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Taking on Online School? What You Need to up Your At-Home Productivity

Even learning has moved online. Here’s how you can make the most out of the experience

With no more time spent in classrooms, no physical interaction with peers, and no guidance provided by profs, the transition to online learning can look intimidating. But thankfully, there are tricks to making it all work—proven foolproof by students that have already spent time learning online.

How do you block out distractions? How do you stay on track? How do you make sure study time and personal time don’t mix? Here are five steps to take on to get you started (that you can build on later to truly up your at-home productivity).

Set up a workspace just for your online learning and school tasks.

This almost always appears at the top of any at-home productivity roundup, and it’s clear to see why. A dedicated workspace not only keeps you organized, but helps you get in the right headspace for schoolwork.

Remember to fill this space with only the essentials: worksheets and references, writing materials and your notebooks, your laptop, and your charger. You might want to make this space a smartphone-free zone, too, just so you can eliminate distractions like social media apps right away.

Pro tip: set up this workspace close to your router, so stable internet connection won’t be a problem.

Update your web browser with study-friendly extensions.

Now that you’ve set healthy boundaries that separate your school workstation and the rest of your home (which, again, should be work-free), it’s time to focus on adding features to your desktop that ought to make schoolwork easier.

Having these extensions acts like a shortcut. And you can instantly get access to apps to help you focus, get organized, and take notes more efficiently this way. This cuts through having to sift through multiple search tabs on Google or having to download and open separate apps. You can instantly access features straight from your browser.

Build a routine based on your regular school schedule.

An underrated pro tip: stick with what already works. There’s a lot of good that can come from maintaining old routines during this time, because it gives you a sense of normalcy and allows you to stay in control over what happens in your day. If you used to wake up at 7AM on schooldays, continue doing so. If your first period took place at 9.30AM, get started on schoolwork at this time, too.

In the same way your work tasks are modeled after your old school schedule, make sure you allot time for things like recess and lunch. Planning your breaks this way makes sure you don’t overload yourself with work. It’s important that you find time to rest and recharge.

On that note, start the week off with a study plan.

On Sundays, take time to sit back, relax, and plan the brand-new week ahead. This is where you can plot important deadlines coming up, webinars you have to attend, and online quizzes you have to take. Working your way around them, be sure to make time for your extra-curriculars, too: plot them in your calendar along with pockets of time just for relaxation. From here, you get a clear view of your free time during the week, which can then be dedicated to self-study time, review sessions, and research.

For the full rundown on creating a study plan, click on and watch below:

Zone out to a “concentration” playlist.

This isn’t just great for drowning out distracting noises; it also works to enhance cognitive function and even helps listeners concentrate. For study sessions, lo-fi music and binaural beats are especially useful. So make a quick search on Spotify with these keywords and see which playlist is most effective at helping you concentrate.

Some people might need more help than others. In which case, you can always spring for a pair of headphones designed to cancel out or isolate noise.

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