{"id":4917,"date":"2020-08-11T10:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T14:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/?p=4917"},"modified":"2020-08-18T05:22:32","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T09:22:32","slug":"anika-how-im-preparing-for-a-remote-fall-semester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/2020\/08\/11\/anika-how-im-preparing-for-a-remote-fall-semester\/","title":{"rendered":"Anika: How I\u2019m Preparing for a Remote Fall Semester"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ella-jardim-M0zs81FNm6s-unsplash\"I chose to learn remotely from home this fall, but that has come with a whole load of mixed feelings. I miss being in Boston and on campus so much, from waving to friends as I walk to class down Comm Ave to getting late night ice cream on Newbury Street. <\/span><\/p>\n

Those of us who are staying home probably won\u2019t be able to get the Boston nostalgia fully off our minds, but here are some ways I am preparing for a successful (if not particularly exciting) fall semester at home:<\/span><\/p>\n

Setting boundaries between work space and relaxing space<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is something I am particularly bad at. The desk where I do all my work is in my room, just feet away from my bed. Whenever I get tired or need a break, I lay down on my bed, and my 15-minute hiatus is in danger of turning into hours of procrastination. <\/span><\/p>\n

One tip I\u2019ve found helpful is to set a timer — not for your breaks, but for your work time. It\u2019s really easy to ignore a timer when you\u2019re comfortable in your bed, but if you set one for however long you want to be working <\/span>before<\/span><\/i> that, you\u2019ll get more done and it won\u2019t seem as daunting to come back to the task later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Implementing a routine, but with some variety<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the toughest parts of quarantine has been feeling like I\u2019m living the same day over and over again. For me, having a routine can be quite helpful when I need to get work done, but in my weaker moments it can also exacerbate my existential dread\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

To address this, I try to set certain hours of the day when I will be responsible for working, but change that up on the weekends or on days when I have fewer commitments. It\u2019s also <\/span>very <\/span><\/i>important to work in time to exercise, zoom with friends, and do other activities you enjoy (like baking, watching movies, etc.)!<\/span><\/p>\n

Cleaning out my desk<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This semester, my desk isn\u2019t just going to be where I do my homework, but where I attend all my lectures and discussions as well. <\/span><\/p>\n

While my workspace is not Pinterest-worthy by any means, I do want to have a space where I don\u2019t feel overwhelmed by the number of miscellaneous items surrounding me. I still have several binders from high school lying around that general area, and while I don\u2019t like throwing these away (who knows when I\u2019m going to be wondering about the makeup of a cell again?), I\u2019ve been working on consolidating and moving them away from my immediate workspace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019ll be on campus or off, there\u2019s no doubt that this semester is going to be a challenge. Just as usual, though, each of us is going to have a slightly different experience, and hopefully we\u2019ll look back on this time and see how it shaped us for the better.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I chose to learn remotely from home this fall, but that has come with a whole load of mixed feelings. I miss being in Boston and on campus so much, from waving to friends as I walk to class down Comm Ave to getting late night ice cream on Newbury Street. Those of us who … Continue reading Anika: How I\u2019m Preparing for a Remote Fall Semester<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2018,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44581],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4917"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4917"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4936,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4917\/revisions\/4936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}