Take care of your mental health.

Since this is already a very uncertain time, you do not want to burden yourself too much with too much work. This can be the time for you to pause and reflect on yourself. If you lack motivation, feel burnout or require some purpose to get back to work, I recommend that you just take a break for possibly 2-3 days where you take care of your mental health by meditating, praying and talking to someone (video calling or people at home). I don’t recommend using too much social media at this time. However, you should not use the excuse of ‘mental health’ if you feel completely fine and you just want to procrastinate.

Organise your house.

Since nearly half of the academic year was nearly completed, your house may have started looking a bit disorganised. If that is the case, this is the perfect time for you to spice up and clean your house. Redecorate a bit of your house, organise everything and just live in a clean environment that you will feel productive and happy in.

Write down your goals.

As life could have taken a turn for you, especially if your exams were cancelled, it can be hard to define what you want to do currently. So, therefore, I recommend you to just grab a pen and a piece of paper and write down who you want to be in the future. Then try to write an action plan for your goals and how you can reach this. This will redefine your purpose for life.

Make a routine for yourself during this period.

It is best to try to make a routine that is adaptable to you only. If you find that you are distracted by younger siblings, for example, maybe you could wake up earlier when they are still asleep and get some work done before they wake up. Find a routine where you can really manage your time and obviously remember to have breaks in between.

Try to stay up-to-date with your schoolwork.

I recommend that you try to stay up-to-date with your schoolwork as later on, it can pile up. If this is hard for you to do due to the numerous distractions you have around you, then stick to the routine that you have made and maybe tell someone in your family to keep you accountable. You could also try to stick to your school timetable as closely as possible and try to do your lessons, especially if you are set work from your teachers.

Practise self-care.

Self-care does not only mean just having a spa routine, but it also means making sure that you eat well and exercise regularly. This is vital for you to ensure that you are also taking care of your physical health especially before going back to school.

Have a habit tracker.

This relates to my previous point about practising self-care and that is track those habits. Essentially, this is when you have a table with different habits you want to do regularly, such as having limited screen time, praying and exercising. You can tick these off daily or weekly. This will also help to build self-discipline.

Talk to someone regularly.

We, humans, are social creatures and I know it can be hard for most people to be told to stay behind shut doors and not be in the midst of our usually busy lives. However, if quarantining is recommended by the Government, we should follow it but if you need to talk to someone, I recommend that you talk to your family members who live with you at home, or alternatively, text, call or video chat your friends and relatives who don’t live with you.

Have a side project.

If you don’t have an extracurricular activity or a side project amongst your normal workload, then this could be the time for you to introduce this into your life. Starting a side project requires commitment but you can experiment now to see a side project you could do. Examples are creating a website, a Youtube channel, an Instagram or a Pinterest board to share with this world.

Learn something new.

This is also the time to gain some extra knowledge by watching relevant TED talks and documentaries. Knowledge is surely power and if you have always wanted to learn about a good specific topic or read that good book, then this is the time for you to do that!

I hope this article is helpful as it is like a checklist that if you want to follow if your school is currently closed due to coronavirus. Make sure to check out these sources for more information:

Sources:  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-51951914/coronavirus-uk-schools-to-close-to-prevent-virus-spread

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Stay safe and well. Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

In this article, I will talk about the various ways on how you can overcome procrastination and increase your productivity levels daily. 

Tip #1: Clean your room. 

If you are living in a room that is messy and disorganised it is very unlikely for you to get any work done. Therefore, if you want to stop procrastinating, clean and maintain your room because a clean environment leads to a clean mind.

Tip #2: Make a to-do list.

If you still have things going on in your mind, it is time for you to do a brain dump. List out all the tasks you have in mind and if it is a lot, prioritise your tasks using the article I made before: http://surobiscribbles.com/how-to-prioritise-your-tasks-the-5-step-method/

Tip #3: Have the motivation to start.

If you lack that motivation, you can always just search up some motivational quotes to study or even ask someone to motivate you. But this gives short-term motivation. I would recommend that whatever you are doing, count the days, not the months. E.G: there may be more than a month left till your exam but it may only be 31 days which sounds a bit more daunting.

Tip #4: Tie up your hair and wear good clothing.

If your hair is all over the place, you may not feel motivated. Tie up your hair into a loose bun or ponytail or just comb it out. You may feel better. 

Tip #5: Remove distractions. 

Now it is time to put your phone away and remove anything that will distract you. If you want a noise-free environment, then you may need to tell your parents to keep your younger siblings out of your room.

Tip #6: Set timers. Start working.

Give yourself the challenge to work within the amount of time you set. 

Tip #7: Take a break.

After studying at short, regular intervals, have breaks to rejuvenate your energy.

Tip #8: Continue this process. 

Keep doing your work without any distractions, with times and breaks in between until you get all your work done.

Tip #9: Give yourself a reward after doing all your work.

If you have finished all your work, reward yourself. For example, you could watch an episode of the show you are watching or talk to your friend on the phone.

Tip #10: Make a timetable or calendar with all your events. 

For the future, in order to avoid procrastination, write out the events in a monthly calendar and stick to it. It is about self-discipline and hard work with minimal stress.

Remember to follow these tips only if you want to. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your family and friends and then get back to work! And if you finish all your work, here is a treat, another article from me: 

If you want to watch a funny TED talk about procrastination, I recommend:

Thank you for reading and have a lovely day!