5 Ways to be Productive as a Student

In this blog, first published on the Custom Writings web site, I want to share five essential tips that can take your studies to a new level and direct you towards what you truly enjoy doing. 

As a productivity expert, I love helping people craft the life that they really want to experience and my coaching provides students with a constructive mindset aiming for success & unlocking their potential.

After creating my business Alice Dartnell Limited, I regularly address troubles like not having enough time to study, not being able to meet professors’ deadlines, and other difficulties.

So, here are my five essential tips!

FIVE IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

Tip One: Plan ahead, but spend your mornings and evenings thoughtfully

Tip Two: Make short work “bursts” & do the big tasks gradually

Tip Three: Set early deadlines whenever possible

Tip One: Plan ahead, but spend your mornings and evenings thoughtfully

Tip Two: Make short work “bursts” & do the big tasks gradually

Tip Three: Set early deadlines whenever possible

                        Tip Four: Limit your sweets consumption

Tip Five: Avoid dehydration!

Alice Dartnell Life Success Coach Consultation Productivity Student Delegation Gay Hendricks Communication Study
Responsible planning, doing assignments in parts, and self-care can help to take your studies to the next level.
Tip One: Plan ahead, but spend your mornings and evenings thoughtfully

People say that youngsters are usually very lively, but they rarely explain how to manage the energy. If you jump to your to-do list right after you wake up, you might end up stressed, and the tension you will accumulate can keep you awake longer than your schedule allows. These troubles may cause sleep deprivation, directly affecting your productivity. Luckily, there’s a way to avoid these struggles if you make your mornings energizing and spend your evenings doing something peaceful. Sports or meditation that helps you remember the critical goals are some options to begin a good day.

It’s better to plan all your activities in advance and just review them before starting. This way you’ll feel calm and organized, minimizing stress. Moreover, you shouldn’t just collapse onto your bed and mindlessly scroll through Facebook before falling asleep. You will rest better if you lay aside all the gadgets and take a slow walk or read a good book. But don’t forget to map out the next day before doing it, to know exactly when you are going to study, rest, and cook your dinner.

Tip Two: Make short work “bursts” and do the big tasks gradually

Contrary to popular definitions, productivity is not “doing many things as fast as possible” or “in one go”. As you have probably guessed from the first tip, productivity is about doing the right things as much as possible, giving something insignificant, like watching Netflix, no more than an hour or two a day. So the people who say that one does not simply write a ten-page research paper in one night are actually right. You can easily avoid straining yourself with such tasks by dividing them into smaller ones.

Perhaps it’s not that easy to write two pages every day and finish the large assignment gradually, but making it your habit will definitely impress the professors. Thoughtfully dedicating time to coming up with ideas and creating good arguments pays off. You also need a small notepad to jot down sudden insights and bring them into your writing time. In contrast, if you leave the planning until last minute and write, feeling half asleep or angry, the results might not turn out as great. Being the best version of yourself means paying equal attention to your time and your skills, because you can only improve them step by step.

Tip Three: Set early deadlines whenever possible

Finishing your tasks early has more benefits than you might think. It’s a chance to rest more, but you can also get better results by using the remaining time to review everything without a rush. For example, if a large assignment is due in one week, take your planner and assign equal parts of this work to the first six days. Leave the seventh one to check everything once again. There are helpful questions, which the people who complete their tasks right before the deadline overlook.

  • Did you meet all the rubric criteria?
  • Do different sections come together seamlessly?
  • Is your text easy to read?

You can be sure that you will get good results if the answers are positive. Try pursuing this working mode and remember what Henry Ford once said: “If you think you can or can’t, you are right.” There is no easy way to be productive, so the right mindset will definitely help you feel more confident, while developing useful habits.

Tip Four: Limit your sweets consumption

You might have heard that sweets boost your energy, and it’s partially correct. Those delightful chocolates most people adore give you a rush of blood sugar, causing your power to reach its highest level. However, very soon this strength collapses, slowing you down and threatening the usual schedule. There is a solution, and you can consider these facts to achieve a food balance.

