Are You Ready for Online Learning

Time Management & Organization

Most online courses at CR are asynchronous, which means you won’t meet with your class online. Instead, you’ll be expected to work through material on your own and submit work by the assigned due dates. This kind of flexibility is part of what makes online courses so appealing. It’s also what can make them so challenging.

To do well, you’ll need to stay organized and manage your time to ensure you’re keeping up. Even if you’ve never had to think about organizing your work flow or planning out your week to keep on top of things, you'll benefit from trying some of these tips and tools.

But before you explore any tools, watch this short video about feeling overwhelmed and time-management.

Time Managment

When it comes to time management, there are a lot of tools and techniques to help you. Everyone is different, and not every tip will work for every person. Try some of these out and decide what works for you.

• Are you brand new to time management tools? If you’ve never used a planner or heard about eating a frog first thing in the morning, start here.
  • Download our Weekly Planner. This word doc provides tips and tricks for planning your week, an example schedule, and a blank weekly calendar to map out your time.
  • If you try filling out the weekly planner and find your hours fill up before you’ve finished putting in everything you want to do, it might be time to revisit your priorities.
  • There are a lot of ways to get things done – even things you don’t feel like doing. Read through some of the techniques outlined in this article on effective time management techniques from Penn State. Everyone is different, so some techniques will work better for you than others. If you’re not sure what to try first, consider the frog!
• · Ready to become a time-management ninja? The weekly planner above gives you a great tool for mapping out a workable weekly schedule. The next step is to find a tool that allows you to keep track of upcoming due dates and create lists of the things you need to get done.
  • Every student has access to Microsoft’s Outlook Calendar. You can access the Calendar on your MyCR Portal, or by clicking on the calendar icon on the far left menu of your CR Outlook email. With your Outlook Calendar you can set up a re-occurring schedule and keep track of unique deadlines, due dates, and other important events. This is a great choice if you like a digital format and want to be able to check your schedule on your phone.
  • You can also access To Do on your CR email’s far left menu by clicking the check mark. With To Do you can create daily or weekly To Do lists and just like Calendar, you can use it on your phone.
  • If you’re not sure how to use your Outlook Calendar and To Do, visit the Student Technical Help Desk in the Eureka campus library, or call them at 707-476-4225; in Del Norte, visit the Library Help Desk or call them at (707) 465-2330.
  • Do you prefer a more freeform system, preferably one that allows you to doodle in the margins? Paper planners come in a range of styles and layouts and are available for sale at most stores that sell notebooks, including CVS, Target, and TJ Maxx.
  • If you are in EOPS, you can get a free paper planner through the program.

Organization

Keeping your course materials organized will make it easier to complete assignments, study for exams, and keep track of due dates.

• Store course materials separately. Organize your class materials in a way that makes it easy to go back and find things later.
  • Use a separate notebook, binder, and/or folder (paper or virtual) for each class
  • Within each class, find a method for organizing that works for you. Some possibilities include:
    • Creating separate locations for notes, assignments and exams.
    • Dividing materials by chapter or topic.
  • For digital storage, you can use Microsoft OneDrive. Every CR student has their own OneDrive, accessible through your MyCR Portal (it’s the blue cloud icon).
  • If you prefer taking notes on paper, you can purchase notebooks, pens, and other supplies in the Eureka Campus Library, in addition to stores such as CVS, Target, and TJ Maxx.
• Keep a dedicated work space. Especially with online classes, it’s helpful to identify a dedicated work space where you store your course materials and get assignments done. Try to keep it tidy and free from other distractions.
• Do you struggle with organization? Organization is an executive function skill, a set of cognitive skills that are still developing in people under 25 and that remain challenging for many, even at advanced ages. Although the video below was created by a psychiatrist for people with ADHD, anyone who struggles with organization will find it helpful.

Finally, remember that organization is like any other skill – it gets easier with practice. Don’t be afraid to try different things until you land on a system that works for you.

