How can I get back on track after falling behind on my online courses?
As Yoda says... "Do or Do not... there is no 'try'" 

As both an educator, and a student in online learning I can feel for you on both sides of the coin. Allow me to inject some of my personal tricks... tools to help you.

First off... contact your teacher/instructor/professor. This is critical point one and both appropriate, and professional. This reach-out opportunity is your chance to tackle a few serious steps toward getting back on track:


it allows you to admit that you have lost motivation and that you
know you are behind.
shows you to be accountable for your lost
placement and willingness to get back on track.


Next, a mentioned before, start "triage"... an emergency assessment &amp; prioritize a list of what must be completed first. Some projects could be banged out in an hour, but worth only a few % points. Others may take 2 days but have serious weight on final grades. Refer to your syllabus and see what is most important for the final grade. After you have assessed their importance and created a complete list of everything due, estimate their completion times (2 hours, 6 hours, 2 days etc etc)

Once you have a prioritized list of what weighs heaviest, and their estimated times... create a time line with the total number of days/hours/weeks remaining in the class. I use excel as it is easy to navigate and layout the time frame. Pen and paper works just as good though. Hopefully you have weeks and you have enough time to right the ship... but if it is days, you need may need to sequester yourself and focus intently on finishing.

Now that you have a list, and a timeline, inject the items to be done into the time line (create a gantt chart) and you have your plan of action ready to go.

...NOW... All of this is the plan. Only you can physically make the commitment to turn off the tv, step away from the video game, opt to not go out drinking, to the movies, or dinner... and settle in and FOCUS.

I find that I often pull up a neflix/amazon selection and put on a movie or something I have seen a dozen times already so I know what is happening without actually  "watching" it. This seems to help to with eliminating that deathly silence in my den. 

Only you can find your own motivation, and make the hard decission to actually buckle down and focus. It is hard (and I have done it) to find that once you have lost a few weeks. Perhaps pick a few smaller exercisses or tasks form your plan and finish them first to get that sense of accomplishment to fire off a few points in your direction. That may be just the sense of completion you need to find the next level of commitment.

Last point, and perhaps the most important... DO NOT GIVE UP!