5 Tips for Productivity in the Second Semester
With the second semester starting soon, it’s time to get back in gear and in the right mentality for school. Here are 5 simple tips to stay productive and efficient in the New Year:
- Start your school day with prayer
The best way to start your school day is with a prayer to the Holy Spirit. Even if you already pray as a part of your morning routine, praying at your desk before starting school helps you offer up your work, and gives you a defined start: “I’ve finished praying, so it’s time to get to work”.
Here are some ideas for prayers to start your day:
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Prayer Before Study
Prayer to St. Joseph of Cupertino Before Exams
- Identify potential distractions and eliminate them
Take some time before you begin your work to take a look around you and identify what some potential distractions might be. Don’t have your phone in the room where you do school. On your laptop, consider installing an app and website blocker to block distracting sites during school hours. If possible, try to keep books for recreational reading and hobbies away from your school area to reduce temptation.
- Exercise before starting school
Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, increasing cognitive function, and allowing for improved focus and the ability to retain information well. Exercise also increases endorphins and serotonin, which boost your mood; great for when you’re working on a nasty math lesson.
- Schedule your school time and write a to-do list.
Take note of how long it approximately takes you to complete your subjects, and schedule them into your day with a few breaks in between. For example:
9am – Math
10am – Faith and Morality
10:45am – 15 minute break
11am – Earth Science
12pm – Lunch break
12:30pm…
…and so on.
Having a to-do list can help you accomplish other tasks aside from school. Before you begin your school day (and after you’ve said a quick prayer of course), sit down with a sheet of paper and write down everything you have to do before the end of the day. In addition to school, include chores, sports and dance practices, family obligations, and anything else you’d like to accomplish in the day. Checking things off your list gives you a huge sense of satisfaction! I like to keep a special notebook just for scheduling my school day and writing to-do lists.
- Reverse your school schedule
This tip won’t work for everyone, especially if you participate in extracurriculars in the afternoons and evenings, but instead of doing your school in the morning, try starting your school day after lunch. This method gives you time to enjoy the outdoors, get some exercise, practice your hobbies, do some chores, and get the day started off on the right foot. Speaking from personal experience and observation, you might actually get more done this way than if you were to start school sometime around 9am. Again, this won’t work for everyone, but it might work for you, so why not give it a shot? Make sure to keep in mind that with this method, you’ll be finishing your school day a few hours later than usual.
Do you have any special tricks or tips for getting work done? Share with us in the comments!
