GRC is finishing up nine weeks of virtual learning and it’s not going away anytime soon. With the new hybrid schedule, students will continue participating in online classes at least three day a week even when we start back on hybrid. 

Some may prefer this version of distance learning, but for many it’s no easy feat. I as well as so many others belong to the latter group. At the start of the school year, I found it almost impossible to stay focused on the task at hand. Far too often, I would take advantage of not having to raise my hand to be excused. 

This led to a trend of procrastination: a one-way street to late assignments and bad grades. However, as the weeks flew by I began to develop ways to counteract this feet-dragging. Through bouts of trial and error and research, I have found fool-proof ways to stay focused on school work during these unprecedented times, and I’m going to share them with you.

Tip No. 1: Be Scared. With virtual learning comes great responsibility. What is this responsibility you ask? Time management. There is still time allotted for each class period, but now students have more freedom than ever before in choosing when to do their assignments. This has allowed me to finish homework last minute a lot more than usual, and any way you look at it, rushing to get something done minutes before it’s due is not a fun feeling. Not to mention, the work won’t be as proficient as it could be, and this will be obvious to the teacher. So every time a teacher assigns homework a week before its due date, I remember that dreadful feeling of doing a worksheet at 11:50pm on a Sunday to motivate me to get working on it. Whoever said that fear was a great tactic was absolutely right.

Tip No. 2: Rock out with Toad. One of the things I’ve found to be the most difficult to stay engaged with during virtual learning is writing. This may sound odd, but I’ve stuck through it by listening to the sound track for Mario Kart. The music used in this popular game was designed to keep you focused on the race, and apparently it works for schoolwork too. I just search “Mario Kart soundtrack” on Youtube and play the first suggestion on a loop until my work is complete. This method is as efficient as the blue shells are. 

Tip No. 3: No Red Herring Apps. The next tip I have varies from person to person, but it has one general principle: delete the app that you find yourself frequenting throughout the day. For me this app is TikTok, and it inspires an awful domino effect. One moment I’m checking a text message and before I know it I’ve been scrolling through TikTok for an hour and my classwork is left lonely and unfinished. Of course you don’t have to delete your distractor app forever, but from 9am to 2:30pm, it’s best that it isn’t in your way.

Staying focused on school can feel nearly impossible for so many, but it isn’t. The tips I’ve given you have worked wonders for me, and I can almost guarantee they will help you. You may even be able to branch off them and develop focusing techniques that maximize your performance. Whether it’s scaring yourself into getting work done, listening to video game music, or deleting TikTok for an hour, anything that helps you complete your work efficiently is worth it.