  • Creating a healthy diet that contains beneficial and tasty meals is a better idea, because wholesome products make you active for many hours ahead.
  • It might seem that cooking and washing the dishes takes too long, but you can safely consider this precious time well-spent as it becomes an investment into your stable focus.
  • Controlled attention and efficiency directly support productivity, allowing you to do what is truly important and minimizing distractions.

So, if you didn’t know about these factors before, considering them in the future will save you a lot of effort.

Tip Five: Avoid dehydration!

COVID-19 has forced people across the globe to work and study from home. Although this change has good outcomes like getting more time to sleep and not having to spend hours commuting, there are hidden dangers as well. Do you really notice how much water you drink? Feeling comfortable in a familiar environment, you can fill the glass any moment, but it might never get done, especially on a busy day.

Nonetheless, dehydration is very dangerous, because it causes headaches, slows down the thinking process, and generally decreases your productivity. Try tracking how much you usually drink during the day. Don’t count tea or coffee since they don’t have the necessary chemical elements. Make sure to drink at least 1.5 litres of water in 24 hours to know exactly that no external factors will prevent you from accomplishing everything you’ve planned.

The Bottom Line

These five tips are based on my perspective on productivity and what people need to boost it. The approach I use includes responsible planning, doing assignments in parts, and self-care. Thinking strategies and the way our body functions affect how many important things we can do.

Healthy habits extend to your overall wellbeing and can help you avoid many stress-related illnesses. Although changing behavior patterns is always a serious challenge, my experience proves it’s always worthwhile. Maybe you know and follow some of these hints, but try combining all five to use your full potential and

Take a Look at the Custom Writings Blog 

Take a look at the Custom Writings blog for lots more helpful advice, inspiration and information on how to be more a more productive, happier and more motivated student.

 

New Online Time Management Self-Study Course 

The Transform Your Time: The Foundations to Time Management Course is an easy-to-do self-study course hosted on Kajabi for time-poor professionals who are ready for quick-wins that’ll empower you to master your time management and unlock hours!

This is THE time management course for busy professionals that don’t have time to learn about time management! All modules are broken down into bite-sized content that is easy-to-digest, learn and implement which you can do at your own pace so it fits within your busy life!

You can find out more about this Online Self-Study Time Management Course  by clicking HERE.

 

This self-paced, self-study course made up of short, easy to implement, bite-sized modules is for you if..

📚 You’ve tried to be organised with time blocking, to do lists, tools like Trello… but it hasn’t really stuck.

🔑 You know that positive time management habits like daily planning, setting intentions and a morning routine would be so beneficial… but you don’t have time to learn or implement that!

🧭 You find yourself saying things like “there’s just not enough hours in the day” or “I don’t have time for…”

😠 You sometimes feel flustered and snappy because there is just too much to do and not enough hours in the day for it.

📆 You do your best to manage it all but feel like your time and days are pressured, and you don’t have enough down time in the week.

😥 You’re easily side tracked with interruptions & distractions, so the day evaporates (and this often means then having to work late or longer than you could have!).

 

This is the course for the person who want to feel organised and be productive and want the tools to make their time management actions work for them.

 

Would You Like More Support With Your Time & Energy Management?

Let me empower you to transform your time and energy management!

Unfortunately, you have missed the highly successful and transformational January 2022 “Own Your Day” time management course. But you can get your free copy of the mini-training – “The Perfectionist’s Guide to Boosting Productivity and Finding Balance” HERE.

 
You can also find out more and register your interest about future courses and programmes by sending me an email alice@alicedartnell.com.
 

Book Your Complimentary Discovery and Planning Call

Do You Want Your Own Magic Morning?

Everybody’s individual magic morning will be different, and it is important to make it work for you, but mine includes a drink of warm lemon water, meditation, a bit of journaling, visualisation and often a morning workout.

As a life coach, I can support you, creating your perfect Magic Morning!

