Why do some students manage to do everything – attend all classes, spend time with friends, visit extracurricular activities, relax and read, while others hardly manage to wake up and get to college? We believe it depends on personal productivity, which is surely a skill, not an inborn trait.
Every day we have to complete endless tasks, meet deadlines and follow plans. Are you in a constant hurry, drinking the sixth cup of coffee, but still struggling to finish assignments? Well, it’s time to reconsider the way you approach productivity!
Below, we’ve gathered 11 rules for you to be an effective learner, and here’s one extra tip. You can always rely on outsourcing to find more time for top priorities. When the deadlines are approaching, why not pay for essay at EssayPro and stay calm about your grades? With experienced authors by your side, your academic performance will be under control, just as your mental state and overall productivity.
Keep Your Mind Clean
It’s certainly impossible to concentrate on studying if something disturbs you. According to scientists, the brain can focus on no more than four tasks simultaneously. But let’s agree, in practice, their number is much bigger! Therefore, the best habit to develop is transferring things to do on an external media, be it a time management app or your favorite planner.
This way, you definitely won’t turn into Neville Longbottom, who was stressed out due to forgetting something essential. In addition, when all the plans are in front of your eyes, it’s easier to figure out how much time they will take and what the priority list is.
Give Up Multitasking
Multitasking is surely one of the most popular words these days. However, many admit that such a strategy leads to exhaustion only. Have you ever happened to listen to a podcast while reading an article? It is unlikely that you remember both types of content equally well. So, here’s an important rule. Better do one thing at a time – this will boost your productivity in the most surprising way!
If It Takes No More Than 2 Minutes, Does It Right Away
Send a paper to the teacher, download a reading list, or plan the next day? Such things don’t take much time, so move on to them right away! Plus, this rule is especially useful when it comes to emails, where processing most letters usually takes just a couple of minutes.
Mix Technologies With Paper Planners
The benefits of automation are hard to underestimate. No doubt, we appreciate scheduling apps for bringing order into our lives. They also free us from keeping things in mind. However, some students are more comfortable when using paper notebooks. Why?
Have you ever missed a notification from the time management app among messages from other programs? If you have a tendency to have a messy phone, use paper journals and stickers. Place them on your laptop or desktop, and you will surely not forget about another urgent task!
Don’t Be Too Hard On Yourself
Our world develops at an incredible speed. Constant rat race, deadlines, and informational noise make us feel trapped and anxious. Whatever scheduling apps and memorization techniques we use, anything can go wrong. Whether it’s an unexpected blackout, a lost book, or getting sick at the most inopportune moment, such factors will change your plans. We can’t control everything, so just accept it. Nobody is perfect, right?
Take Advantage Of The Morning Magic
Always thought you were a night owl? Well, try to change your perspective and dive into studying in the morning! In fact, successful student entrepreneurs recommend surrounding yourself with productivity triggers. Create a comfortable atmosphere: make coffee, turn on lo-fi music and sit by the window, listening to the city wake up. Our brain always needs fresh impressions, so try to set a great mood to increase motivation.
It’s best to choose the three most important tasks for the day and tackle them first. In the morning, we aren’t overloaded with information, which often causes irritation and headaches.
Eat The Frog
How does this method work? The point is to deal with the most unpleasant business first.
Once you wake up, proceed to difficult and boring things. We assure you: it will be super cool to realize that the hardest tasks are behind you and the best is yet to come. This will make your day much more enjoyable!
Have Enough Rest
Endless work exhausts us physically and emotionally. No doubt, the brain needs phases of tension and relaxation to be effective. Sometimes two extra hours of sleep can greatly raise your productivity levels throughout the next week. Life is not a sprint but a marathon. So, sometimes you need to stop and take a deep breath.
Yoga and meditation, journaling, long walk in the park, reading in a cozy coffee shop – all this will help you tune into a harmonious mood.
Raise Your Energy Levels
A healthy mind in a healthy body, so we can’t help mentioning the benefits of sports for your academic productivity. Physical activity stimulates dopamine, endorphin, serotonin, and oxytocin. You may have heard that they are called “happiness hormones.”
Quality sleep and exercise affect our performance as much as any time management technique does. When it comes to sleep, it’s best to go to bed before midnight. An hour of sleep before that time has a big value.
Use The Pomodoro Technique
Dealing with a hard task? Divide it into stages and set a timer for 25 minutes. During this time, you will be completely immersed in work. After the alarm goes off, rest for five minutes. Congratulations, you’ve made it through the first “Pomodoro”!
Take a longer break (30 minutes, for example) after every four sprints (i.e., 2 hours of work). Basically, there are many “Pomodoro study with me” videos on YouTube, or you can download an app on your phone.
Try The Kanban Method
Here is the essence of this technique. You break things down into three categories: what needs to be done, what you are currently working on, and what has already been done. That is, any task that you set for yourself must go through three stages. This way, you can track your productivity and eliminate factors that complicate the process for you.
To Wrap It Up
Modern culture requires us to be in constant hurry. Indeed, the cult of success and high achievements fills our reality not only in studies but in all spheres of life. However, multitasking and stress lead to burnout only. Nowadays, students experience tremendous anxiety, and such a life rhythm interferes with achieving academic success.
Have you ever watched interviews with British entrepreneur Richard Branson? He is always relaxed, calm, and cheerful as if there’s no place for rush in his reality. He performs a small number of tasks but gets stunning results in business. This is exactly what super-productive people do, and college students can learn a lot from them.