Tips and Tricks for Staying Focused in Online Learning

Online learning has become a new channel to access education, and with its rise in popularity, there has been a decrease in attention spans. Although online learning can be convenient for students, overcoming distractions and staying motivated is a harder challenge. With a few tips and tricks to keep your mind on track, harnessing the full potential of online learning can be done with a little discipline and self-care.

Personalised Study

Everyone is different, which clearly shows that each person’s ideal study conditions and methods must be unique as well. Whether you’re studying online art classes or an EdD program, there’s no one-size-fits-all study routine that works for everyone. The best approach is to take time to see how you respond to different strategies, identify the periods when you perform your best, and discover your preferred organizational method.
For younger learners, platforms like Statekaidz offer engaging online education tailored to elementary students, helping them stay focused through fun, interactive content that encourages independent learning.

Some effective study techniques you might try include:

• Active Recall: Instead of rereading all your notes, testing yourself frequently by using flashcards or plain Q&A sheets can be very effective.
• Time Blocking: Allocating specific chunks of the day for studying certain subjects, almost like having meetings for yourself, gives you structure and helps avoid burnout.
• Mind Mapping: Especially useful for visual thinkers, mind mapping can help conceptualise sometimes overwhelming subjects with a lot of content, allowing you to minimise stress and prioritise organisation.
• Audio Summaries: If you’re an auditory learner, reading content out loud or putting content through
• Cornell Method: When actively studying, organizing yourself with the Cornell Method is a great way to get started. Try separating your page into cues, notes, and summary sections while in your online class to jot down needed info, and give yourself a structured, review-friendly revision option.
• Study Zones: Assigning certain places only for studying to condition your brain to focus can be a really useful tool. While this may not be manageable every time you study, ensuring that you do so outside of your bedroom or living room should help condition your brain to focus.

Avoiding Distractions

One of the biggest challenges of online learning is staying focused, and the driving factor for loss of concentration is ‘outside distractions’. Starting simply, being in a quiet, clean space that isn’t your bedroom, already puts you at an advantage by giving yourself a designated place for your mind to get into ‘study mode’.

Making use of smartphone’s focus modes, Do-Not-Disturb, or if you’re someone with an iPhone, custom ‘study focus’ mode, are a great way to keep your phone from distracting you, if they’re needed to complete your work. Most effectively, putting your phone in another room entirely is the most effective way to stay away from distractions. Scrolling through Instagram reels or quickly responding to pop-up messages can be one of the leading causes of why you get unfocused and waste time.

If you’re someone who needs your phone while studying, either to update calendars, approve security requests, etc., a great way to turn your phone into a study tool instead of a distraction is to download study apps to keep track of your study time and ensure that you remain focused.

Rewarding Yourself

Completing classes of any kind is a great effort, and working on bettering yourself and building a future for yourself requires a reward anyway. So, making studying fun by giving yourself rewards as incentives and knowledge markers is a great way to reward yourself with something nice you deserve.

A common method would be choosing a favourite candy of choice and applying it to your study method. For example, if you’re struggling to stay motivated trying to read a tedious textbook online, incentivise yourself with a nice sweet treat after every chapter, to keep your sugar levels up, and your enjoyment.

Rewarding yourself doesn’t end there, though. Finding time for self-care, hobbies, meeting friends, or going to a movie alone is an important part of online learning. Staying glued to screens and doing activities you don’t enjoy can lead to a lack of motivation, anxiety, and low moods. Ultimately, taking care of yourself is essential to taking care of your studies.

Being kind to yourself and discovering what works for you makes online learning easier.