The pre covid-19 times; Bittersweet memories arise when we reminisce of the past from the point of view of a student. However, for better or for worse covid-19 has changed the means of education to a point of no return. It has made life for student convenient, efficient, easy or so we were lead to believe since the start. Here’s the thing though a student’s daily hours were usually mapped out in their mind, at least having a general idea of the day plan and objectives.

The pandemic struck and brought with it reforms of sorts shifting everything online which has its own pros and cons. Along with this came independence which I for one wasn’t ready for. Spending my 10^th grade in covid-19 was an interesting experience. Attending my first online class with zeal making notes to slowly progressing to taking in the main objectives and tuning out the rest as the year progressed.

This power of being selective –where you can choose to pay attention or ignore – for example in class if you weren’t paying attention you’d be talking to your friends or doing something else and eventually get called out for it but in online classes all you have to do is feign connection issues and be on your merry way.

The pandemic brought with it a whole Pandora’s box but what is relevant to this article is the free time it brought with it self. Time is a double edged sword, maneuvered incorrectly would make you lazy, stuck in the past, and well you would be wasting precious time you could have used for anything; but if done correctly you could get a lot done, be productive but that’s the perfect world everyone longs for. Alas, our world is far from the utopia we one day, hope to achieve.

Time Management doesn’t even mean being productive all the time NO! we all deserve down time, it just means factoring in for that down time and being as productive as one can be without burning out. Effective time management has been proven to reduce stress and greater academic success. This doesn’t mean one should tread on this line of burning out. The general problem is the misconception that time management means taking studying as the whole main event of the day and sprinkle in some breaks, but the name of the game is balance.

I am not some enlightened child nor am I am an erudite person. I am merely someone who has gone through online schooling just like everyone else, what I learnt was doing everything in extremes was the problem granted most of you might keep up with project work but how I tackled it was extreme relaxation or just doing homework for a long part of the day. Which I have come to realize was the stressor, workload might be a lot I am not disputing that but to get on with it is the best for your mental health you can do. Measure it out, make increments where you will work, and time where you will relax. The ratio of work to relax time should be practical and not according to how many assignments, course work, and studies you have to and want to do otherwise this whole ordeal was for moot.

At this moment I would like to bring to light the disparities in India; I had a comfortable time attending online school. I was eased into the process but not everyone had such a seamless transition. While we were comfortable at home attending classes, for some the school was an escape hatch, schools’ provided facilities that some might not have at home. This disparity is widening the gap even further between the children who are less privileged and us who are lucky enough. The goal at hand is to bridge the gap because once it crosses to an irreparable level it will hinder the development of our country as well as create social imbalance. This is why it is urgent for us to act on this as a society