We interviewed Rob Cairns on how to create an efficient virtual study space. We thought this would be helpful since most people are now studying and working from home. 

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Robert Cairns is the CEO of StunningDigitalMarketing, a Toronto-based Digital Marketing firm that serves clients from a variety of sectors about creating an organized and efficient virtual study space. With over 25 years of experience in the technology field, Rob is an expert at using technology to optimize organizational operations and productivity. 

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What are some of the challenges studying from home might pose?

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The biggest problem I see students have is that they get distracted. They don’t cope well with interruptions and they don’t teach the people around them, their family members or friends, that studying from home doesn’t mean they’re available.

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Could you share some lessons you’ve learned while running your business from home that could apply to students staying organized and focused?

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The first one is the night before your day. Set yourself up and get your desk ready. Then when you get up in the morning, stick to the same routine. The other key is to make sure you still take proper breaks. So I typically take a get out of my chair every two hours, whether I need it or not. I manage my day with my calendar and colour code my day, depending on what I have going on. I actually put the time in my calendar, not just for calls with clients, but for actual items and things I have to do.

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How can technology help a student studying at home to create a daily routine and efficient workflow?

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A couple of things. One, Google calendar to manage it. I put my daily tasks in a programme called Google Keep, which is Google’s note-taking pattern. I just tend not to use an elaborate to-do list. I manage all my project stuff in Trello, which is a project management visual package that a lot of people use. So I use a variety of things and believe it or not, when I’m working on hard tasks, I use an old fashioned egg timer just to count down tasks. I’ll set a timer for 15 minutes and then if I’m doing well, I’ll reset that timer for another 15 minutes. 

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What are the benefits and drawbacks of storing documents locally versus on the cloud?

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Okay, so for storing stuff on the cloud, you have to choose the service that you trust most. I would tell most people that if you stick with the big services, they do a pretty good job. The problem is storing stuff on a local hard drive. If something happens to the hard drive or the machine dies, then you lose everything. So either way, you should keep a backup of those important essays and those important papers, because things do happen.

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If you had to choose three applications that you could not live without, what would they be? 

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Okay, the first one for me is Google Calendar. The second one for me is Zoom. I’m kind of lost without that because it lets me stay in touch with people. Then, the third one is probably Trello. 

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Thank you, Rob, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers! 

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Book Mentioned in the Episode

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You are Awesome by Neil Pasricha

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For more advice about the application process, check out our weekly podcast or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

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