Studying in the time of the Corona pandemic

The world shuts down, you are not allowed to see your family and suddenly you have no where to go but stay in your tiny student room. Last March this became reality for me and a lot of other students here in the Netherlands. We had to continue our study from home. But how do you make sure you keep achieving at 12 m2 ? Here is my story on how not to go insane during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

I had just moved into my new room in Eindhoven and barely knew my new housemates. This meant for me that my quarantine started in a house full of people I did not know. I could not go home for my mother works in a retirement home and I did not want to risk spreading a disease which I didn’t know anything about. The government had said that nobody was allowed to see friends and family other than close family which you where living with, which meant that I have stayed in my new house during quarantine. This whole situation made me question how to be able to continue my study, keep in touch with family and friends all while making sure that I was doing fine myself. 

The last part is probably the most important thing to monitor. For if you are not feeling happy, it is harder to start studying, but even contacting friends and family might start to feel like an obligation, while it actually should be a way to express and unburden yourself of all the problems faced during the week. I needed a certain rhythm to function well during the week. I started setting alarms to make sure I got out of bed on time and made online appointments with groups to study in the morning so I was obliged to get out of bed. This way I made sure I did not sleep until afternoon and this way I was able to keep on track with my lectures as well. But also sport became very important for me. I started working out with my housemates in our garden (Yes our house has a garden!!!) and made sure I would go for a run every week. This made sure that I did not spend all my time in my room. Also leisure time filled with playing games and watching films together became part of my weekly routine. This way I tried to balance working and relaxing, but also my time spent in and outdoors as well. What I also enjoyed were online pub quizzes! It was a good way to stay in touch with friends while being apart for a long time! 

So it doesn’t have to be hard to stay in touch with friends and family. Meeting them online was a great way to keep up to date with them and it ensured that I never felt  lonely. In order to get out of my room sport was the go to option. And that is how I stayed motivated to keep studying. It only took a planning and some discipline to fit it all in a week! So if you are starting with your study or if you experience trouble with studying alone, check your planning, make sure you talk to friends and family and get out of your room. This way you will feel good and make sure you keep on doing a good job!