This is a guest post from Matt Murrell from All Day Productivity
The life of a student is certainly a busy one. Some of us are taking extra credits while others are working part-time jobs when they aren’t in class.
The long hours combined with dreadful assignments can cause students to lack motivation. It’s no wonder that 80-95% of students procrastinate.
As a student, I am fully aware that productivity is absolutely essential for staying on track with assignments.
Here are some strategies that you can use to increase your productivity
as a student!
Organize Your Work
There’s no way around it. If you want to make sure that you get all of your assignments done on time, you MUST prioritize and organize each assignment,
The simplest way to do this is by creating a to-do list. You can just use a piece of paper or the “notes” app on your phone to do this.
First, you should write down every assignment that you have on a “brain dump” list. This list doesn’t need to be organized, just make sure that you get everything down on paper.
Next, you should break down each assignment into steps. These steps should be very specific and start with action verbs. For example, if you need to research information for a paper, write “Research Civil War battles on the Internet and in textbook”.
Now that you have steps for each assignment, make a schedule for what you are going to accomplish each day. I recommend completing one step for each assignment throughout the day.
Be smart when you plan your schedule! If your assignment has five steps to it, complete one step every day. However, give yourself a few extra days to do it because things can pop up last minute that might delay your work.
When you have steps that break down how you attack each assignment, you will notice that it becomes a lot easier to get started.
Get off of your phone!
Walk around a college campus for five minutes. Now count how many people are staring at their phones.
It’s a lot of people, isn’t it?
Let’s be honest. As college students, we don’t need to be looking at our phones. It’s highly unlikely that we are awaiting an important conference call or an email from our boss.
Most of the times we are browsing social media or looking at our friend’s Snapchat story.
In order for us to reach our full potential, it is essential that we turn our phones off. If you need your phone to use a note or photo for your assignment, then simply put your phone on airplane mode.
If you really want to text or check Twitter, then use that as an incentive to get your work done. If you work for an hour, take 10 minutes to check your phone.
Work in the library
In order to be as productive as possible, you must work in an environment that limits distraction and enhances your focus.
For me, this environment is the library.
The library at my school often gets very crowded. There have been numerous occasions where every spot was taken, and most of the people were on Facebook or Twitter.
If I can get a spot, I always feel guilty if I’m on social media because I know how it feels when a spot is taken up by someone that’s not getting their work done.
The library forces me to get work done. Plus, it’s a quiet environment where everyone is focused on their work.
Sleep
Yes, sleep in college is rare. However, getting quality sleep every night can really boost your productivity.
Notice how I said QUALITY sleep, and not MORE sleep.
One way to get better sleep is to turn off all of your electronics before going to bed. The light from your electronics confuses your brain into thinking that it’s daytime. Also, electronics reduce your melatonin production. Melatonin is crucial for getting good sleep.
So turn off your PS4, power down your laptop, and catch some Z’s! If you need entertainment while you fall asleep, try reading a book or listening to a podcast.
Photo Credit: Studying by Mer Chau via Flickr
