As a society, we have become busier than ever. It’s incredibly hard to balance work, social life, education, and family relationships, not to mention finding time for yourself. Fortunately, many colleges around the nation have launched online educational programs, letting you get a college degree spending minimal in a physical classroom. Here are some tips to help you if you are taking an online college course:

Stick to a Schedule

The best part of taking college courses online is that you don’t have to stress about taking the classes you need because they’re only available on certain days and times. If you’re meeting with a college course advisor about taking classes on campus, it’s pretty likely that you’re already having to give up taking other classes this semester because the times and locations conflict with one another. On the other hand, online classes allow you to take as many classes as you can handle at your own pace.

Don't Lose Track of Deadlines

It’s important that you don’t allow your schedule-making freedom to create bad habits. Without a teacher to remind you of due dates, it is easy to forget assignments and stall on doing classwork. A recent study shows that procrastination has a verifiable negative impact on academic performance. At the beginning of your semester, fill out a planner of every course’s assignments and due dates to make keep you organized

Avoiding Distractions

A potential downfall of taking your college courses on a computer can be found in the fact that you will be spending your class-work time on a computer with the internet at your fingertips . . . and every distraction too. It takes a great amount of self-discipline to keep from browsing the web while doing your coursework. It can be hard to avoid distractions such as social media usage, but doing so is paramount to your success. Social media can not only be distracting, but it has other negative effects on a person as well. It’s important that you limit your social media time, not only for your collegiate success, but also for your mental and emotional well-being.

Use Every Tool Available to You

While the college that you’re attending virtually will certainly offer many tools within their interface to help you succeed, it’s important to realize that the internet is a vast space and you have thousands of tools at your disposal. Don’t be afraid to look around online and find resources such as Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab to improve each assignment that you submit. There are resources everywhere, so use them!

Pursuing your degree online may not be the traditional route, but it is not any less achievable. You can succeed taking online classes; just be sure that you’re doing everything possible to put yourself in the best position. Doing these things will help to make sure that you can succeed in your online college endeavors.

If you’re in high school and having trouble getting ready for college, or in college and having trouble keeping up, let us help you with some coaching!