Goals

Students who do well in online classes are often people who have clear goals that they are trying to achieve. Those goals keep them motivated when the going gets tough. When your motivation is running low, consider some of these tips for achieving your goals from OpenStax.org.

• Increase personal responsibility. Adopt the mindset that you are the only person responsible for your goals. Hinderances and roadblocks may appear along the way, but you are responsible for navigating around them and overcoming them. Take control of the journey! Issues are not other people’s problems. They are for you to solve.
• Reward yourself for completing the task. We are all motivated by rewards – use this to your advantage. Especially when you complete a very difficult or unpleasant task related to your goals, give yourself a reward for a job well done.
• Make certain they are your goals. Your motivation level is not as high if the end result is not something you want to achieve.
• Visualize the results. Keeping in mind the benefits and visualizing the end results of each goal is extremely effective in keeping motivated.
• Break the goal down into manageable tasks. As with any task, accomplishing the whole is easier when each part is tackled individually.
• Tap into other people’s energy. Surround yourself with other people that are motivated. As humans, we are social creatures, which means our moods and emotions can be influenced by others. If you are around other positive people that all work toward achieving their own goals, their energy can become infectious.
• Remind yourself why you set the goal. This last item is of the utmost importance, especially for long term goals. Sometimes it is too easy to become mired in the drudgery of a difficult task and forget why you are doing something in the first place. Reminding yourself of the end goal helps reinforce everything you do that works toward your goal.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

S.M.A.R.T. goals refers to a system for setting goals that makes it more likely you’ll achieve them. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. By writing out how your goals meet these criteria, you’ll be setting goals that are clearly defined and have a due date. If you’ve never set S.M.A.R.T. goals before, download this SMART Goals worksheet to try it out.

Self-Care

When you’re managing a busy schedule, it's easy to forget that we all need rest, fun, and care to be our best selves. Stress, sleep-deprivation, and inadequate nutrition lower your immune system function and leave you more vulnerable to illness, not to mention reduced mood and poor mental health. All of this interferes with your ability to learn.

Covering the Basics

• Do you have a safe place to stay and enough to eat? CR’s Basic Needs Center is here to help students facing challenges with food assistance, housing support, financial aid, and counseling services.
• Do you need support for your physical and mental health? All College of the Redwoods students now have access to TimelyCare, a free web-based health and mental health software.
• Are you dealing with dental problems? The Dental Health Center provides reduced cost dental services and they give priority to CR students. For more information call (707)476-4250.

Stress Management

Below are some research-backed ways to reduce stress when you’re feeling overwhelmed. When practiced regularly, they can also prevent stress.

• Get some sleep. Getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night isn’t only good for stress reduction, it’s good for learning. Sleep is when information gets transferred from short to long term memory storage.
• Eat nutritious food. A good rule of thumb is that the fewer ingredients something has, the better it is for you. An apple is better than a protein bar, some mixed nuts are better than a bowl of cereal.
• Go get some exercise. You don’t need to go to the gym every day to benefit from exercise. A brisk walk around campus between classes or following along with a yoga video on YouTube are great ways to move and stretch your body.
• Touch grass. Touching grass, forest bathing, whatever you want to call it, getting out into nature lowers blood pressure and reduces stress. Turn off your phone for an hour and go hug a tree or take a walk on the beach.
• Write it down. Writing down your thoughts and feelings provides an outlet for your emotions and can give you some clarity and perspective on things.
• Are you freaking out? Breath. In moments of acute stress, when you’re heart is racing and you can’t think straight, box breathing offers a way to calm your body and mind down. Breath in for four counts, hold for four, breath out for four counts, hold for four counts, and repeat. It really works!

Effective Study Strategies

Did you know that some of the most popular study techniques, like highlighting text and rereading notes, are actually some of the least effective study strategies? If these approaches are working for you, then don’t stop doing them! But if you find you’re not doing as well in a class as you want to be, consider trying

Need help with effective study strategies or additional help? Check out our Guidance Courses in the LIGHT Center! Get hands on support with your assignments. You can read more about these courses here.