How To Get Back Into the Swing of Things

Whether you took some time off during the summer or you recently finished up your summer courses the season is changing and once again a new semester is ahead of us. Here are a couple of tips on how to get back into the swing of things once you start your new courses this fall.

Start a routine

Wake up, eat breakfast, and get ready. Easier said than done, right? Starting a routine each day is extremely important because it helps you mentally and physically be prepared for the next day and each day after that, without you even realizing it. It is said that it takes 23 days for something to become a habit so start that early so you are ready to keep that routine going when your classes begin. 

Set up a calendar

Whether it be on your phone, laptop, in a hardback planner or even just a quick notebook keeps everything in one place. This helps you pull everything together and allows you to be more productive when you are doing homework. It also keeps you on top of everything so that you can be more prepared when walking into class each day.

Get unique supplies

Make sure when you are shopping for supplies like pens, paper, or pencils for the start of your semester you get some supplies that will get you excited to study, or take notes. If you are excited about the pens or paper that you just bought it will make you excited about the things that you need to write with the pen or write on the paper.

Keep your technology charged or have a backup

 Especially with online courses, you have to always be checking to make sure your instructor has not sent you a message or a due date has not changed. That’s why it's important to always keep your technology charged. Whether it may be your phone or your laptop, make sure you can always check the things you need to. At night when you are getting ready for bed find a place to charge your phone or laptop that may be close to your door or someplace that you walk by in the morning so you can pick it up with ease on your way out the door for the day. This way it will be charged and you won’t forget it on your way out the door!

Don’t over commit

When taking online courses or any course, in general, it is extremely easy to over-commit something because you don’t realize how much you took on. The way to combat this is to write out your schedule on a piece of paper and hour by hour estimate how much time something will take. It is always better to overestimate than underestimate! Once that third week of classes rolls around you should be in a pretty good rhythm to see if you can take on any more commitments. This also helps later in the semester if you are feeling stressed, then you can do that activity again and see what is taking up most of your time so you can focus on different things. 

Set goals

Make smaller goals that are you can realistically accomplish within a given timeframe. It is easy to let the stress of starting new classes or the change of a schedule get to you, but with these easy tips, you can get back into the swing of things with ease! 

For more resources for online students, visit ecampus.unk.edu.