This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UC Irvine chapter.
As midterms are coming up soon, and even if they’re not, productivity is something we should
be able to have. Some of these tips will surprise you, but most won’t. All you need to do is:
- Remove all distractions. I think this is a given, but I feel it is necessary since you are reading this article. That means turning off your phone, logging out of Facebook and Tumblr, and isolating yourself from chatty friends. Studying with talkative friends provides a distraction that hurts everyone. You guys have midterms or other things to get done, and sometimes the only way to get work done is some alone time. However, if Facebook and Tumblr are too tempting then have a friend change your password and make her promise not to give it to you until you’re done studying or finished with that term paper. Just remove anything that takes your attention away from the task at hand and you’ll be done in no time!
- Doodle. Doodling actually increases the amount of information we can retain. Studies show that humans are only capable of paying attention for twenty minutes and Psychology Today reports that the participants who doodled while being given information retained 29 percent more information than the ones who just tried to pay attention. Who knew those little drawings in the margins actually helped your studying?
- Take a break when your brain is fried. Cramming when you’re exhausted won’t help you get that grade in Calc. Instead, it’ll probably hurt you more than if you were to just stop studying. Think about it, do you run a marathon without slowing your pace? No? Well our brains are like our bodies and need breaks too, so don’t feel guilty about taking a study break every once in a while. Just make sure you set a time limit for your break and return to studying right when the time’s up.
- Come up with a reward for yourself when you finish. Nothing motivates you to run as fast as you can more than a prize at that finish line. Especially when it’s a new pair of shoes or that decadent brownie you’ve been eyeing. Promise yourself a small reward as an incentive to start and finish your work. You never know how much you’ll get done for that outfit you’ve been dying to get.
- Just start. Sometimes starting is the hardest part. Once you get going, finishing becomes second nature. Just let go of all of the anxiety that comes about whenever you’re thinking about it and just do it. You’ll be shocked at how much you can get done once you start.
Just remember, the only thing that’s really standing in between your productivity is your will.
Just simply get off the Internet and get to it and before you know it, you’ll be done.
Sources: Psychology Today