Other topics I specialise in include:

  • How to create a growth mindset for success
  • Overcoming perfectionism
  • Goal setting and achieving your goals
  • Coaching skills (for you and your team)  

If you’re looking for a coach that is down-to-earth, supportive, and knows when to challenge and push you to help you be your best, then let’s chat.

Click the link below or feel free to drop an email to alice@alicedartnell.com.

What My Clients Are Saying

“I initially signed up with Alice to help me with my time management and productivity in my business and everyday life. Alice is a fantastic coach. She is supportive, kind. I love her honest, no bullshit approach. Since working with Alice I have discovered so many new ways of doing things. She has helped me uncover the root of some of my habitual tendencies and transform them. The amount of care and support she offers is priceless. I highly recommend working with her.”

Oonagh English DipNT mNTOI – Life Coach and Nutritional Therapist

“The time management course has been a total eye opener for me – I have learned so much, implementing ideas and strategies I just never thought I had time to do! Just goes to show – if you have support by the right people in your life you can achieve anything! ”

Jacqui C – Oxfordshire, England

Further Reading

Poor health habits are one of the ‘Four Thieves’ that can hold you up and seriously impacts upon your time management & productivity. Make sure that you include your health in your Circle of Influence. Read my blog Why Looking After Your Health Improves Your Productivity, to find out why and what steps you can take to increase your focus, concentration and productivity.

Failure is actually beneficial and an essential part of self-development. Albert Einstein once said, “Failure is success in progress”. Read  my article 5 Tips How to Bounce Back From Failure ASAP, to understand how to bounce back when you think that you have failed.

Self-Sabotaging. Are you a secret self-sabotager? Me too! Read my blog article 3 tips on how to stop self-sabotaging for my essential hard-learned top tips for how to stop self-sabotaging today.

Habits are what gets you success and my blog 4 Insanely easy ways to create good habits explains four insanely easy ways to start creating good habits.

Work towards you goals in easy bit by bit using the compound-effect of the Law of the Slight Edge. In a nutshell, the Slight Edge is the law that everything adds up bit by bit. The actions we take will move us either towards our goals or away from them.  Learn more about the Law of the Slight Edge in my ground-breaking article Using the Slight Edge To Achieve Your Goals.

What Does it Take to Successfully Work From Home?

Alice Dartnell Life Success Coach Consultation Working From Home Productivity

Have you ever wondered what does it take to successfully work from home? My latest book is a hands-on guide for everyone working at home. It will show you in easy to read tips how to work from home, whilst staying productive, healthy and sane.

In informative, easy to read chapters, you will learn how to set up your own dedicated workspace, select the right office equipment and tips for video calling and conferencing. You will also learn the importance of setting and maintaining boundaries inside the home, managing distractions, avoiding procrastination and learn how to establish a routine that suits your lifestyle.

With many people working from home for the first time, this book is a practical guide to show you how to work from home, whilst staying productive, healthy and sane.

On sale for just £2.42 / $2.99! To purchase your copy click the Amazon button below!

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This article is written by Alice Dartnell, life and success coach of Alice Dartnell Limited. Alice empowers busy professionals to be successful, transform their lives and achieve more by improving their confidence, mindset and time management.

For more information please see www.alicedartnell.com.

Copyright ©️ 2022 Alice Dartnell Limited

Disclaimer

This blog is published by Alice Dartnell Limited solely for educational and entertainment purposes. The author and publisher are not offering it as legal, accounting, health care or other professional services advice. While best efforts have been used in preparing this blog, the author and publisher make no representations or warranties of any kind and assume no liabilities of any kind with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be held liable or responsible to any person or entity with respect to any loss or incidental or consequential damages caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information contained herein. Every person and company are different, and the advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. Alice Dartnell or Alice Dartnell Limited is not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised in this blog. You should seek the services of a competent professional as appropriate. You are responsible for your own choices, actions, and results. Always consult your own General Practitioner if you’re in any way concerned about your health.