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It can be tough to establish a morning routine while in online college for many learners who study from home. As a student, however, what you do at the very start of your day can be crucial to your academic success, so it’s important to take your morning routine seriously. If your morning habits aren’t cutting it for you, consider making 2023 your year to master the morning.
The good news: Just a handful of simple routines—aided by some tools that are no farther away than your smartphone—can help you adopt an achiever’s mindset, even first thing in the morning.
The Importance of a Morning Routine
As an online student, you may be tempted by the classic roll-out-of-bed scenario, where you wake up just minutes before your virtual class and sit through the lecture in your pajamas.
But a consistent morning routine can create benefits for health and performance. For example, research shows that healthy repetitive behavior—in other words, routines—can reduce anxiety. Studies also show that long-term healthy lifestyle changes depend on routines and habits, which take practice to form.
Online learning is flexible, which has its benefits but also implies less structure and built-in routine. As a remote learner, it’s up to you to create your own healthy habits by creating a schedule and sticking to it. A proper routine both heightens mental focus and maintains energy levels.
“Morning” Routine Tips for Online Students
A “morning” routine can be different for each student, and it doesn’t even need to happen in the morning. Part-time students working night or early-morning shifts, for instance, might build their routines around whenever it’s best for them to wake up.
Whenever you begin your day, start with a few fundamentals: Move your body, eat a healthy breakfast, get dressed and log into your class before it starts. You might even make time to journal, go out for coffee or do another activity that brings you some joy.
Consider the following tips for creating a successful morning routine.
Know Your Schedule the Night Before
Be aware of when your class starts, when assignments are due and when exams are scheduled. Once you have a syllabus, note any relevant dates in a calendar or personal planner—or consider using one of the below calendar apps.
- Google Calendar. Free with a Google account, Google Calendar integrates with Google products you may already use (Gmail, Chrome, etc.) and includes the all-important reminder feature.
- Todoist. A digital upgrade of the traditional to-do list, Todoist lets you create tasks, assign a due date for each one and schedule reminders for yourself.
- MyStudyLife. Featuring a clean interface, MyStudyLife offers a comprehensive palette of schedules, timetables and personalized notifications that sync across multiple devices.
Don’t Snooze Your Alarm
When jolted awake by an alarm going off in the morning, many students reach for the snooze button to catch a few more winks. But according to some sleep studies, snoozers tend to get lighter sleep and have higher resting heart rates.
When you sleep, your brain runs through several sleep cycles, each lasting about 90 minutes. Whenever you hit the snooze button, you’re attempting to begin a new sleep cycle that you won’t be able to finish. This deprives you of the sleep you might have enjoyed if you’d just set the alarm a bit later.
Instead, try going to bed earlier to give yourself that extra half-hour or hour of sleep.
Find an Activity You Love
Exercising in the morning—whether that means a run, a workout or a session on the yoga mat—is an excellent way to greet the day.
But really, any enjoyable activity that helps prepare your mind to sit down for class can be a valid motivator and an effective start to your morning routine. A morning activity may be reading for 30 minutes, writing in a journal or just taking a walk (which comes with the added benefit of fresh air and sunlight).
Write Out Your To-Do List
Sometimes the most basic tips turn out to be the most beneficial. We’ve all gotten advice about incorporating to-do lists into our routines; now there are apps that make this even easier.
- Google Tasks. Google Tasks has a clean, intuitive interface, and like Google Calendar, it pairs well with the entire Google suite.
- Apple Reminders. Dedicated iOS users may opt instead for Apple Reminders, which takes advantage of iCloud to sync across all your Apple devices—iPhone, iPad and MacBook—simultaneously.
- Any.do. Any.do is compatible with both Google and Outlook calendars and features a daily “plan my day” tool.
Have a Healthy Breakfast and Hydrate
A breakfast made up of healthy fats, lean proteins and slow-release carbohydrates can help steady your concentration. Eggs, oatmeal, whole-grain bread and yogurt are good examples. Proper hydration is just as important; drinking enough water helps improve cognitive performance.
When you’re preparing for an online class specifically, consider bringing a bottle or thermos of water or tea to your study space so you won’t need to get up as frequently.
Take Time to Set Up a Learning Environment
It’s hard to overstate the importance of a consistent, clutter-free, quiet work environment.
Working in an established workspace every day reduces distractions and heightens focus. Aim to create a dedicated online school workspace centered on a desk or tabletop with enough room for your computer and essentials like pens and pencils, highlighters, earbuds and notebooks.
Remove clutter, but keep the supplies you use most often handy so you don’t waste time hunting for them. Tidying up your study area before class to help prepare for the day.
Along similar lines, keep your digital study space well-organized. Create a folder system to store course documents, notes and whatever else you’re working on.
Log On Ahead of Time
Treat an online course like a “real” course. Show up ahead of time, just as you would for an in-person lecture or seminar, by logging in and refreshing your memory on the course materials. Allowing yourself 15 minutes to prepare before class is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself.
