How to stay productive during quarantine

 Snoozing your alarm, staying in your pj's all day, being distracted during class... any of those sound familiar? If not, congratulations! You are a very productive person! If those sound like you, don't worry, many of us do similar things. But just because many of us do it doesn't make it right. Here are some tips to stay productive during quarantine, even if you aren't feeling chipper each day.

Waking up earlier- I know, I know. You're probably thinking 'if I'm already having problems waking up on time, how will I do this? Well, if you set your alarm clock earlier than you actually need to wake, you will be at least half awake, and even if you snooze your alarm many times, you will end up waking up when you actually should (once the sound of your alarm gets annoying).

If you are still having trouble waking up, see the tip below.

Moving your alarm clock across the room- You may have seen or heard this a lot before, but that's because it really works! If you move your alarm clock across the room, you will have to get out of your bed and walk around to urn off your alarm, and moving will wake you up. If you still find yourself crawling back under your covers, try to hide your alarm clock (or whatever device you use for your alarm) and (if possible) set a tone for the alarm that makes you want to turn it off immediately. When you are trying to find your alarm and turn that annoying sound off, you will wake yourself up! Just remember not to make it too hard so that you don't waste too much time trying to find it.

Set up a clutter-free study space- If you are currently doing elearning like I am, most of your teachers will have told you to set up a clean and clutter-free workspace. This really does help you get on top of things and will keep your more organized so you don't forget a zoom or an important homework assignment. An ideal workspace would be a desk, table or counter. DO NOT WORK IN YOUR BED!  Do not work in a place where you are likely to become distracted or tired easily. I don't think any of your teachers will be happy if you fall asleep while they are going over something important. Some things I recommend you having in your space are:

- Your computer or ipad (whatever device you are using for learning)

- Notebooks and loose sheets of paper

- An organizing or filing system for your paper and notebooks so that you can find them easily

- A planner or calendar to jot down impending tests or homework

- Water and/ or a healthy snack (just don't binge- eat, that's not healthy for you)

- A clock (your device will most likely display the time, but a clock is nice to refer to to know when your zooms occur)

- Chargers (we don't want your device to die when you need it!)

- Pencils, pens, other writing utensils

- Sticky notes to write down anything you need to see in front of you (like zoom links) and stick on your wall

- Anything else that you specifically need!

Use a planner or actually write down what you need to do- Studies have shown that physically writing things down helps people remember them, so actually write down your todo list! You could use a reminder app, but this helps your memory as well. No matter what method you use, if you make a list of the things you need to do, you don't have to scroll through any agenda your teacher gave you every time you want to know what the homework is! You can have all of your tasks in one place for you to use a reference as you go through your day.

That's all I have for you today1 I hope these tips work for you!