On Productivity as a Student

Specs on Balancing activities

The simple definition of productivity is the state of being efficient. As a student, there are a lot of activities aside academic work which cannot be over-emphasized.  Most students have a lot to do but the problem of not being able to coordinate and manage time reduces the rate of efficiency hence leading to complaints and eleventh-hour stress. Well, there is a magic that will definitely work for you friend…I scrutinized major things that build a productive life, especially as a student. It is in 3 simple words;

Focus, Plan, Preside.

Focus

Not losing focus is one important way to forge ahead and live a productive student life. In reality, which we are all in, there are lots of distraction. Yeah? Times when you ought to concentrate, for instance, an assignment is to be submitted the next day and you are halfway through, and you speak to your inner self ‘Dude, you can’t waste time on this today, you just have to get on with this work and submit at due time’ , and on and on. Just like being watched, your phone network suddenly gets this powerful 3G connection and you are like OMG, you want to just use a browser to surf for the assignment. LOL. Messenger pops in, your previously uploaded pictures on IG has over 100 comments and you can’t just wait to reply; your friend decides to call at that ‘ungodly hour’ to gist you about his/her birthday party you missed; your WhatsApp links you to a trending video on youtube and you just want to satisfy your inquisitiveness , your gamepad could be staring at you to pick and just play A GAME, your neighbours could be debating on some stuff so enchanting you want to join in, and then… 24hours seem so short because you haven’t achieved your aim for the day.

On and on it goes but I found the magic, screams of JUST FOCUS is just all you need to build your inner self- it is important to concentrate. Concentration breeds Effectiveness.

One of the ways I settled losing attention or getting carried away while I have important things to do (I might have to learn a song- I sing, meetings could be fixed and I have to complete my chores…and a host of others) is to learn DISCIPLINE around my DISTRACTION. It works dear. There are other different ways to achieving this discipline from observations anyways.

– Note your distraction…mine used to be a novel site (I could say to myself ‘Hey, just a chapter’ and  end up reading a whole book.) Yours could be that video game, or social media or sleep or friends. All you need do is figure it out.

– Think of numerous ways to be in charge. These could be keeping your gamepads with a friend till you NEED them, leaving your phone in Airplane mode while you get things done especially if it is a smartphone ( Getting a simple phone would really help here), and leaving the comfort of your nice succulent bed when you need to study, get a reading table and chair. You need to let go of your distraction, it ain’t hard friend, you will come around.

 

Plan!

Planning seems like hell sometimes when the right way ain’t sought out. Sometimes, the easy thing going through the mind might not work in reality. Well, dear friend, let’s work another magic.  A set of intended actions to achieve a goal…simple definition. I really love the precision. The drive for every plan is to achieve a goal- to be productive.

 

These tips would go a long way to help fix it:

Draw a schedule

I started mine with a diary (Got lots of them). You can use my starter kit; just a pen and sticky notes. Drawing a schedule must be from a not too susceptible timetable which in expatriated terms mean you have to be sure your activities are not temporary anymore. Say you have your lecture timetable, your meeting times, have your free time almost fixed, at the point where change would not exactly occur.

 

Draw your Scale of Preference

This ensures that there are items listed in order of priority. On your schedule, you don’t want to add ‘short nap’ in between the hours you should be in a lecture room or in a meeting.

 

Schedules are magical. It gives a sense of organization and it is the backbone of a productive life.

 

Finally;

Preside!

This means you should be in control! You don’t want excessive studying to affect your rest time. The brain gets tired too.

You dont want to starve yourself and become physically fragile ,therefore reducing output.

You dont want to attend all meetings when you have a serious test coming up, leading to pressure or tension.

You should be the driving force of your own success. A friend cannot just come around and make you waste hours of your time on gisting and partying when you have to complete an assignment.

Learning Discipline and Control yields Balance and High level of a Productive life. You just find out you aint rushing or panicking, because you are the Boss!

 

Sunshine.