Updated August 2021
You probably have a lot of online meetings in your schedule. (Me, too.) A digital calendar is your best tool for keeping online meetings organized. If you’ve never used one before, start with the built-in calendar on your computer or phone.
Begin by scheduling fixed appointments, such as your classes. If your class meets regularly, you can schedule these repeating events with one action (here’s how to do that on Mac, for example). If your meetings include links, such as a Zoom meeting link, paste the link into the “location” field when creating the event in your calendar. When it’s time for the meeting, open your calendar app and click the link. You can also use notifications to alert you to upcoming meetings (eg. 10 minutes in advance).
You may also want to block off some of your free time for independent work. Think about your daily or weekly commitments and the energy level you often have at different times of day, and schedule time in your calendar accordingly. You may also want to allocate recurring weekly blocks of time in your calendar to focus on certain classes. If you’re new to this idea, try planning your independent work one day in advance as opposed to a week or a month.
<aside> đź’ˇ As a Mac user, I use the default Calendar app or Fantastical for my personal calendar, and Outlook for my Humber calendar. I use separate calendar feeds for work and personal things. If you need to juggle meetings on a variety of video-conferencing services, Mac users should check out MeetingBar, a free app which displays your next meeting on your menu bar, and lets you join it with a keyboard shortcut.
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Keep a to-do list for each class, and check it at least once a week. If you’re using a digital to-do list manager such as Reminders (iOS and MacOS) or Google Calendar reminders, you may be able to set up dedicated folders or tags for each class. You can add repeats, deadlines and notifications as well. If you’re working on a group project, you can create a shared to-do list and keep track of your commitments with others.
When you first start using a digital to-do list manager, you may feel compelled to “checklist your life” by adding every conceivable to-do into it, as I did at first. Trust me: this doesn’t work. Try to only include to-dos that you need to keep a record of, for example an assignment deadline.
If you find digital reminder apps are too complicated for you, try pencil and paper! As they say, simplify simplify simplify.
Online learning requires you to manage many “inboxes” such as email and Blackboard notifications. My best tip is to turn off these notifications on all devices, and actively check these inboxes 2-3 times daily during the week. When I process email (usually around 8:30am, at lunch and at the end of the work day), it’s often easier for me to reply to multiple students, create reminders, manage my schedule, archive and delete messages quickly. This also helps me maintain flow and focus on my work during the rest of the day without being interrupted.
<aside> đź’ˇ Consider a separate email address for school-related communications. I have a work email address and a personal email address, and I use a separate computer program for each: Apple Mail for personal, and Microsoft Outlook for work.
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Speaking of flow, I highly recommend using Do Not Disturb on your devices whenever you need to focus. A tip for iPhone and iPad users: long-press the DND button and you can find useful additional options. iOS users can also take advantage of Focus modes (iOS 15 and above) which can help you tweak your notifications even further.
<aside> đź’ˇ iPhone users can even trigger Do Not Disturb automatically during recurring meetings using the Shortcuts app! Here's how I do it.
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Handwriting can be very beneficial for taking notes in class, collecting your thoughts, or just being creative. In an online learning environment, however, that handwritten work may need to be scanned at some point. The good news is you don’t need a physical scanner if you have a smartphone or a tablet; there are plenty of great mobile scanning apps that serve the same purpose. I use Scanner Pro by Readdle on iOS; I love its excellent scan quality, easy file naming, and one-click sharing to specific cloud-based folders. Dropbox and OneDrive all have excellent scanners built in to their free apps as well.
You may not even need to download anything new. For instance, if you have a recent Mac and iPhone you can use Continuity Camera to scan directly from your iPhone into the Finder on Mac. Apple Notes also has a great scanning feature.