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Home Opinion Just Pitschin’ Ideas: How to Be Productive

by Madison Pitsch

 

Question:

My beginning-of-school productivity is wearing off, and I never get my work done anymore. What can I do to be more productive?

Answer:

I am the queen of not getting things done. For example, in the middle of trying to write this column, I have stopped at least three times to go get water, scroll through Instagram and talk to my roommate. I am totally unqualified at telling you how to get things done, but I do know some tricks that work.

First things first: location. If Janzow Top is your ideal place to study, it’s time to reconsider. There are people everywhere and so many welcomed opportunities for distraction! If you’ve got a big project coming up that you need to get done, you need to go somewhere that you can devote all of your attention to that specific project. Unless of course, you like staying up till 3 a.m. working on a five-page paper that should only take you an hour and a half.

A side note on location is seating. Speaking from personal experience, spinning chairs are the devil. If you sit in a spinning chair, you will accomplish nothing. I hate to sound like your mother, but you need to sit at a hard table with a hard chair. The more distraction you can remove from the equation, the better.

Let’s talk about your phone. You may say it’s not a distraction, you may say that you will turn it off/put it away. Real talk: You won’t put your phone away. These days our phones are attached to our hands, and there is no way to avoid it. So turn the notifications off on your phone for Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Your phone won’t constantly be trying to grab your attention, and soon enough, you’ll forget it even exists! (Just kidding, that is basically impossible.)

Lastly, your study group. You pretend like studying with your best friend is not an issue. But you know the truth—you never get anything done together because you’re constantly talking. Personally, I have a hard time studying with my roommate because we get together, and we just cannot stop talking. Sometimes you have to put yourself in isolation. While it might be lonely at the time, getting your work done and having time for free time afterwards is a great reward.

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