Success During Virtual Learning

Strategies for Success During Virtual Learning Sarah Colwell, Psy. D. Licensed Clinical Psychologist Early Intervention Specialist at Counseling Services

Table of Contents 2

Virtual Learning

3 4

Create a Routine

6 7 8

Establish Boundaries

Minimize Distractions

Set Reasonable & Attainable Goals

10 11

Acknowledge Your Feelings

Stay Connected To Your Peers

Do Pleasant Things

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Ask For Help When You Need It

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Bonus Tips

VIRTUAL LEARNING

This is all very new, but you can figure out how to navigate virtual learning. Be kind to yourself and give yourself time to setup a productive framework.

This framework may include the following: acknowledging and managing your feelings, making a routine, setting boundaries with others, creating a space to help minimize distractions, setting reasonable and attainable goals, putting effort into staying connected with peers, and engaging in pleasant activities. If you need help adjusting to this new norm, please let someone know and remember you are not alone in what you are experiencing.

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How are you doing? What feelings keep making an appearance as you go through your day?

Many of us are likely sharing common feelings, however, there may be some feelings that are unique to our circumstances. For some, there may be a tremendous sense of loss related to not being on campus with friends and professors. For others there may be a sense of relief being at home with loved ones during this time. Many will experience both those feelings at once.

What we feel may change from hour to hour because this is such a new experience and there is so much to feel. Whatever you are experiencing, know it’s normal, totally okay, and that your feelings are valid. Don’t be afraid to give yourself time to process your feelings (many of the strategies you have used in the past should still work) and to give yourself distraction breaks if you feel like you’re getting stuck in grief or anxiety. You matter. Your feelings matter and they can be managed if you take time to care for yourself.

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So, even in a normal quarter we work hard to instill the benefits of a routine in our students.

Being a student can make having a standard routine a challenge, as requirements often change from day to day, but try best as you can to setup a rough schedule. This schedule should take into consideration your needs for a standard bedtime and waketime, standard eating times (don’t forget snack times), time to connect with others, time to exercise, and time to do things that make you feel content/peaceful.

SIMPLE STEPS TO ROUTINE BUILDING: 1)

Start with your class requirements. Look at what times you need to be in virtual learning spaces or approximately how much time you will need to spend per week on the coursework for the class. Add those times to your calendar or planner.

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2)

Based off required wakeup times and the hours of sleep per night you need to be well rested, set a standard sleep and wake time*

3)

Build in a typical break schedule, including meal and snack times, times to work out, and times to connect with others (Note: not every hour needs to be accounted for, but include time for breaks to ensure they won’t be forgotten or taken over by too much work)

4)

Week by week approximate the unique amount of work you will have to do for that week and build it into your routine. For example, let’s say you have a standard block for studying between 3-5 pm, but on especially heavy weeks you add studying time from 6-7 pm. If the extra work time does not replace your breaks or your interrupt your bedtime/waketime then you’re successfully maintaining the framework of your routine

5)

The remaining open time is your free time to engage in new or old interests, connect with others, binge television, it’s totally up to you. Let yourself be spontaneous and responsive to what you need in that moment

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Virtual learning will likely require a lot of communication with those in your household about what you need to be successful in your coursework. It can be challenging to set boundaries with others because we fear offending or hurting others’ feelings. Remember to be kind and direct in sharing what you need. Sometimes it helps to invite those in your household to problem-solve with you regarding how you can each respect each other’s needs.

BOUNDARIES TO CONSIDER SETTING: 1)

Provide your schedule to household members so they know when you are going to be busy

2)

Highlight what times during the day would be appropriate to interrupt you and during which times you absolutely cannot be interrupted**

3)

Outline what reasons would be okay to interrupt you for (e.g., asking what kind of pizza I want) and which are not good reasons (e.g., wanting to show me a cute video of a sloth)

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During class hours or hours scheduled for studying try to minimize distractions.

We’ve all got different bandwidths about what distracts us and pulls us into an inattentive state, but the following are a few generic guidelines to try: 1)

Find a secluded place away from the hustle and bustle of the household

2)

Work to make the space comfortable – but not too comfortable, so you stay alert (i.e., don’t work in your bed***, but make sure you’re sitting on something that won’t cause back pain as the hours of work progress)

3)

Turn your cellphone on silent and stay off social media until it’s break time

4)

If the house is noisy consider downloading a white noise app on your phone or listening to music without lyrics to help you focus on your work

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Research tends to show that working from home can help improve quality and quantity of work completed. One of the drawbacks is difficulty setting limits around work due to feeling pressure to always be working. Hopefully, setting a routine will aid in holding healthy boundaries with the amount of work you expect yourself to accomplish. The other part of being successful is setting realistic and attainable goals around what you are going to accomplish each day, week, month, and quarter.

Many students tend to over study or feel guilt due to the belief that they should be able to complete every single reading, should give 110% to every assignment, and that the total coursework assigned is a reasonable amount to complete. The reality is that the completion of the amount of assigned work across classes is typically not attainable. This is nothing you should feel guilty about: it is a normal part of being a student. It can be challenging, however, to believe this and to set boundaries around the work we do.

