Online psychology: how to study remotely in quarantine?

Many resources today offer online classes for free or with a discount of up to 50%. Calls sound very tempting, you want everything at once. But I want to warn you against wasting time: “all at once” does not work!

Any training is a routine: new exercises and practices should become a habit. And our brain works in such a way that it is not physically capable of acquiring three to five new habits at once. Therefore, I highly recommend acting with feeling, with sense, with arrangement, moving in small steps. Choose what you really need and direct your attention to forming the appropriate habit.

If a new language is a priority, then in order to get involved, you need at least 2-3 weeks of daily classes, even if only 15 minutes a day. If gymnastics is for the spine, then the online seminar and daily classes are also 15 minutes a day. Small steps in one direction give more results than chaotic jumps in different directions.

How to choose what you really need? I have one criterion: I dreamed for a long time, but could not get myself together. If this dream is already several months old, or even years old, then it’s time to start! I can say from my own experience that the difference in the result is always visible: for example, those who simply rejoiced at a discount or a free opportunity to watch our classes master the practice far less successfully than those who have long dreamed of qigong.

Miracles of motivation

Having made the decision to exercise, we usually experience a real attack of motivation – the first few days, or even a week. But be prepared that this fire will not burn forever: motivation decreases over time, and it must be systematically maintained. What will help with this?

1. Pleasure

At each seminar, we explain to students what exactly to look for when doing exercises. For fun! Rate your enjoyment of your activities on, say, a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is the least pleasant experience and 10 is pure happiness.

Note that there is no zero on this scale. We take it as an axiom that at least a little pleasure is always present. What we pay attention to grows and intensifies, which means that by focusing on the pleasant sensations of learning, you will cultivate a sense of pleasure. And it, in turn, will help you get up and work out even when you are very, very lazy.

2. Maintenance and support

This is an essential part of an online course. Choose classes where there are curators. You can ask them questions, chat in a chat and get charged from them in a good mood. This is useful both for the emotional state in general and for maintaining motivation in the process of mastering a new course.

3. Tuition fees

Paid courses are more productive than free ones! Such is the unobvious phenomenon. Again, I can say from my own experience: students learn exercises more efficiently in paid classes, even if they spent only 1000 rubles on a monthly course. Why? Because money motivates.

For example, we have prepared a course “Youth and health of the spine”, where we invited people over 65 years old for a nominal fee (but not free). To get involved, imbued with practice and get the first results, you need to go through at least two or three classes. It’s too lazy to do this in free courses (I looked once, then I forgot), but in paid courses … It’s a pity! Watching the first two classes is motivated by money, then – pleasure and results, and it’s off to a good start.

4. Renunciation of perfectionism

Engage in C grade is the most important recommendation in independent practice. Don’t try to be perfect. If you do exercises “so-so”, the next day there is a motivation to do them again. What does it cost me – for a C grade?

You do mediocre, and tomorrow there is hunger, a desire to do it again. Namely, regularity is the secret of the success of any training.