Productivity Versus Laziness: How to Fight The Battle

It can become very tempting to sit down in your comfy spot, cuddle up in a blanket, and watch Netflix until the hours of the day run out. After a long day filled with tests, classes, essays, or presentations, just relaxing and taking a beat can become vital in everyday routine. As important as it is to take that time, a few minutes turn into hours and hours turn into the entire day. Nothing is more frustrating than looking at your watch and realizing you didn’t check a single thing off your to-do list. You don’t want to constantly go-go-go, but you also want to be productive in your everyday activities. There is a delicate balance, and there are a few ways you can ensure to keep the scale where you want it.

One of the easier ways to manage your day to day time is by setting reminders or alarms on your phone. If you have an iPhone, you can use reminders to make a running list of “to-dos” and send a notification to your phone at specific locations or times to keep up with your day in a more organized way. This way you can make sure you don’t forget deadlines, test dates, and more. It can help give you some peace of mind knowing if you forget you have a notification to remind you.

Setting alarms can really help when dealing with time management. If you want to give yourself ten or fifteen minutes to relax and destress, set an alarm on your phone to make sure you don’t get distracted. This way, time won’t get away from you. It helps make your daily activities intentional while also setting a plan for study breaks, hanging out with friends, or eating dinner in front of the TV. This way, you’re more aware of your time and how you’re using it. The same goes for doing homework. Want to study for an hour or two and then take a break? Set a timer so you can solely focus on the task at hand without constantly checking the clock.

Though this doesn’t work for everyone, I’ve found that checking off your to-do list before clicking on that app or next episode can make your day less stressful and more manageable. If you start your day by putting off being productive, it’s very likely you’ll continue that trend throughout the day. Likewise, if you put in the work and knock off the things weighing you down, you’ll have the remaining hours in the day to destress and recharge for the next day. 

Habits are everything. The more you get used to using some of these little tips in your day to day activites, the easier you’ll be able to find the balance that best works for you when it comes to being productive compared to taking it easy. If you start the day with a good mindset, it can have a huge impact on the outcome of what you can accomplish on not only you list of things you need to do but the list of things you want to do.

 

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