Distance degree students must be self-motivated.

Avoid these common pitfalls:

1. No study schedule
2. No plan regarding what to study first
3. Neglecting to use short blocks of time to good advantage
4. Too tied to study effectively
5. Jumping from one task to another
6. Studying on your bed
7. Daydreaming
8. Nonrealistic time estimates
9. Trying to take on too much at once
10. Study area too cluttered
11. Study are near TV, phone, window or other distractions
12. Procrastination with major projects

The following ideas are basic but all too often overlooked.

1.Create a good study place and keep it.  This place needs to offer no distractions.

2. Establish certain times for study.

3. Establish class partners. Many schools provide e-mail access, white boards, etc. for communication with other students.  One study indicated that online students actually did better than sit-down students if they maintained good communication with other students during the coarse.

4. Establish consistent sleep patterns. Some studies show this is the greatest hindrance to effective study habits.

5. Establish your concentration ability. Start with small blocks of time and gradually increase these until you can study for substantial periods of time without distraction or brain-fade.

6. Ban radio and television while studying. Most studies show students do more efficient study without these distractions.