RAs have to handle all the stresses of being a student while also handling the stress of being an employee of the college they are attending. On the occasions when RAs have to enforce the rules, they aren’t doing so to spoil anyone’s fun — they’re doing so because it’s their job to keep everyone in the dorm safe.
Some incoming students might even consider becoming a RAs after a year or two. Along with helping pay for room and board, being an RA could help a student expand their social group and make more friends. For more insights, you can find stories on Reddit about users’ best and worst RA experiences, as well as Reddit threads featuring amusing stories from former RAs.
3. College is Similar to High School in Certain Ways
Movies and TV shows which take place at colleges often depict many of the ways college is different from high school. Although college classes may end at designated times, there usually isn’t a bell that goes off indicating class is over. More importantly, there are no scheduled lunch periods, like there may be in high school. Students can eat lunch whenever they choose. During the time a student is not in class, they are free to roam about campus or leave campus as they please.
It is often during these free periods throughout the day that college students cultivate friendships. Unlike high school, where friendships may develop in the class environment itself, because college classes often involve large numbers of students sitting quietly while professors lecture, at the college level, friendships are often cultivated via on-campus events, get-togethers, lunches, and other social occasions big and small.
Worried about making friends and socializing in general in college? You’re not alone. Nerdify experts review studies and surveys showing many first-year college students wish they were more emotionally prepared for the experience. Additionally, Nerdify reviews new research indicating today’s parents may not realize how anxious about college their children are. If you’re worried about starting college, there are many Reddit threads and communities where you may find helpful advice.
College movies and TV shows can also depict professors actively reminding students who are falling behind on their work that they haven’t turned in assignments. Like high school teachers, college professors in movies will go after students who are in danger of failing. In reality, while some college professors may let students know they have missed due dates or are failing their classes, most professors aren’t as aggressive as high school teachers in this regard. They know it’s their job to simply teach a course. If a student who is paying for the course decides not to do the work, it’s not the professor’s responsibility to get them back on track.
These differences may seem minor, but they highlight an important point: college students have the freedom to make their own choices about everything from what they will have for lunch to whether they will attend class. They also need to always remember that pop culture depictions of college life are rarely accurate. Yes, college absolutely can (and should) be fun and enriching. It’s simply more likely to be when a student’s expectations about the college experience are realistic.
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February 8, 2022
Approaching a college mental help center is not something that most students do voluntarily as they tend to believe that depression, anxiety, thoughts of leaving it all, and the fear of failing can be handled alone. According to our experts at Nerdify reviews, the majority of students in trouble believe that college mental help centers cannot grant them enough privacy, which is always a matter of trust.
Therefore, it is always possible to approach anonymous online assistance hotlines that are meant for students. They may include in-person mental coaching or Zoom conversations with trained experts who can assist with anything from bullying and depression to overcoming the fear of failing and fighting substance abuse. As always, there are both cons and pros to making your choice towards a college mental help center or anonymous online assistance.
College Mental Help Center
Pros
– The best aspect of a college mental help center is that you do not have to pay anything as it is intended for students that are already enrolled. It may be recommended to either join a healthcare professional for individual sessions or work in a group of students.
– The majority of colleges in the United States will offer at least one student support group that can be considered as a good alternative for those cases when you are homesick and cannot adjust to a new way of life. Since you will be in a familiar environment, there will be no trouble of feeling fine during the mental help sessions and getting lost when coming back to your studies.
Cons
– Turning to a college mental help center makes students feel ashamed of asking for help, which is not always easy. Our experts at Nerdify reviews believe that it will always differ from college to college and will depend on your mental state, yet you should research your college privacy rights first to avoid trouble.
– When the talk goes about substance abuse, serious learning challenges, domestic or sexual abuse cases, it may be obligatory to seek external help where private sessions will serve you in a much better way. Since there are always anonymity factors being involved and you may not wish anyone at your college to know what you are going through, approaching online help might be a better option even if to find the best ways to receive professional guidance.
– One of the worst factors related to college mental help centers is the amount of paperwork that may be necessary even when you ask for assistance with examination or feel frightened when leaving the campus area. While it won’t be encountered at every college, this unfortunate aspect must be considered.
Anonymous Online Assistance
Pros
– Remember that almost every anonymous online assistance foundation has a Hotline number that is available 24/7. It means that you can talk to a trained professional and ask for help without having to wait for office hours or pick your ID documents together.
– When you need immediate help, anonymous online assistance is a safer option because you can contact someone urgently and still remain anonymous. Unlike most colleges, you will be routed to specialists that have experience in various mental help fields.
When you need to contact someone for an urgent case of you suspect suicidal tendencies in one of the students or feel challenged yourself, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-8255. It is a toll-free hotline number that can be accessed 24/7. It is another evident benefit of keeping anonymous and getting immediate help, which is not always possible when contacting your local college help center.
Cons
– Not all help that you may discover online is free. Since we are discussing online assistance, our specialists at Nerdify reviews recommend checking the pricing rules first and looking for the voluntary foundations first.
If the talk goes about bullying, consider contacting StopBullying.org organization. For the cases of college assault or sexual abuse, contact VictimConnect.org or RAINN.org. Both of these organizations will provide you with additional resources. While you may also encounter pricey or time-consuming conversations as you approach anonymous online assistance, always research the websites first.
Asking For Help is Normal
The most important is to avoid being silent when you are feeling depressed, stressed, or your mental state affects your learning and daily activities negatively. It also includes irregular sleep patterns, unexplained aggression, sadness, social isolation, inability to communicate with others, and trouble memorizing things. Remember that asking for help is normal and does not make you a weak person. Our team members at Nerdify reviews also suggest talking to your college friends who look troubled and being there for them by telling them about what you’ve learned about mental help and how exactly it may help.