Heightened Focus

We are now facing new challenges, such as social distancing, different learning environments, and lots of unexpected ONLINE CLASSES!. Yes, I know being an online student isn’t easy, but I think there’s something you can learn from my own first experiences with distant learning.

My transition from undergraduate courses to graduate courses involved going from being in a classroom five days a week to being in all online classes. I figured my focus was where it needed to be to complete grad school, so I changed nothing.  But then a few weeks into the semester I noticed a different kind of stress that created some major stress. At one point, I thought I was not smart enough for grad school. Something needed to change. I needed to improve my focus after all.

I completely switched up my routine and how I went about my day. Every Sunday, I would create a to-do list of the tasks I needed to complete for the week, along with daily exercises. I worked early mornings, so my workout would start around 1:30 pm. It became a priority to get a workout in to refuel my brain after a long day at work. If I did not work out, my body would be too tired from already working 8 hours with no energy to focus. 

Physical activity can lead to good mental health and improve learning skills. Harvard researcher, John J. Ratey. makes this argument as well. Being physically active will help us heighten our focus, especially during changes like the one we are experiencing currently. If you can increase your focus and stay on task, you will be able to finish this semester on a much higher performance academically. 

The path to success can sometimes be a difficult one. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light,”-Aristotle Onassis. We must be conscious and intentional when creating effective learning habits, setting limits, setting goals and most importantly taking care of the mind and body. One of the most common reasons we struggle to maintain focus is because we lack the clarity to maintain focus on what we need to do next.

By Londyn Thomas - Londyn is a graduate student in the Physical Education program and a graduate assistant in the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Southern Mississippi. She also serves as a volunteer GA for the Southern Miss Women’s Basketball program.