It’s now been almost one year since the coronavirus entered Japan and forced many people to change their work and study lifestyles dramatically. Many parents are still working from home, older siblings are studying completely online and many extracurricular activities remain online. Families that are not used to this type of working or studying lifestyle are feeling the difficulties of being distracted at home, not having someone looking over them to make sure they are doing it or just feeling relatively unmotivated. 

The Transposed Classroom is an online English school so we are no strangers to these types of hurdles to get over. However we believe once you do, you can really enjoy your working and studying much more! If we study or work efficiently at home we actually have a lot more time to enjoy our downtime rather than pretending to look busy for the boss or the teacher. If you are having trouble with working or studying at home, try and think of the reverse benefits or the demerits of having to do it at your workplace. We know that many people or children previously complained about being at work or school so it couldn’t have just completely switched! Is this a case of “the grass is always greener on the other side?” Oftentimes these complaints are really just in our mindset. 

Use strategies such as making a specific workspace (very important!), keeping that space clean (the kids can clean too!), reducing noise during work periods or setting a timer to measure your study or work time vs your relaxing time or break time. Consistency, as always, is very important as well, although difficult to get started, once you get into a routine, it can often help your motivation. Try and remember that working from home doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Remember there are no long commutes involved so you are already gaining precious time for yourself and your family!