If you look online, there are tons and tons of ways to be more productive. However, some of these take a lot of effort, and while it’s still important to put in that effort to increase productivity, I do have a few quick fixes for you!
- Clean up your area
- Stop multitasking
- Create a study plan
- Reward yourself
Clean up your area
A messy desk is a messy mind. An empty desk is… don’t finish that. The point is, you need to clean up your desk, or wherever you choose to study. Clean up any clutter so that it doesn’t distract you when you’re studying. As well as this, try to take a minimalist approach to your desk: if there’s anything that you don’t need, put it in a drawer.
Stop multitasking
Multitasking is something that everyone knows is bad, but we still do. You can’t actually multitask – you just rapidly switch between tasks. This is the part of multitasking that is incredibly inefficient. When switching between tasks, you essentially have to reset your brain, so you lose a lot of focus, productivity, and flow.
Here are some more reasons why you should stop multitasking:
- You remember less of what you study
- Your performance decreases
- You become more tired, faster
- You take longer to study
- You understand less of what you study
Create a study plan
This might not exactly be a 5-second tip, but it’s really important, so it’s definitely worth mentioning. By creating a study plan, you ensure that you stay productive, since you don’t have to wonder what you’re meant to do next. Furthermore, you’re less likely to procrastinate because you’ve removed the fear of the unknown. Finally, a study plan can help you prevent multitasking, since you know that you have time to study everything you want to study, and you don’t have to juggle tasks.
Reward yourself
Rewarding yourself is so important. Without incentives, no-one would do anything. That’s why it’s so important to reward yourself for studying. You can do this by doing something enjoyable during a break, eating something nice for past paper you finish, or going out with some friends after a super-productive day. By doing this, you start to associate studying with happiness in your mind, so you’re more inclined to do it often!
