Unit 2: Technology to Facilitate Classroom Learning

When the deadline is off in the distance and no one is checking your progress, your online learning can be quite challenging. Even most of your professors have the same work habits—none of us are immune from the temptation of Netflix. If you need something to motivate yourself or if you're struggling to stay on task, maybe try these little strategies I love to use!

• 2-Minutes Strategy. This one is my absolute favorite. When nothing seems to motivate you and you're anxious because you haven't started anything, try this: grab your timer, set it for just 2 minutes, and challenge yourself to do something incredibly easy. For example, read just one paragraph or make a few notes. It will act as a tiny spark to start the fire of productivity. I've had so many instances where those two minutes helped me move forward like a snowball rolling down a hill.

• Cue your brain to concentrate. To effectively harness the power of automaticity, consider developing routines that cue your brain to concentrate. Engage some (or all) of your five senses. Turn on a specific music genre whenever you start working (listening to my favorite jazz playlist puts me in a working mindset - feel free to use it!). Making it a habit to take a sip of a certain type of drink just before you begin your work is another good example. For those who work from home, I recommend you designate separate areas for leisure and productivity (I reserve my white desk for work-related activities only). These can all be effective warm-ups to prime & train your brain for easier and quicker focus.

• Try using the Pomodoro Technique. If you search keywords like "Pomodoro study with me" on YouTube, you'll get many videos set up using the Pomodoro Technique which breaks work into 25-minute segments (you can read more about it here: Wikipedia article). As the video title "study with me" suggests, you can literally "study with" the people in the video for several hours.