The start of a new semester can be a new beginning for many people. You’re enrolled in new classes, you have opportunities to join clubs, and more! Not only is it a new semester, but it’s also a new year. Many people, including myself, have the goal to stay organized and not procrastinate. These are some of my tips on staying productive and organizing your life:
1. Try out Notion
Notion is an all-in-one workspace where you can manage tasks, create goals, take notes, and more! I’ve been using Notion for a few months now and I use it to create a weekly agenda, manage my monthly goals, make a reading list, track daily habits, and store documents for my extracurriculars. It is a very customizable app and there are many templates out there if you don’t know where to start. A good feature of the app is the ability to embed Google Docs, PDFs, Google Calendar, Spotify, and more to make it accessible and customizable for you. If you sign in using your school email address, you get Notion Premium for free!
2. Try task batching
Task batching is where you organize tasks based on similarity and label them from highest to the lowest effort. Then you schedule high-value tasks when you have the most energy and low for the lowest energy in the day.
Example: At the start of the day, I’ll do more intensive work where I need critical thinking or I need to read a lot. When I hit my afternoon slump, I can finish my simple daily needed tasks like checking my email.
Task batching helps improve your focus, reduces stress, and increases productivity. There are fewer distractions and your workload feels more manageable. You also spend less brainpower switching from one task to another.
3. Daily to-do lists
If task batching isn’t for you, try creating a weekly agenda with daily to-do lists. I do this on Notion, but if you prefer writing, I suggest buying a weekly planner. To prepare for your week, you should try organizing the tasks and assignments that you already know of on Sunday night so you don’t spend too much time on it during the week. It feels great to cross items off a to-do list once they’re done!
4. Wake up early
I know it’s easier said than done, but waking up early can increase your productivity. It’s self-explanatory; there are more hours in the day to be productive while also taking care of your mental health! I used to wake up right before a class and have no time to get ready for the day. I also woke up at noon or later sometimes so I had to fit in a lot of tasks during the day. Once I started waking up around the same time every morning, it helped me establish a routine and get school assignments done while also doing things for myself. Try it out for a week and see if your productivity increases!