Online school for the majority of children across the country and indeed in many other parts of the world is a strange experience. It’s made me realise how much I rely on teachers to teach me in real-time rather than just through a PowerPoint online and how much I miss not seeing my friends every day. Even though we can chat through social media, it’s just not the same. It’s difficult to stay productive when you’re not in a school environment so here are some tips to make sure you get everything done:

  • Stick to a timetable: Whether this is your usual school timetable or one you have created yourself it’s important to keep to this timetable so you’re not overwhelmed by a pile of work you haven’t done by the end of the day because you were focussing on only one or two subjects.
  • Use a planner: This links to sticking to a timetable but, if you have a planner from school you could use it to help manage your workload. Be realistic about how much you plan to do that day; don’t plan to do things you know you won’t have time to do.
  • Stay focused: This will be difficult for many people, including me because, at school, we don’t have our phones during lesson time for this exact reason. You can work for a 50-minute lesson without your phone to avoid being distracted and then having a 5/10-minute break before the next on your phone. During lunch and break times you can do whatever you want, whether that is to watch Netflix or face time your friends. Staying focused means that you will hopefully get all, if not most, of your work done and have lots of free time which would usually be taken up by homework and revision if you were at school.
  • Keep your work area organised and neat: An organised space is said to be a more productive space. It will be difficult to concentrate if you're surrounded by books you’re not using and harder to find things when you need to use them.

During this difficult time,one of the most important things to do is stay home and regularly contact friends and family for both your own mental health and theirs.

Emma Knight