This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Oregon chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
One of my 2021 goals is to try and have better time management skills throughout my day. I want to create habits that help with productivity throughout my day. I am the type of person who needs to have structure and almost routine to feel centered and balanced throughout my week. Starting at the beginning of January, I have started to incorporate habits and structures to help with my time management and productivity skills that I will share. If I am honest, I have not stuck to these routines every day, but I hope that by the end of February, these tips will become set habits. So here are my tips for time management and productivity.
- Figure out the days that you are most productive and least productive. For the past few years, I have been one to procrastinate and do assignments on Sunday, but I felt that it took me 12 hours to write one paragraph. So now I restructure my weeks where I try to make sure that all my school tasks for the weeks are done by Friday since during the week is when my brain is focused on school. I use my Sundays to plan, clean, hang with friends, and finish up any work tasks I may have.
- Planning out my week. I have been someone who has used a planner for dates and assignments but not really for planning. What I have done is that I make it a priority to sit down and really plan. I look at what needs to be accomplished and what is scheduled for my week, and I go day by day and try to plan out a loose schedule for that day. What I want to accomplish, what needs to be done, and during what time.
- Planning out meals. I am someone to the grocery store with a list. I walk about with too much food and not a single meal. Each week I plan out what I need and what I think my body will want to eat that week based on items that I currently have.
- Prepping meals for busy days. I am not someone who can make all the food for the entire week in one day. I wouldn’t say I like it. I hate cooking, and it also takes up so much room in the fridge. I am also someone who, if I am busy, the last thing I want to do is set out the time to cook a meal. What I have found helpful is on the days that I am less busy prepping for days when I am busy. So on Tuesday mornings, I do not have class till 10, so when I make breakfast, I also make breakfast for Wednesday since I have worked at 8 am.
- Not looking at my phone 1 hour after I wake up and 1 hour before I go to bed. I find that when I am looking at my phone, it distracts my thoughts. By not looking at my phone the first hour of my morning, I focus on setting up my day for success. For the night, I am allowing my brain to slow down to have a better sleep.
- Setting a time to stop focusing on working. As a student and someone who works from home, there is no clock in and clock out time. I found that I was doing work from 8 am to 10 pm, and my body felt drained. This led to my next day feeling off and not structured because I overworked myself the day before. I now set a stop time, and I spend the rest of the day hanging out with my roommates, settling down. I have found that it allows me to be less drained the next day.