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The most important things you can do when attempting to complete your goals is to be kind to yourself, be responsive to your needs in the moment, and to not allow guilt/shame feelings to pressure you into consistently overworking. This is not sustainable or good for you.

GUIDELINES TO SETTING REASONABLE GOALS: 1)

Continue to re-evaluate how you are doing in each of your courses and adjust your time toward the courses that require more time to be successful or to receive a passing grade

2)

With every assignment, project how much time you think the assignment should take if done with reasonable effort. Add a time buffer depending on the importance of the assignment****.

If you finish early, that’s great, stop working on it. If you start running over the time you set as the buffer, wrap up the assignment as best you can and know you put in a reasonable effort no matter the outcome

3)

If you are forcing yourself to study and are having difficulty concentrating take a break.

Forcing yourself to work when you are exhausted will lead you to spend more time on a project than necessary. A break or rest may help reignite your ability to concentrate and allow you to complete the assignment in less time

4)

Take time to evaluate what grades mean to you and what it means to be successful. If you must receive the highest marks on every assignment to feel like you are a valuable person/student or if lower marks than you expected are impacting your self-worth, these may be signs that you need to explore these feelings/perceptions more. Guilt and shame are feelings that often drive us to overwork in a way that negatively impacts our wellbeing

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One of the most difficult parts of virtual learning can be feelings of isolation from our peers.

This is a time to push yourself out of your comfort zone and invite people to virtually hang and/or do homework with you.

You’re each other’s best support and best tutors. So, if you’re in virtual classes with all new peers, consider asking if anyone is interested in starting a study group. You could then video conference as a study group at a set time every week. While it may feel scary to ask strangers to join you, trust that there are going to be others who want to be connected too. With your pre-existing friends try and take breaks together: talk about what’s new, have a dance party, or play games virtually together. Just because you are distant doesn’t mean you still can’t invest in each other.

Get creative and stay connected.

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Yes, things are different, but the majority of the things you like to do are still available to you, even if you have to adapt those things.

It is important for your wellbeing that you keep your self-care game strong and engage in activities that help you process your feelings, help keep you in a fair/calm state of mind, and help you feel connected to yourself and the things that give your life meaning. The goal of doing pleasant things, beyond simply enjoying them, is to keep us sharp, content, and connected*****.

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This is new terrain for a lot of us. If you’re needing help, know you are not alone and there are people who can and want to help.

PEOPLE TO CONSIDER ASKING HELP FROM: 1)

Peers – Ask them about what’s been helping them navigate virtual learning

2)

Professors/Instructors – Talk to them about what kind of study methods they think will help students be successful in their class and ask them how you should get your questions/concerns addressed during the quarter

3)

Advisors – A lot of students are expressing concern about how this quarter is going to impact the remainder of their time at Cal Poly. Your advisors are people who will seek out the answers for you and help give you a clearer sense of what is to come

4)

Mental Health Professionals – If you have noticed that your mental wellbeing is being impacted at this time, reach out to a mental health professional. Cal Poly Counseling Services can be reached 24/7 at (805) 756-2511 and will be offering virtual therapy options

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BONUS TIPS *TIP 1: Try and find a balance: If you’re a night owl, but you know people in your household are going to be up and making noise super early in the morning or vice versa– well, you may want to try and adjust to the sleeping habits of the household or I expect sleepy-grumpiness to be a possible outcome. Do your best to communicate with others about what you need

**TIP 2: Some folks have found success in setting breaks that are mutual breaks and/or availability times for others in the household. Doing so allows you to have moments to connect with each other. This helps reduce the pressure others may at times feel to interrupt your work times to have connection. This tip may be especially helpful with young siblings and romantic partners

***Tip 3: Sleep Hygiene AKA strategies to help you have restful sleep, dictates that your bed be kept just for sleep, rest, or sex. When you do work in bed, your bed becomes associated with higher brain activity and we want your bed to stay associated with lower brain activity; so, you can fall asleep more easily, stay asleep, and spend more time in deeper sleep states

****Tip 4: Not all assignments are made equal. As such, buffers are dependent on either how meaningful the assignment is to you (if it your passion, then of course it makes sense you would want to invest more into it) or on how meaningful the assignment will be to your grade.

Reading assignments do not usually require a buffer, as the direct outcome of your grade is not usually dependent on your weekly readings. Whereas, completing a term paper that is 50% of your grade would deserve a little more buffer time allowance; as you may not really know how long the process is going to take until your deep within the assignment

*****Tip 5: While this may not sound like a pleasant activity, make sure you are still getting ready every day. A lot of time spent inside the home can lead to what some call a holiday from hygiene. By keeping ourselves put together, even if not to the same extent of when we are going out, we will feel more productive and motivated. So, keep your hygiene game strong, it’s good for your health and it will also help you feel more open to connecting with others in video conferences if you’re already put together

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