7 PRO Productivity Tips

Being productive is something everyone struggles with. Well, mostly everyone. After doing a lot of research on ways to be productive, I've come up with the 7 BEST productivity tips!

Honestly speaking, I'm not a very productive person myself. I do try to be productive every now and then, but I'm not 24/7 productive. Hence, I'd like to tell you (and myself :D) HOW you can be that instagrammable, picture perfect person in real life too!

First off, the MEANING of this magic word; productivity.

Productivity is a measure of efficiency of a person completing a task. People often think that productivity means getting more things done everyday. Well, now we know that they're obviously wrong. Productivity is getting important things done consistently, while making sure that you utilize your time and energy, and not keeping the common thought that "I'll do it tomorrow", because as they say, tomorrow never comes.

If you still don't understand, take it this way. You know how they're those people on Instagram and Pinterest, who're totally organized and perfect? Well, THEY are productive. They have clean rooms, eat not-always-mouth-watering-but-extremely-pretty food, and are usually really rich (have you even seen their wardrobes and kitchens? O.M.G!).

In order to be like them, lets look at my 7 productivity tips.

1. Wake Up Early

Waking up early means to WAKE.UP.EARLY! Some wake up at 11:00 AM or 12:00 AM and they say that they've woken up in the morning, but you've got to understand that waking up early means to wake up at 08:00 AM or at least 09:00 AM. In order to wake up early, you also have to sleep early in the night. Yup, I know. I don't like doing that either, but whenever I do, I always wake up at around 08:30 AM. As a high school student, I make sure to sleep at 10:30 PM, since I have to get a good nights sleep in order to get up at 05:45 AM daily. On Fridays, I sleep early due to the tiresome from going to school the entire week. Since I can sleep for however long I want, I usually wake up a bit more late than usual; I wake up at at least 09:30 AM. Trust me! Waking up early is soo worth it! You'll be fresh and will want to actually be productive the entire day.

If you already wake up late, then start off by putting an alarm. Set an alarm for 09:00 AM, and after a few weeks, waking up at this time will become a habit. After 7 weeks of waking up for school at 05:45 AM, I've naturally started to wake up a few minutes before the alarm. If you make waking up early a part of your routine, you'll eventually not even have to wake up to the sound of your terrifying alarm anymore.

To help you get motivated;

"Success comes to those who have the willpower to win over their snooze buttons."

2. Make A To-Do List/Weekly Planner

Lemme tell you a story real quick. I'll start off with the good part. When I was younger, I used to make to-do lists. The bad part of this story is, I never used them. I only made them, pasted them on my door, and when I would look at it the next day, I wouldn't follow it. That's because I'd feel like the things on my to-do lists were boring. Who'd want to study for half an hour or bake something everyday?

The thing is, many people make unrealistic planners. They write down things which they just know they won't do. I knew I wouldn't bake something the next day, and I definitely did know that I wouldn't study for half an hour, so then why make a to-do list like this? That's because that is the version of you which you want to be. Of course I wanted to be a perfect child and study daily. Of course I wanted to use my creativity and draw a new picture everyday. But you have to learn how to actually use your time and energy. Being productive doesn't mean doing more things everyday, it also means to know how to utilize your time and energy properly. While being realistic, write necessary tasks that actually need to be done. Mention some recent assignment you got and need to have it completed. Or if you had to order something important online, write it in your weekly planner so that you don't forget about it.

So get started now! A great app to make a customized weekly planner/to-do list yourself is Canva, but you can also use the one I've given below. A much simpler app to use for making to-do lists and to list down important notes is Google Keep. Remember, be realistic.

3. Stay Organized

One of my major problems is organization. I'm extremely messy, and I rarely have bursts of sudden realization that my room is extremely messy. But when I do fix my room, it’s totally worth it. I feel better and more productive. Even if you don’t want to clean your entire room, at least make sure that your study/work desk is neat. This helps a lot, since it will actually make you want to work. If all your pens and highlighters are scattered around on the table, take a box and organize them there. Keep your pens, sticky notes and post-its color coordinated. This not only gives a visually stunning look, it also makes you feel like studying or working.

