How to be Productive in College

 

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As a college student taking more than 15 hours every semester, I know how hard it is to stay focused and productive during college. I have tried lots of things, but this is a list of what has worked the best for me since starting college. I am far from the best at staying focused when doing homework, and I’m trying to work on being better. This list has helped me stay on top of my work instead of waiting until the last minute to finish everything.

Make a Master List

Make a master list of your homework and each assignment’s due date. I make a list for all of the homework for that current week before I start working on anything. I like to be organized, and when I have a list, I can easily see when everything is due and not miss a deadline. With a list of the due dates written down, you can easily prioritize assignments.

Make a Homework Schedule

I really like to make a schedule of what homework I want to finish and when I want to have it done by. I make schedule for about 3 or 4 days at a time. I start with the things that are due first and break those into sections for each day. Then, I break up each of the other tasks that need to be done for that week. If the week isn’t already too busy with homework, work, and other commitments. I add in other long term assignments, like the projects and papers due at the end of the semester. This semester, I had a book I had to read and then write a paper about. Throughout the semester, I would read a chapter or so a week if possible so I wasn’t doing the entire assignment the week before it was due. I actually still ended up doing the whole paper within two days of the due date, but I didn’t have to read the book that week too.

This is what a few days on my schedule look like:

Sunday: Chem test

             Span HW for Tues.
Monday: History to 8.2
             Start chem reading
             Type recipe page
Tuesday: Check the list for flipgrid
              Chem reading
              History to 8.3
              New gov. Notebook
              History videos
              Catch up on music through 10-16
              Read history notes 1x
 

Set a Timer

What I do every time I sit down to get some work done is set a timer for 40 to 55 minutes. After the timer goes off, I take a short break that’s between 10 and 15 minutes. This helps me not get too bored with my homework, and I have a break to look forward to instead just working for as long as I can. The breaks also help keep me awake. I can get up and move around so I don’t fall asleep wherever I’m sitting and doing homework. During finals week, I would study for 40 minutes and take 10 minute breaks. Every couple of breaks, I would do a 15 minute break. This has really helped me to stay focused because I have a set amount of time to focus and then I can do something else.

Break Up Each Study Period

When you’re studying for your 45 to 55 minutes, sometimes I like to break this time up between subjects, especially if I have a lot of textbook reading I need to get done. Frequently, I spend 20 minutes on the longest amount I need to do, and then 15 minutes each on two other subjects. For example, I’ll read my history textbook for 20 minutes, and then read my chemistry and government textbook chapters for 15 minutes each. I do this with homework too, like 30 minutes of chemistry homework, and 20 minutes of music homework. I feel like changing the subject helps me stay interested and engaged. If I spend the whole 45 minutes reading my history textbook, I get very bored of that one subject. 

I hope this post can help you be more productive, and if you liked it, please share it with the button below! Also, make sure your subscribed so you see all of the new content being posted. Happy studying!