9 ways I keep myself super productive Psychologically.
9 ways I manage being a blogger, dancer and a full time student. Blogmas day 4!!!
Procrastination is the only thing holding us back from our dreams. No matter how old you are I know everyone has procrastinated before, no matter how hard it is to admit we all want to be productive.
Productivity is probably the hardest thing for anyone to accomplish and trust me when I say, it took me more than two years to achieve it.
Being productive is an amazing feeling and a very useful skill to have. The younger you are the easier it is to do and learn.
I understand life is sometimes hard and really busy. Sometimes it feels like 24 hours in a day is just not enough. I also felt these same feelings. So I’m here to help.
Productivity gives you more than just a feeling, it gives you the ability to control your mind and focus on the task at hand. It gives you the ability to accomplish more things at the same time and gives time management skills. Also it gives you the ability to manage your life.
Here are 9 simple ways I became super productive at the age of 14.
Start your day with a plan:
A todo list is a simple way of organizing your life. Todo lists help you spread out what you want or need to do over a period of time. You can be very specific in what time you need to do a specific thing, but there is no right or wrong in todo lists because they are specifically for you and only for you. I personally like to keep it brief. I also like to keep monthly, yearly and daily goals in my planner.
Biological clock:
we are in control of our mind and body, and if we have a set routine for ourselves we can make anything cooperate with us. Sometimes our mind or body just does not want to do what we want to or need to do. For instance, your mind probably wants to watch Netflix right now, but we have to do homework or study for the upcoming test. Most probably you would have given into your desire for Netflix, but that is just practicing procrastination and that’s what will happen in the future as well. So instead tell yourself after homework and studying I will watch Netflix. Make it so that Netflix is your reward for getting your stuff done, this will practice productivity rather than laziness. If you learn to train your mind and body you can make it focus to.
Multitasking:
I know multitasking is impossible to do with our brains because our brains are trained to do one thing at a time. Although there are some simple ways we can somewhat multitask. For instance when I walk during P.E or when I am on my break at school for 30 min I write by blog on my phone or edit my blog, or respond to comments and read/like others blogs. Any time I have, even when I walk home or to school I always have some way I can do during that time, so I don’t waste it in any way. I know this is a bit much, but personally this helps because I have a lot to get done especially in December.
Break tasks into smaller pieces:
I personally don’t do really well if I try to finish stuff all at once so I do one subject then move on to the next subject, so I don’t get bored. If you have a major project, don’t try to get it done in just one day, spread it out over the course of a week or so. So you dont do bad on the project and you don’t burn yourself out as well. I love to do what I feel like doing as long as it is productive. If I am done with math homework I will try to do science or blogging after.
Go task by task:
I never really like leaving tasks unfinished, it just bothers me, so much so I can’t sleep sometimes. I know I am going against what I said in the last tip (Break tasks into smaller pieces), but if it’s like homework or if it’s a small assignment I can get it done in 30 minutes to an hour, it’s fine. If you finish one thing then go onto the next task, it will be way more organized and more productive as you are getting more things over with.
PLAN:
I can not stress this enough, you have to plan anything and everything. I need to plan major projects, blogs, assignments and more. If you don’t, these simple things turn out to be much harder and time consuming than it really is. For instance: I love to plan blog ideas when I am in the car or having a short break, I draft my blogs on google drive and edit it more throughout the week. I plan all the points and ideas I want to do on presentations. Brainstorming is a great way to start anything and finish quicker. You can make your assignments or projects better over time. Plan for the day ahead.
FOCUS:
If you don’t have focus then your brain can get diverted really easily. Instead of getting something done in 30 minutes you could take hours. That’s a waste of time. Some ways you could get way more focused is don´t do work in the living room or bedroom. Scientifically these places are really distracting and our brain goes to relaxation mode instead of productivity mode, so it’s really hard to make your brain cooperate if you are in or even near those places. Try to have an office or desk in a designated location that doesn’t really change and make sure these places are quiet, with no distractions. Another tip is to listen to music, specifically one type of music. If you use one specific type of music or have a specific playlist for studying or blogging then you can observe that when ever you listen to these songs that you will naturally become way more productive. You can train your brain to do certain things in certain areas or with certain sounds.
Goal
Having a goal gives you somewhere to go in life. I have monthly, yearly and daily goals. Make sure your goals are realistic to achieve and be specific on how you are going to achieve them. Everyday we are doing things like going to school, going to work and more so we can work tours our goal. Working with out a goal can sometimes ruin your future because you just are not prepared. For instance we work so we can earn money so we can pay our bills, and at the end our real goal is to retire one day and save enough money. With out that goal you may never retire and you may never really save money.
Lastly, reward yourself:
Overworking can cause stress, lead to breakdowns and it just isn’t good for your mental or physical health. My biggest advice to you is sleep well at night time, have a good diet, have self care days, have at least once a week where you are just relaxing (for me that’s Sunday’s) and enjoy everything you do, look at life positively. What ever we do we should have a positive outlook so we can do it better and faster.
BONUS TIP:
Sometimes I have so much to do in one specific area. Like if I am behind on my blogs or if I am falling behind in a class, I like to take one day or one evening to get everything done in one sitting, or at least get most of it done. The bonus tip really helps if you are at risk of failing or falling behind or any emergency really.
Conclusion:
I try to get as much done as possible in one day, my biggest goal every day is to get everything done properly so I can relax later in the evenings. I have a goal to finish something every signal day and thats the main thing that keeps me going. My day may seem kind of hectic, but really this is how I chose my life. With out being busy, I probably would go insane.
Here is how my day looks like on a weekday normally:
- Wake up at 5:00
- Get ready to go to school
- Do dishes and get breakfast ready
- Read and reply to comments and likes (on blog) and look at stats
- While going to school with my brothers start to get ideas for blog
- First Algebra 1 notes (one semester)
- Classwork
- P.E assignment(one term)
- While walking in P.E sometimes wright blog on phone or start it
- Computer science (one semester) project
- Spanish (one semester) finish 10 assignments
- At home finish and edit blog and post blog
- Decorate home
- finish Spanish assessments
- finish homework if I have any (Math)
- Chores
- Dance practice
- Check on blog stats, comments and claps
- study if I need to or study Tamil
- relax or go to bed
