This article has been syndicated from Wear Faith Essence, an InfluenceHer Collective Member. Read the full post here.
As the semester begins to wrap up, it’s time to really kick it into high gear. TBH, it’s hard to maintain your sanity and efforts at this point in the semester when you’re a full-time college student. Sometimes, life gets a little tough, but the trick is to push back even harder and get your head in the game.
With that, it’s important to focus on your productivity at the end of the semester. The key is to not to just feel and be busy, but to actually be productive and accomplish your goals. Here are just a few ways to get ahead and really buckle down.
Make a to-do list
Write down everything that needs to be done. Even if that means eating, stretching, showering or reading. Now, this is the best part — stick to the list! If it is not on your list, do not do it. My philosophy behind this is that if it was not important enough to be written down, then it probably was not a priority or a necessity.
Understand your priorities
This is the first “real” step to being more productive. You need to see where your time needs to be spent. Sometimes what we think is important, is not as important when compared to other tasks. I like to set my priorities based on deadlines. Whatever is due or needs to be accomplished the earliest, needs to be done first. Then, go from there.
Use the clock
I know this one sounds a little funny but hear me out. Imagine this: someone challenges you to run 1 lap around a track in under 30 seconds. If you accomplish it, you will win 1 million dollars. Now, you’ll definitely make it happen. Putting a time constraint on each priority lets your tunnel vision kick into overdrive. You can only focus on one thing and one thing only.
Know when to stop
This is important. Burnout is real, and you need to listen to your body. When you know that you cannot go anymore, you need to give yourself a break. I am all for working hard, but when you have worked hard, and you know that you cannot go any further, relax. I know, you are probably thinking “but, I have so much to do?!” This is when the priority list is extremely useful. If by the end of the day, you have accomplished all your high-priority tasks, then you can rest.
Get some rest
Y’all, I am the first one to argue about this. Get your 7 hours of sleep. I know that some people function better with little to no sleep, but rest and rejuvenation is so healthy for the brain. The least you can do the night before a productive day is to sleep. Put the phone away, get off Instagram, no more Netflix episodes — go to bed!
With these tips, conquering those last few weeks of the semester will become all the more manageable. Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying the holidays without a care in the world, so use that as your inspo.
Read the full post here.