By James Carr
Hello everyone and welcome back! I hope we are all safe and healthy during this difficult time stuck inside. Today I thought I’d talk about some student tips and tricks that have helped me personally to get my work done more productively and procrastinate less.
Write a To-do list first thing in the morning
Every morning after I have woken up made my bed and made my coffee, the first thing I’ll do in the morning is sit down at my desk and write out my To-do list for the day. This helps me to remember things better and have a good idea of what it is I exactly have to do. I find this beneficial as I get more done throughout my day than I would if I didn’t write a to-do list.
I know a lot of people prefer to write to-do lists in their notes on their phone or type it up in their MacBook or laptop, but for me, I have to write it on a piece of paper. I don’t know if anyone feels the same, but I can’t focus properly reading my tasks from a screen, I’ve found I procrastinate more by doing this and encourages me more to scroll through my Instagram feed and see what the latest posts are from gym_dreamers or watch Alpha M videos on YouTube.
By taking that little time in the morning or the night before to write a to-do list can help you to become more productive and help you manage your workspace better.
Reading a book
Either in the morning before I start my day or the before I go to bed, I will read a book to help me unwind and be able to do something that’s away from a screen. Reading a book for 6 minutes a day can reduce stress levels by 68%, which is great especially if you’re schedule is particularly busy throughout the day. If you have not already seen it, then I would take a look at my book of the week post on the main page.
I enjoy reading, I think I spend more time reading books than I would anything else. It’s so much fun to imagine what’s going on in the novel as you’re reading it, and it also helps improve your vocabulary more, making you’re writing more distinct.
Preparing my clothes the night before
I’ve mentioned this once or twice before in blogs I have done before, but this is a great way to feel more productive, and that you are in control of your day. Preparing the outfit, you want to wear the night before will save you so much stress and anxiety of picking out the right outfit, but also make you feel better about what you wear.
For me sometimes, it’s as straightforward, as I’m working 5 days a week part-time and so there is pretty much only one outfit, I wear most throughout the week. However, on my days off I like to dress up a bit more stylish, and this helps me feel better about myself (especially not being stuck in black cargos all the time). And sometimes if I just want to chill out, I will go for something comfier. But overall, even if you’re not going anywhere, I would suggest still getting dressed in the clothes you’d normally wear and not something comfy.
Switching off my phone when studying
This is one of the best things you can do when studying. I find it so much better after a long study period that I do not hear my phone or any notifications going off every 10 minutes. This will help you better with remembering the piece of notes that you are studying and will stick in your mind better when it comes to a test.
This is also good for your mental health because we are always on our phones, so having that little bit of time away from your phone can help you feel better, feel more energized, and concentrate better.
Avoiding any distractions
This is extremely important when studying over your notes or assignments as you do not want to forget your place in say, a textbook or your notes because nothing is more annoying than forgetting where you were reading from. Like the tip above you should put your phone on airplane mode or switch it off completely. This is due to your phone is the biggest killer for causing distractions. Moreover, you should find a suitable workspace that’s very quiet and that you know you won’t get distracted.
In school, my favourite place to sit away from distractions is in the careers room, because no one is really in there, except the career advisors, but they are quiet so its as though they aren’t there. And if the careers room is used, then the other place I find best to sit away from distractions is the sewing room (because being best friends with your Home Economics teacher is like a gift).
Schedule my day out following the time
This is somewhat similar to a to-do list, but the only difference is you’re planning your tasks for a set time. This is good to do, especially if you have quite a lot of stuff to do throughout the day. Me personally, if I need to plan out my day following time, then I will use the app called “Any.do”. This app is similar to a to-do list, but you can set times to remind you of when you should carry out the tasks. I find it useful for time management and helps to get it done there and then.
(Show screenshot of Any.do)
Lofi Radio
Now, for those who study a lot (I’m sure all of you do), but you will have come across Lofi Radio when you are looking for background music to study to. Lofi Radio is available to listen to any platform and any device, such as YouTube, Spotify, your Smart Speaker, etc. and has a whole genre collection of lofi music, from jazz to rap music, and a lot more. I love to use lofi radio while studying as I think it's very relaxing and gets you in that mood for studying.
If you’re someone who would use something else other than YouTube or Spotify, you can use an app called “myTuner Free”. It’s the same as your usual radio station app but with this app, you’re able to search your podcasts, even Lofi Radio! It is a really good thing to use and I would recommend using one of these apps.
Focus to Do
Focus to Do is a Pomodoro app that can help you to study better, by displaying the time of your laptop/computer/phone screen. I like using it because it helps me to manage my time better, as well as concentrate more. Best of all, its free to download and you can add it as an extension to your browser, which I find help if I want to use my laptop rather than my phone.
Click here for the app - Apple App Store
Click here for the app - Google Play Store
Click here to add the browser extension
Practicing past papers
This is good to do, especially before a test or an upcoming exam as this can help you to better enhance your knowledge and practice questions that could come up in the test/exam. Around March, I like to start practicing past papers for the exams coming up in April/May time, and that way I have practiced long enough to understand what the questions could be asking for and how I should lay them out.
If you’re Scotland, the SQA place all their past paper and course overviews all on their website, which is handy to look at when beginning a new academic year. When starting new classes, I will always make a new folder for that particular subject, and then download all the most recent past papers to my laptop and then add then to the subject folder. This good to do as you don’t need to spend a whole load of time searching for the past papers, they’re all just stored in your pen drive or wherever you keep stuff for school.
Make sure all work is completed and handed in
And finally, this is the MOST crucial thing you need to do whether you’re at university or still in high school, you have to submit any completed assignments and/or any coursework. This is extremely important for your final grade, and when you forget to submit something or don’t answer a particular question in assignments or exams, it can affect your overall mark dramatically. So, my advice for you is, to look through your coursework, send any assignments that are due shortly, or if its an exam, think about the questions carefully (after all you can only do your best).
Well, that is my tips and tricks to get work done more productively and procrastinate less. I hope you enjoyed my blog if you did sure you comment and like this post. And if you’re new here, make sure you sign up my blog to receive updates of when I post a new blog. I shall see you all next time. Peace Out! ✌
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