5 tips to increase your productivity

1. Choosing and finding your working method

Your work method can have a huge impact on your results, so find the one that suits you best:

• – Summary sheets (don’t rewrite your entire lesson on a single sheet). Identify the important information and write it down!
• – Mind maps: this method is effective if you have a visual memory! Put the title of your lesson in the center of a card, and connect it with arrows to your important information.
• – Flashcards: It’s a super fun way to remember dates and definitions. Put the date on one side and what it relates to on the other, and ask yourself questions! ( Personally, I’m a big fan of Flash 2.0 flashcards! With the SCRIBZEE app on your phone, you can revise anywhere.

You have a huge range of choices, all you have to do is try them out and choose the one that suits you best!

2. Knowing when you are most productive

Morning? Noon? Evening? Night? Early? Late? We’re all different, and we all have a time of day when we work best. For me, for example, it’s the morning. So in the morning, I do the most important/difficult tasks on my to-do list so that it’s lighter in the afternoon (when I’m least productive).

If you’re more productive in the evening, do the easier tasks during the day and save the major revisions for the evening. If you force yourself to revise a large lesson all day when it’s not your most productive time, you’ll have wasted your time and, what’s more, you won’t have retained anything. Knowing how to identify your most productive times will greatly help you achieve better results.

3. Create revision schedules

Organize your personal schedule with your class schedule: organize your class times with your personal appointments and leisure activities to then identify the times when you are free for your revision.

If you don’t get organized, you’ll quickly become overwhelmed and end up not working at all. Yes, you risk piling up classes, appointments/leisure activities, and exams to revise all at the same time. You’ll have so much to do that you’ll instinctively end up doing nothing, and you risk seeing negative results in your grades or your motivation. To avoid this, buy yourself a planner (a weekly one, for example, to get an overview) or simply make it all yourself on index cards (like the Oxford Revision 2.0 cards in plain white ).

Having an overview of your week or month will allow you to organize your revisions with your exams and avoid revising at the last minute.  

4. Know when to stop and listen to yourself!

Take time for yourself: give yourself breaks, get good nights of sleep (at least 7 hours), go outside for some fresh air, clear your head, do activities you enjoy, don’t study for 8 hours straight without breaks! Overloading yourself is counterproductive,e and you will exhaust yourself mentally.

Don’t compare yourself to others: some people will easily work 3 hours without a single break and be productive, ve while others can stay focused for 45 minutes,tes then need a 15-minute break.

As I said earlier, we’re all different, so don’t compare yourself to others and do what works for YOU. Regardless of your work style, remember: breaks are important for increasing your productivity.

5. Keep your motivation in mind

We often feel like giving up, give up, and we are very often discouraged during exam periods. 

It’s important to keep your goals in mind and remind yourself of them whenever you feel down. You need to stay motivated and not give up at the first sign of fatigue by remembering the reasons for your efforts.

My tips: you can write down motivational quotes ( I personally use Oxford Spot Notes ) and hang them above your desk or scan them with your phone. You can also follow motivational Instagram accounts (like Studygram) or simply talk about it with your friends and family! Motivating each other is also a great way to boost your productivity.