As we all adjust to this new norm, how to “be a student” is changing.  In the old days (3 weeks ago) your alarm would go off, you would get up, get dressed and go off to school.  At school you would go through your schedule. The bell ringing would tell you when to go to your next class. You knew that sitting in a classroom meant time to learn. At the end of the day you went home, did your activities and homework.  This process would repeat Monday - Friday. In hindsight it seemed so simple.

Now life is even simpler since we don’t go anywhere, but it is much harder to be a student.  As one student said to me “I used to know, when I was sitting in class, that the expectation was that I would be learning.  Now I don’t know what to do.” All the wonderful (or maybe not so wonderful) routines and habits you developed are gone.

Now is the time to develop your new normal.  Through this blog I will be introducing ideas to help you succeed as a student.  

Your first task is inherently simple, yet one that is often forgotten.  You need to have a dedicated workspace. While you may think this is the easiest thing to do: I can work at the kitchen table or my couch or my bed… the choices are endless.  All I need to do is put my computer there and I’m ready.

That’s not the way to do it. 

To successfully work from home you need to have a dedicated work space.  It doesn’t have to be big, but does need to be dedicated for work (and only work).  In future sessions we are going to be setting up this space to meet your specific needs, so you don’t want a space that is shared or needs to be “taken apart daily”.  So the goal for today is to look around your house. Is there a corner you can reserve for working? Is there a table that is not being used? Maybe your dining room is not being used since you are not having dinner parties? Perhaps there is a corner of your bedroom you can turn into your work space?  Maybe you need to get creative and create a closet office.

Find your space. 

For now all you need is a place to put your computer, space to write, lighting and a chair.  

In our next session we will talk more about setting up the space, but for now your first assignment is to find/claim your space.  

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