How to Prepare and Study in Quarantine

If you are one of the people who has decided to stay home and do voluntary quarantine, or you are in mandatory quarantine, “you will have to adapt to doing your daily activities in the” comfort “of your home. One of these activities is studying. Yes your schedule allows it, this is the ideal time to make decisions about preparation. Maybe study a diploma, a new language, acquire a new skill … And if you want to enter graduate school in 2021, it is also the ideal time to study for your standardized tests.

If you are not used to studying at home, here we recommend tips and we give you tips so that you can be productive studying from home and achieve that goal that you set for yourself.

Studying and / or working from home can seem complicated at first. You have various distractions that you would not normally have in a workplace or school. Your family, your bed, your “free time”, your social networks … These factors can become temptations that will not allow you to meet your daily study goals. The first tip, therefore, is to prepare your workplace. This should be free of all the distractors that you know. If you meet other members of your family, let them know the times when you will not be available to them. Preferably, assign an exclusive place to work; If you can, let it not be inside your bedroom, because that place for your mind is one that is dedicated to resting, so it will probably make you very sleepy or apathetic if you work in your room.

In the place you choose, you should have a suitable desk and chair. If these are ergonomic, much better because they will avoid injuries. If you are a person who works better in a quiet environment, we recommend that you buy headphones that cancel outside noise. If, on the contrary, you prefer to work in a place with ambient noise, you can play audios that resemble the noise of a library, restaurant, among others. You can easily find these on the internet.

With your workplace established, we recommend that you maintain a daily routine that begins and ends at the same time. You can start by getting up, exercising, eating breakfast, taking a bath, changing clothes, and studying. This is an example of a schedule:

Of course, the schedule will depend on your work needs or the time you plan to spend studying . You can do this agenda daily or weekly, but the important thing is that you follow it in order to be productive.

Some recommendations about this schedule. Always plan to shower and change your clothes before studying, as this helps your mind associate that the time to study is approaching. It’s very tempting to wear your pajamas all day, but being too comfortable can be detrimental to your productivity. Remember to take short breaks to eat and relax. According to recommendations of the World Health Organization, for every 30 minutes of work you should have 3 minutes of rest to walk and stretch a little, since it is not healthy to be in the same position for long periods of time.

When establishing your routine, it is important that you take into account the hours of the day when you are most productive. Also, don’t underestimate the power of good quality sleep and exercise . The former improves cognition, interpersonal relationships and mood, while the latter, by increasing blood flow to the brain, provides greater oxygenation and improves learning, memory and concentration abilities. Also, it helps you reduce stress, anxiety and phobias, which you may experience while being in quarantine.

If in your case you are preparing for your standardized GRE / GMAT exams , do not forget to prepare your application for admission to the university of your interest. It is important that you are aware of any changes that may have been made to the admission process. The institutions in charge of standardized tests necessary for the admission process are looking for application alternatives, so it is very likely that you can take them from home. Also, take into account that many universities are allowing you to submit your application without an official score from these tests, or are extending the deadline period for these requirements. He considers that this situation has increased uncertainty, which has caused many people to find themselves with a greater workload . Therefore, it is important to ask for your letters of recommendation with more time in advance to avoid any setback.

It is important that you follow the recommendations given by your country to avoid further infections, and thus keep yourself, your family and community healthy. We invite you to take advantage of this time at home to prepare a competitive application, as well as to be aware of the official reports issued by the government of your country, the university of your interest and the institutions that take the standardized exams you need.