Productivity Tips from a Fellow Unproductive College Student

When it comes to productivity, I am nowhere near as productive as I should be – considering all the college tomfoolery that surrounds me. But, over the past couple years, I’ve figured out a few tips and tricks that help me be productive in a college setting (which is much different than high school). On a scale of one to ten, my productivity goes from a 1 or 2 (not even kidding) to a 7 or 8. Pretty good in comparison, if I do say so myself.

Go anywhere but your room

This one took me a bit to realized (by a bit I mean this semester). You see, I love my roommates, I love how comfy my room is, but I realized that, for productivity, it’s a bit problematic. One look at my bed will result in closed eyes and a conversation with my roommates can go from 2 minutes to 2 hours – so, displacing myself has proved to be the best option.

It takes all my mental power to actually set up outside of my room, but it ends up paying off at the end of the day. Just make sure you have everything you’ll need (including chargers), and find a nice place to settle down. My personal favorite is Giovannini Commons in Mendoza, but other nice places (apart from the cliche library) are the lounge in the back of Debart, Einstein’s (also includes food, which is a plus) and

Reasonable To Do Lists

I strongly want to emphasize the word reasonable. Too often have I created a to-do list that was 20 items long and only gotten through 9 or 10, which left me feeling disappointed in myself. So, make sure you have your priorities straight before making a list. Go through the things that need the most immediate attention and only write those down. Make sure your list seems do-able, otherwise you’ll feel like you’re drowning. Then, the things you should do, etc. To-do lists are like the college student’s caffeine – they’re addictive.

Self Control App

This app is my mentor, my angel, and my best friend all wrapped into one. It’s single-handedly kept me productive in times of mass distraction (i.e finals), and helped my grades significantly. Essentially, the app will block entry into any website (that you put in the blacklist) and won’t let you go on the site for the amount of time you set it for. Even if you delete the app, it will still not let you on the site for that amount of time. It’s incredible(ly frustrating), and so worth it.

Find an atmosphere soundtrack that plays softly in your headphones

Now, I’m guilty. I’m guilty of dancing to Beyonce when I should be studying. I’m guilty of singing to Ed Sheeran when I should be writing a paper. See, I’m the type of person who will, more often than not, get distracted by the music I have playing and not get anything done. So, when my friend introduced me to the beautiful world of atmosphere soundtracks, my productivity increased two-fold.

You can search for a bunch of these on YouTube, but if you can’t find one you like, THIS website is great and the app Coffivity as well.

Turn your phone on vibrate and put it in your bag

I tried an app similar to the Self Control app with my phone, but it didn’t actually block the apps. Instead, it made me feel guilty if I used my phone when I had the app open. Ultimately, it just made me feel bad and didn’t deter my procrastination at all.

So, I figured just turning your phone on vibrate and putting it out of sight was the best option. I would have it on silent, but you never know who needs to talk to you when. Also, to avoid text message distractions, you can also turn iMessage off or on ‘do not disturb’ on your computer (if you have a Mac/iPhone).

COFFEE

Need I say more?

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