During this time of uncertainty and franticness, how do we reduce the stress in our lives, specifically in relation to distance learning?

The most important thing is keeping some form of structure, no matter how simple it is.   The best way to jumpstart a structured day-to-day schedule is to maintain a regular sleep schedule because this creates a routine that is easier to follow.

     The next most important thing to remember is to try your best not to procrastinate. With all of the freedom provided to us with this online school structure, the easiest thing is to squander that freedom and wait until late Thursday or Friday to start our assignments for that week. Making sure to evenly distribute the workload throughout the week instead of waiting for it to get closer and closer to the deadline to start will drastically decrease the stress of your schoolwork during this undeniably stressful time. 

     Due to how uncertain and hectic things are right now, it is easy to overestimate how much work we actually have to do and stress ourselves out over something that would take much less time than we expect if we just take the time to get it over with. A key is to try to accurately estimate how much work you actually have to do and decide a reasonable timeframe for yourself to complete your assignments instead of overstressing about how much work you have.

     Of course, this online schooling system comes with its pros and cons. The biggest pro being the exponentially increased freedom we are given with how we want to manage and structure our time. We have the ability to choose when we do the tasks assigned to us in our lives.  The key is not taking that freedom for granted and causing ourselves undue stress.