How to survive the pandemic as a law student?

Author: Balabavithra M

This article contains everything I wish someone told me at the beginning of the year 2020. Well if you are still in your law school and you are having this article in your hand then I might have to say, "You are a lucky champ!" You are so lucky that you are saved from wasting all your efforts on trying to figure out the way to adapt to the online mode of law school."

In other words, If you are a person who wants to Netflix all day, Go on a vacation, take a weekly day off just to sleep, or do nothing, at the same time do all of this while remaining guilt-free, then yes. You have landed in the right place. I have decoded the methods I used into 6 easy steps.

“Does familiarity really breed contempt? I guess we both will know at the end of this article.”

1. Journaling :

“Your future lies in your daily routine !”

Set aside a few minutes of your day before you go to sleep or after you wake up. I always loved doing it before I went to bed. That’s the time to be your own boss and be your own employee. When you journal your actions and thoughts you will understand yourself more and you will also know where most of the time of your daily routine goes.

If you are not a paper-pen person like I am then, you can choose from a wide variety of apps that let you track your daily habits and some of them even give you a nudge before the activity is supposed to be done. How convenient!

A journal can contain columns like:

1. What I plan to do

2. What I ate today

3. What I did today (Reflects what you planned and what you did)

4. What I want to do this weekend

5. Things I am grateful for

It's your life and it's your journal feel free to throw a twist and add columns containing things that truly matter to you. Some Digital journaling even adds the amount of water you intake, the amount of time you spent on the phone, etc.

If you think “Journaling is not my thing, I am not a person who plans ahead. I go with the flow “ Then I must remind you this, “ You are not going to be forever young. Your energy and your grit will fade quickly if you do not plan. If you can afford to lose it in the long run then you can skip journaling.”

2. Subliminals :

“Where words fail, music speaks…”

A year ago I could not focus properly and my grades didn’t see any progress but remained stagnant, no matter how hard I studied. I was talking to a friend of mine about this and she suggested to me a few subliminal music videos on youtube that were proven to calm people who felt strong anxiety and cure cabin fever. I did not believe her, yet I chose to listen to it.

Being a lover of music I was a little curious to experiment. I listened to it and fell asleep every night. When the results were out, I could see my grades shooting high while others had no big difference from the last time. I was a little startled and used the internet to learn more about sublimates. These music videos let your subconscious manifest without you being aware of it.

There is plenty of subliminal online that actually work. Subliminals can be used for several things from calming your anxiety, scoring high scores on your semester exams, to treating irregular periods in women .etc

“If I were you I wouldn’t miss out on a great opportunity to score well just by listening to some music.”

3. Pomodoro :

I have heard people say “You create your own reality .” But what creates your reality? “Your focus creates your reality !”.

Research shows that we need to take a break to decompress so that we can be at our best at work. The creator of this amazing technique Francesco Cirillo believes that efficiency is doing things right and effectiveness is doing the right things. To keep things simple, let me put it this way, this is the method that makes any lazy person gain the benefits same as that of the most productive person.

There are a few Pomodoro apps that I personally use, some of them even lock other apps to prevent distractions until the said task is complete. But I will recommend you a simple stopwatch to prevent you from swimming into other apps and losing your time on the phone. Let me break this technique into 6 steps. These are the exact steps that I followed while appearing for my end-semester exams.

• Step 1: Set a Long term goal (Say scoring a particular CGPA in your exam or finishing a particular book in a week ) and write it down on a paper.

• Step 2: Break the Goal into smaller tasks. ( Say finishing 2 units before evening or Reading 1-3 chapters of the book before evening) and write it down.

• Step 3: Keep this paper/ note with you and keep your water bottle near it . So that you do not leave the desk or your seat and get distracted midway.

• Step 4: Set the timer for 25 minutes And do only the work you intend to do ( Read the book or Start studying the units you planned to study). Forget that the world outside exists .

• Step 5: Take a 5-minute break. When the time is over stand up from that place and do something very different. (Hear a song, Go water your plants, check on your friends or family) .Do this only for 5 minutes.

• Step 6: Now come back and repeat Step 4.

• Step 7: After 4 rounds of this Pomodoro session is over. Take a long 15 to 30-minute break. This was you get to relax and enjoy what you do.

Keep it old school :

4. Move your body: Work out or go for a run, Do some yoga, Do gardening, Dance to your favorite songs, or Do anything that makes your body sweat your stress out.

5. Fill your tummy with the right things: Eating a well-balanced diet and understanding your needs is an art that you will need to master to survive this deadly virus. Even great fitness enthusiasts do not know how to tame their hungry. You are young and the world out there has everything possible for you to achieve when you have good health.

6. Ask your professors questions like :

1. How do I do well in this subject?

2. What are career options do I have if I am interested in this subject?

3. What are the resources you recommend to understand this subject better?

4. How will I be assessed for this subject?

5. What are the traits of a successful student in your class?

We are all new to this online mode of education and we are all slowly adapting to it. If you feel like your online classes are not helping you, you are not alone. Use this to your advantage and use the time to do the extracurriculars and co-curricular that your offline college will make you get a permission for.

After all, we are young only once!