A good place to keep your desk is either right next to or near a window. It will give rays of sunshine while you work, and you’ll always feel better. LED light bulbs have no competition with natural light. Plus, for all those medical students out there, sitting where you’ll get sunlight will help regulate your immune system. So you’ll be getting healthier physically and mentally, and will become more productive at the same time!

Here's an example of how neat and tidy your work area should be:

4. Make Pretty And Aesthetic Notes While Working/Studying

The mains way of doing this is by writing slowly. Not very slowly, but not very quickly either. Write with patience and calmness. It's not the end of the world. It's just a lecture you're noting down, so take your time. Make colorful and pretty headings with the help of markers, write your notes in different colors, highlight your own notes, use sticky notes. There are endless opportunities on note making and note decorating. But, there is one important question; are your pretty and colorful notes more important or your grades? Of course, your grades are more necessary. So if something ever happens which will cause you to not decorate your notes every time, that's totally okay. Sometimes, the teacher is basically rapping in class, which is why you don't have the time to decorate your notes. When that happens with me in class, I make my notes with a pencil, and once I come home, I organize and decorate them.

You can decorate your notes however you like, but here's an example to give you some ideas:

5. Make a vision board

For those of you who don't know what a vision board is, its basically a collage with pictures and quotes of things that inspire you. These things can be pictures of money, a businesswoman/man or a huge house. Basically, the entire point of making this vision board is to INSPIRE you, to motivate you to work harder so that you can get what you want in the future. It'll make you think back to WHY you're doing this, and how it'll help you in the future. For example if you want to be a worldwide famous actor, you can put pictures of money and an Oscar. This way, whenever you have to work but you're not in the mood to, all you have to do is take a look at your vision board and you'll have a sudden burst of inspiration.

So, one way to make your vision board is by making it REAL. Make a list of all the things you want in the future; cars, money, a successful job, a family, etc. Then, either take printouts of pictures related to the things you noted down, or draw it yourself. That's another way of using your creativity. After doing that, stick those pictures on a sheet or piece of cardboard and paste that somewhere where you'll see it every now and then, or pin it to a soft board.

Another way of doing this is digitally. Make a collage of all those pictures from the list and make that your phone's wallpaper. You can easily make this collage on Canva. This way, whenever you fall on your bed to use your phone after losing motivation, all your going to do is click the side button and by seeing the vision board, you'll get a boost of inspiration.

Here's an example of what my vision board looks like;

It shows a lot of the things I want to have in the future or what I want to learn; a pretty wardrobe, friends, books, food, a car, makeup and art.

6. Take Breaks Only When Necessary

If you're not a motivated person, then only after 5 minutes of working, you'll want to take a break. If that happens to you, take that as a MAJOR red flag! In order to stop doing this, you first have to become responsible. It takes time, so if you do all the things I've mentioned above, you'll start becoming responsible naturally. Especially by making the vision board. Every time you go to take an unnecessary break, just take a look at your vision board and you'll get up again to get back at the work you were doing.

Remember when I said that productivity is about utilizing your time and energy? Well, that tip applies here. While being productive, your goal is to NOT.WASTE.TIME! Seriously, think about how much work you could have completed if you didn't take that unnecessary break after working for 10 minutes. I'm not saying that don't take breaks at all. Just don't take them when you don't need them, otherwise you'll never be able to complete you work.

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life." -Charles Darwin

7. Treat Yourself With Something Sweet

Finally, the best tip; to eat. That too, something sweet! Being a lover of sweets, this tip is definitely my favorite one. After a day of being productive, you've DEFINITELY got to treat yourself. If you're not a lover of sweets, no problem! Make whatever you love to eat, whether it's something savory or healthy. The main point is to reward yourself. Meanwhile, for those of you who do love sweet food, here's a quote for ya'll;

"You are what you eat, so eat something sweet!"

So go ahead! Make something which will treat that tummy of yours after being productive the whole day!

So in the end, those were my 7 top tips for being productive. I hope you liked them. Don't waste your time in being lazy, because your life is precious, and you never know when it'll end.

If you try out my productivity tips, make sure to comment your experience. In fact, feel free to give some suggestions or ask any questions. Subscribe to this blog so that you can get notifications whenever I post something new. Take care of yourselves.

F, signing off.