Look, for as long as I can remember, I have been a huge procrastinator. However, as each year of school became more and more challenging, I don’t really have time to procrastinate anymore. Yes, it’s that bad, folks. I don’t even have time to binge watch Netflix instead of doing my homework anymore. How dare my education interfere with my Netflix consumption?
When I became overwhelmed with work, I realized that it was time to make a change when it came to my time management skills. This was a big learning experience for me. I’m not going to lie, I forgot a few assignments on my path to finding what worked for me but several months later, I found a few tools that greatly improved my productivity.
From one struggling student to another, here are some tools I found that improved my time management skills:
- Making lists. Everywhere. All the time.
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One of the most useful (and simple) tools that I have incorporated into my everyday life is a notepad. Just a small blank sheet of paper. To-do lists seem so common that I debated even putting it on this roundup. Honestly, I had never been busy enough to actually need to make a list of all the tasks I had to accomplish. Once I started making lists though, I couldn’t stop. I started with a simple list of the assingments and chores I had to finish in a particular day. Then I began listing deadlines, upcoming events, planned activities, prospective jobs, and goals that I wanted to accomplish in the near or distant future. I made lists in a blank notebook, on Post-Its, on my whiteboard, in my planner, in my phone, and on the sticky-note app on my desktop. Checking tasks off of those lists not only allowed me to keep track of what I needed to get done but also gave me an idea of how much I was actually getting done and allowed me to feel happy everytime I made a tiny little check next to an item.
- Flora
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Only recently have I discovered this amazing app. Flora encourages productivity and even provides an option to help the environment. Each time you set out to do a task, you choose a tree to grow in your garden. The tree requires a certain amount of time to grow, so a timer begins when you start your task. If you close the app, the tree dies. If you pause the timer, time is subtracted from your total. As you grow trees, your garden grows and your total time of productive work is tracked. You can look back at how much time you were productive and even categorize the tasks you were working on. Not to mention, you can grow trees as a group and share your productivity with your friends. This app really helped reduce the amount of time I spent distracted on my phone while studying. It also allowed me to realize how long I need to get certain assignments or chores done and helped me plan my day more efficiently.
- Making Study Playlists, All Kinds of Them
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I don’t know about you, but studying in complete silence is a form of torture for me. As someone who studies a lot, I need a lot of music to play in the background. Over the past few years, I have curated a plethora of playlists to go with my every study mood. I think I have upwards of seven different playlists for study time ranging from relaxing piano to Spanish R&B to ambient beats. Honestly, can you ever have too many playlists? Finding types of music that didn’t distract me from the task at hand was difficult, but once I discovered what worked for me, I found it a whole lot easier to pay attention to my homework.
When it comes to habits that increase productivity, everyone is different but trying out new tools can always surprise you. If it’s time to make that jump from procrastinator to productive you just might want to try out something new.