LETTER | The outbreak of Covid-19 has affected our daily lives including students'. All educational institutions around the world have to close temporarily  to prevent the spread of the virus. Hence, students have to continue their journey in a different environment, which is at home.

Home can be a comfortable environment, but it can be difficult for some students to stay focused and motivated due to distractions or some other reasons.

Your television, bed, smartphones, and social media are some of the factors that can take away your focus from your studies. Thus, some changes in the way you study can help you during these hard times.

Firstly, create a conducive study area. You need to ensure your study space is comfortable, quiet, and free from distractions so that you can stay focused for a long time. Your bedroom can be your study area, but you need to have a desk and chair. Avoid studying on your bed because you might fall asleep and thus ruin your concentration.

If you have a comfortable study space, it can prevent you from having neck and back pain while you are studying. Besides, make sure your study area has a lot of fresh air and natural lighting as such a surrounding can motivate you to study.

Make sure you have everything you will need such as stationery, study materials, and water.

Time management is very important, especially when you are at home because you may get distracted by other things such as house chores and family events. To make things easy, create your own timetable to indicate how much time you need to spend for study and for doing other activities.

Besides, different tasks may require different levels of concentration and work. You need to figure out which task needs a lot of time to complete. You also need to ensure you do not miss any important tasks.

It is important to note that you must take care of yourself during these hard times. Studying at home can be tough for some students. There are many news reports of students at home suffering from depression or having a mental breakdown during this pandemic. Do not overburden yourself with too much work. Take time off to do other activities. Spend at least 15 minutes a day doing some form of exercise to keep up your physical and mental wellbeing.

Spending time with your family can also take away your mind from studies such as watching television, playing badminton and board games. In short, do anything that can avoid you from getting stressed.

In addition, eating nutritious food can also help boost your physical and mental wellbeing. Make sure you take nutritious food such as vegetables and fruits. Try to avoid junk food because this can reduce your energy and harm your health. You need to stay healthy during your studies so that you can stay focused and have a lot of energy to get your work done.

 Since you are doing online learning, make the most of technology to help you understand your lessons and complete your works. For example, it will be easier for you to get information by watching a video than reading a long and complex text in your textbook.

There are several online learning platforms you can use such as Khan Academy, Open Learning, and Google Classroom to help you obtain more information.

Besides, if you want to do a group study or a group project, you can make a video call through many platforms such as Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom Meeting, FaceTime, and Skype. You can also make a video call with your teachers if you want more explanation about your lesson. It will make you feel more connected when you can see your teachers’ and friends’ faces, hence it can light up your mood.

Studying at home seems convenient, but it can be hard for some students due to many factors such as distraction and mental health issues. However, if you plan and organise your studies properly, home learning can be effective.

Moreover, it is vital for you to have a strong and healthy support system, especially from your family and friends. Contact them if you are having problems or struggling with stress, depression, anxiety, or uncertainty so that they can help you solve them and ensure you stay on track.

Lastly, it is important to know that you are not alone during these difficult times. Everyone should help and support each other.

SYASYA SYAFIQAH ABDULLAH is a student at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.