How to have a more productive winter semester

With the winter term in full swing, I thought I would share some productivity tips that have helped me in university over the years. Allow me to preface this article by saying that I am a notorious procrastinator and night owl. Far too often I find myself wasting too much time on my phone, leaving my school and home responsibilities until late in the evening. However, over the years I have come up with a few strategies to help kick those habits to the curb. Once I turned these strategies into new, healthy, habits I found that I was infinitely more productive every day. Yes, even on Sundays.

TV show detox

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Throughout my first bachelor’s degree, I found that I was spending way too much time binging television shows, not knowing when to focus on more important things. As a result, I made a rule for myself that I was not allowed to start any new series during a school term. Instead, I allowed myself to start new shows only on breaks from school, and I found that I was so much more productive throughout each term.

Make use of daylight

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During the winter term, I find myself feeling far more tired once the sun sets, and sunset comes around a lot earlier this time of the year. In order to maximize my productivity, I have made a conscious effort to wake up at a reasonably early time and get my work done before my daily commitments.  Being a night owl, the biggest push for me to get up early is finding one thing to motivate me to start my day – maybe I’m getting pizza for dinner, maybe it’s Friday Jr., whatever gets you up!

Put your phone away

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Full disclosure, I struggle with this one every day. The temptations of Instagram and TikTok are real, and sometimes it is an internal battle to choose responsibilities over my phone. However, if you know you need to get some work done, just put the phone away. Whether it’s 20 minutes or two hours, simply having my phone out of reach is enough for me to really hunker down and get work done. For me, the best approach to this tip was a reward system with myself. I’d make promises to myself by saying, “I’m going to put my phone away and write the introduction to this paper. When it’s done, I can have my phone for 20 minutes.” Not only does this reward system keep your phone use regulated, but it actually builds confidence when you keep the promises you make to yourself.

Plan

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I cannot tell you how much planning I do to be as productive as I am. Whether it’s a monthly calendar print-out or a weekly agenda, planning ahead really helps you visualize your responsibilities. Personally, I have found that long-term and short-term planning have helped me the most. Start by writing down all major syllabus due dates. Next, fill in your class times, extra-curricular times (including work if applicable), and minor due dates such as asynchronous work or check-ins. You may also decide to break down your planning one step further and get a daily planner. Essentially, these allow you to break up your days into segments where you can see just how much time you can afford to spend on any given commitment per day. I have planned to use all three of these methods, and they really helped me avoid leaving work until the last minute. By writing down your commitments, you create a visual form of accountability for yourself, and I should just add it is such a nice feeling to tick all of those commitments off of your calendar when they’re done.