Have you ever watched the movie “In Time” that starred Justin Timberlake and other top actors like Amanda Seyfried and Alex Pettyfer?
True, my favorite movie is not the ideal way to begin a blog hosted on an educational website. But here’s the round-up in case you have not set your eyes on the scenes of this video masterpiece:
It presents a time in the future where time is used as currency, and anyone whose time (which happened to be fixed inside their arm) hits zero dies. Such a terrifying period, right?
Yet, it’s not so hard to see how this relates perfectly to students’ lives. Time is everything for you. You want to attend an event, you must think about the project submission deadline and prepare.
You begin working on your project de la grande, then constantly get notified about the group assignment that needs to be worked upon before the cock crows next Monday. And just while you think you have it all together, your extra-curricular group must meet tomorrow by 4 pm.
Maybe you don’t have it to such extremes. Maybe you experience only a fraction of this quagmire of a schedule. But it shouldn’t hinder the message that living a healthy and productive life as a student is not an easy feat. It requires that you completely understand your schedule, make plans, and above all, BE DISCIPLINED.
Today, we explore the most yielding productivity hacks for students. You can start using every one of these to boost your productivity and gain more balance throughout your studenthood.
Sounds like a plan, right?
Productivity Hacks for students you can start using from today
We all know being productive is something we should invest in — from the top executive in Manhattan to the Mom and Pop store owner somewhere in Indonesia (of course, as a student, you don’t fall on either of the extremes).
Being able to correctly manage your time and configure your schedule in a way that doesn’t interrupt your life but helps you maximize your potentials in all productivity is about.
Going from not understanding what is going on about your life (as a student) to actually having control over your time is something you likely desire.
So, here are 7 solid productivity tips you can try from now.
Sleep
What?! I’m talking about productivity and dare mention sleep as numero-uno in my list of tips? YES!
No matter how busy you get, learn to give yourself a break (did someone say easier said than done? Hold your horses.) Sleep is essential if you need to think properly and act optimally. Even the great behemoth of work, Elon Musk, agrees with me.
Although Elon Musk may not be your role model, here’s something He told Axios.com in 2018 when He was continuously working for a minimum of 120 hours a week:
“No one should put this many hours into your work. It is not recommended for anyone.”
Hey boy and missy, learn to rest. Don’t become a sleep addict, but don’t become a work addict. Give yourself moments where you take things slow and do more than “take a nap.” Getting good sleep will positively impact your productivity as a student. Aim for more results and not more hours with open eyes. How? See the next tip.
Plan everything
Before you throw a big stone at my face, take a breathe. Things in school can get really spontaneous. However, if you are sincere, this doesn’t happen all the time.
Think about it carefully. How many times did you have to change your schedule to meet up with new school events you must attend. Merely a hand count, right?
It helps to plan your activities while in school. You may assume this to be looking forward into the future and make preparations for what you believe would happen. With a good plan and mini schedule in place for even micro-tasks, getting more sleep becomes easier. You will begin to have increased focus for each task that happens to be the next in your schedule.
One of the best things you can do for yourself as a student is to create long-term plans that are further broken down into short-term goals and stick to making them happen. With a good plan in place, it gets easier to handle spontaneous arrangements that — well — pop out nowhere.
How healthy is your diet?
If you are a fan of health blogs, this tip is already a cliche. You’ve likely read it more than a thousand times and hate how they tell you the same thing. Well, if that is you, then this is another reminder to do more than junk. Feed your brain junk, and it will deliver junk results.
For example, I’ve been swamped going about a series of personal businesses for the past few days. My meals have gone from burgers to energy drinks. Then egg rolls and more energy drinks. This morning I woke up with pangs of pain in my stomach. Thank God, I’m just recovering, so I can write this blog for you without squirming in discomfort.
The healthier you eat, the easier it becomes to stay proactive and focused on your tasks and activities, and the simpler it is to follow productivity hacks for students like this one!
So, learn to eat healthy meals. It will do you a lot of good.
Become an unpaid referee
Did you say excuse me? Well, champ, you’re excused.
The rub of this title is to track your time. Being productive is difficult if you do not know exactly how you spend your time on activities. To be productive, you must be an excellent time manager.
And hey, you don’t need to be good with managing your time at first. It’s not a competition. In fact, you are welcomed to fail. Only make sure you win more than you fail so that your wins build up and managing your time becomes a habit you love.
For example, allocate fractions of your time for classes, then another for drafting your essay, and another fraction for preparing for a project presentation.
And one thing I’ve failed to mention is this: break these tasks into bits and pieces. For another example, if you have an assignment, you already know understanding the topics are necessary. So, the first part must be about researching for ideas. Take a small chunk of time and pour it into research. Look into your lecture notes. Do a little search on the topic. Explore more ideas. Before you actually begin.
If you have a presentation to make, you already know slides are important. Focus a chunk of your time on making the slides the best they can be before moving onto the next task.
Be a referee in the game of managing your time. Use productivity apps to track your progress for each task, and follow the plan you’ve made previously.
Every game has an ending time — shouldn’t you have one too? Set deadlines.
Since we are talking about referees and how important transforming yourself into one is, let’s talk about one important responsibility referees have: ending the game.
Have you ever heard of the law that says, “work expands to fill the time available for its completion?” If you haven’t, it’s called Parkinson’s law.
When you create deadlines for yourself and keep to them, it not only helps boost your productivity but does another important thing: builds discipline. Setting deadlines is one productivity hack for students who want to be actively engaged in making their school activities yield the most results.
When you can set deadlines, it will help you maximize your study time and reduce how much you miss keeping to your plans. Deadlines stop your schedules from being dead meat.
Prepare ahead before you study
This tip is more or less about helping you focus on your study objectives. After all, what’s using a blog about productivity hacks for students if nothing about the study is mentioned.
Anyway, learn to do a dump of anything mind clutter that would hinder your studies before you get to the study area; it’s one way to prepare. The more you can clear your mind, the better you will maximize productivity during your study time.
Often students are advised to engage in meditation to clear their minds and sharpen their focus. Meditation helps you gain better control over your thought process and master your focus as a student.
Your mind is not the only thing that should not be cluttered. Scattered study space will also impact your study time productivity negatively. Have a clear space; the study’s material in place; the objectives of your study before it clocks study time.
Conclusion
There are tons of available productivity hacks for students if you care to look well enough to find them. However, being productive goes beyond gathering knowledge. It requires you to put in the work towards making yourself productive.
