The start of the Fall semester is just around the corner and many students are gearing up for an entirely virtual schooling experience, something most have never embarked on before. How can students best prepare for an online-based semester? What are some ways to leverage optimal mental performance and lasting productivity throughout the entire Fall term? Here are 3 tips to consider as you commence the new school year.

Be intentionally mobile

When on campus, you can walk around studio to talk with colleagues, go to the fabrication facilities, walk to get food, travel to your various classes throughout the day, and overall, almost every item on your daily to-do list requires you to change locations. But when all of those activities can be done in one location, namely, your computer, all of that mobility is arrested and you find yourself inactively stagnant.

I decided to audit my physical activity the other day. I had begun to have body aches and I had a feeling it had to do with this new work-from-home lifestyle. After my review, I discovered that in a 24 hour period that I am sitting or laying down for about 22 of those hours. I typically have an hour workout in the morning and then I go sit at my computer to do all of the things I have scheduled for the day. During that work time, I might get up to get food (and then fo sit down to eat it), or I will take a short walk here and there. Since everything is done at the computer, there is no longer a need for me to travel as often as I used to, resulting in prolonged sitting that has taken a toll on my body.

Since then, my solution has been taking more walks periodically throughout the day, and I will be introducing a sit-stand desk to my home office this week. If you want to perform at your best this semester, you'll want to make sure your body isn't decaying from constant stagnation. It might be a good idea to make your physical mobility a priority to mitigate those effects.

Manage screen time

At this point, it's widely accepted that screen time has drastically increased since the onset of COVID-19. And before that, the health effects of prolonged screen time began to arise as a point of concern, with company's like Apple introducing the ability for users to track time spent on screen. While it may seem that spending continuous hours on screen is unavoidable, there are many practical steps students can take to manage the issue. 

Similar to the previous point, intentionality is the name of the game. There are countless strategies one can implement for better eye care. The pomodoro technique is a popular time management strategy that breaks up work into small chunks of time. For example, a student might give themselves a short five minute break every 25 minutes to walk away from the screen, go outside, or simply look out a window. Some like to use longer intervals, like a 10 minute break every hour or two. The idea here is to give yourself an opportunity to get some fresh air, take your eyes off of the screen, and stretch your legs.

Another method could be to print reading assignments. Instead of reading them on a backlit screen at your desk, you could go outside or to a different environment and read the assignment from a book or sheet of paper.

You can still work with your hands

Naturally, more of the work produced by students of architecture this semester will be digitally focused, but that doesn't mean you can't still work with your hands. If you're working through design concepts, turn off the screen and pull out your tracing paper. If you have access to materials, build some study models. For those who are able, it could be beneficial to create a studio setting at home. Every class will have its own requirements, but remember, the computer is merely a tool for communication, don't let it limit your creative expression.

It can be quite freeing to replicate some of the characteristics you experienced in studio on campus. Put on your headphones with your favorite music or podcast and set up a wall for pinning up your ideas. As a design student, one way to approach this work-from-home debacle is to treat it as a creative problem that needs your intervention.