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- Last week I watched my professor drone on for seven hours about
- computer circuitry. As my eyes struggled to stay open as he babbled
- about SR-latches, I wondered: what sequence of dreadful mistakes did I
- make to land myself in this situation. I got through my entire college
- career without pulling a single all-nighter, yet that night changed it
- all.
-
- Although I could have followed along with the lecture material during
- the regular class time, remote learning made a tantalizing temptation
- to procrastinate and binge two and a half weeks of lecture material in
- one night --two nights before the exam. Ironically, I ended up doing
- remarkably well on that exam and felt prepared for every question;
- nerveless, it still begs the question... Why? After asking around, I
- found that all eight of my friends taking the class also binged the
- lecture videos before the exam.
-
- 
-
- After two weeks of remote work, I started feeling something that I
- haven't felt in a very long time-- occasional boredom. This takes me
- back to grade school summers when I had nothing to do. Well, there is
- never "nothing to do." The problem really boils down to not being
- motivated to do anything.
-
- Working remotely is actually great for things that I am already
- motivated about because I can work on them uninterrupted for hours on
- end. I am getting more work done at my job as a research assistant,
- and I am putting more time into classes that I find interesting, like
- computer vision. However, dedicating time towards mundane tasks like
- learning about an esoteric computer architecture or writing essays for
- my professional communication class takes more effort than they used
- to.
-
- 
-
- When we are isolated from others and don't have to physically go
- places, we have fewer motivators for actions. At
- college, my most productive times were either in the library or at my
- office. Physically not going into class every day, or not being able
- to physically work around other people removes some of the motivators
- that help us get stuff done. When I was at the library or my office, I
- got a ton of work done because I felt like I was obligated to get
- things done in this space. Or I was motivated by other people working
- to also get work done -- no matter how trivial the task.
-
- 
-
- To get better at remote work, I have made some
- adjustments to my schedule:
-
- - Creating and updating physical lists
- - Changing environments every few hours
- - Maintaining a regular sleep schedule
- - Creating artificial rewards like watching youtube after I finish an essay
- - Reading before bed
- - Following an exercise routine
-
- Although this advice won't work for everyone, I suggest that you try
- some of these things if you are struggling at remote work. A lot of
- friends that I talk to are facing challenges when it comes to remote
- work and learning. It is different and will take some time for us to
- adjust to and get better at.
-
- 
-
- I recently became very conscientious about my working space. In the
- past, I have decorated my office with pictures or thingamajigs.
- Recently I doubled down and did this a lot more for my current office.
- Making your work environment more personalized helps morale-- at least
- it has for me.
-
- Although it may be tempting, if you want to excel in remote work, now
- is not the time to get funky.
-
- 
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