Think About When You Learn

One of the big advantages of being a home learning student is having more choice. To a large degree - even if you're having to combine it with doing a full-time job, or raising a family - you're free to decide exactly when you learn. 

So what time of the day is best for you? Are you a "morning person", or do you only come wide-awake towards the end of the day? If at all possible, you'll obviously want to schedule your main study periods for the times when you're most alert, and when you can be reasonably sure of having a decent block of time - one to two hours, say - that will be fairly free of outside distractions. 

Having said this, don't miss the chance to fit in a bit of extra study at other times too. Even the busiest day may have the occasional five- or 15-minute gap in it. For instance, when you're in a queue. When you're using public transport. Or when you're in the kitchen, waiting for those potatoes to boil. You can't always know when these free moments are going to crop up. So try and get into the habit of taking some course notes with you wherever you go.