Tips For Studying Online
It’s no secret that I love all things design related. As a young girl, I was constantly rearranging my room, tearing out interior images from magazines, and watching reno shows on the television. After finishing high school, I studied interior design at Sydney Design School before landing my first full-time job at The Interior Design Institute.
It’s crazy to think that I’ve been working there for over 8 years now. I’ve loved every bit of it. From running their socials and updating their course materials to corresponding with students and working with brands/influencers, it’s been amazing. I really love working for a company that is so innovative and helps improves people’s lives, and I couldn’t recommend it enough if you’re looking for a new course to study!
The way a course is designed can make an enormous difference to how easy it is to study online, which is why I redeveloped all the course materials for the IDI course (sneak peek below) to inspire students as they progress through the course. And believe it or not, studying online is actually easy (and fun), and shouldn’t be something to fear. Especially when the course materials are aimed to motivate and consist of inspiring imagery! My key aim is to make the experience enjoyable for students and see them graduate as interior designers, and today I am sharing some tips that should help you when it comes to studying online…
Know your study style –
Figure out if you are a planner or if you squeeze everything in at the last minute. Knowing how you naturally work will help you to create an achievable study schedule.
Free yourself from distractions –
Dedicate a space where you can easily focus on your coursework. Be it the local library, the public park, your favorite cafe, or somewhere in your home; an ideal study space is one that enables you to switch into study-mode and stay there!
Create a study schedule –
Organize your time by scheduling regular study sessions into your calendar. Also, pay attention to how you’re feeling at different times of the day and build a routine around that. For example, I am most productive in the mornings, so I tend to wake up early and smash out all tasks before any other distractions.
Break down the coursework –
If you find it difficult to allocate a few hours to one study session, assign yourself smaller tasks to achieve per session instead. Bite-sized study sessions can be easier to stick to and they can make the workload seem less daunting! Also, I can’t stress enough how important it is to take notes! I believe writing notes when studying helps you to remember things. BTW how gorgeous are the notepads below?! Ah I’m a sucker for stationary 🙈
Maintain a study/work/life balance –
Try not to overload yourself! Make a point to look after your well-being by taking time for rest and recreation whenever you can. Doing so will leave you feeling refreshed and ready to tackle your future study sessions, head-on!
Protect your eyes –
Try not to stare at the screen for long periods, take breaks, and wear special blue light glasses to help reduce eye strain.
Join an online community –
If the course you’re studying has an online community, join it! For the IDI course, we have a huge, active community of students and graduates, which I am so happy to be a part of. Everyone supports one another here, and you can chat all things design, assignments, and interior projects! It makes the whole studying online process feel like you’re not alone.
Stay inspired –
Subscribe to interior design magazines and blogs, buy some books (love this one by Joanna Gaines and this one by Kelly Wearstler), and follow design-related accounts on Instagram! Some of my faves are:
@thelocalproject
@mimdesignstudio
@mckimm
@the_citizenry
@zephyr_and_stone
@czphx (I manage their socials)
And of course, @theinteriordesigninstitute
I hope these tips help! Above all, I would strongly recommend that if you are contemplating studying online, you at least give it a try. Start by taking just one course with a longer-term goal (such as a qualification) in mind or start a course purely as a hobby. I think you will be surprised not only about how well you find yourself learning, but also what fun it can be.
If you haven’t already, check out the IDI course that I manage. It’s such a fun course! There are no special requirements to join and the course is totally self-paced so you can study whenever it suits you! If you have any questions about it, feel free to comment below or email me on jasmine@online-edu.com
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