7 Ideas for Improving Your Productivity In College

College experience brings a whole new list of responsibilities with it that some students either don’t expect or have a difficult time managing on their own. Whether you are a brand new college freshman or have been struggling for the past few semesters to get organized and focused, this article is for you.

Here are seven things you can do to increase your productivity and earn the grades your hard work and dedication deserve.

1 Review All Course Syllabus At the Beginning of the Semester The most important thing any student can do is to read every course syllabus thoroughly and to understand every listed assignment. If something is unclear, address it with the professor immediately, get clarification, and plan accordingly. Having a firm handle on all of your due dates is crucial for maintaining high levels of productivity across all your classes.

2 Schedule All Coursework In Advance Once you have all of your syllabus together, create a calendar with the due dates for all of your assignments. You might find that several assignments will be due at the same time or within days of each other. This is where most students’ productivity begins to waver. Many times, those due dates creep up when they aren’t paying attention, and the quality of one assignment is sacrificed for another. If you want consistency in your work, you need to set aside ample time for all of it.Term papers and essays are among the first things to get neglected. If you are having trouble completing a specific writing assignment, seek assistance from your professor, a trusted classmate, or an online service like EssayPro that specializes in providing college essay help to responsible students like you who just need a little extra assistance.

3  Eliminate Distractions When it’s time to study, it’s time to study. If you find your dorm to be too chaotic to get things done, grab your laptop and head to the library or someplace off-campus, you find conducive to productivity. Decide in advance how much time you are going to spend on each assignment and stay focused until all your work is done. This is far easier to do when you eliminate the common distractions that lure most students away from their work.

4  Don’t Skip Meals When you’re hungry, you tend to lose focus. Be sure that you are giving your body the fuel it needs to get your brain working at optimal levels. Keeping a favourite snack nearby can also help increase the amount of productive time you spend studying, writing, or completing other assignments. No time for breakfast? Go to bed earlier and set an earlier morning alarm. Your body, brain, and grades will all thank you. 

5 Join Study Groups Study groups are the best way to stay focused on a specific subject for a specific duration. Having the opportunity to discuss and debate various course concepts can help you gain a clearer understanding of the subject and even give you ideas for details to include in papers and essays.Other people’s perspectives on a given subject might give you a clearer understanding of it. Getting over that hurdle will only increase your productivity overall.

6 Put Down the Smartphone Let’s just admit it: smartphones create distractions. They are great for doing quick research, but when that research gets interrupted by texts and notifications, that decreases your productivity.One student we know went so far as to mail her phone to herself just before finals so she wouldn’t be tempted to pick it up for two or three days. You might not need to take that extreme a measure, but the example makes a good point: know yourself and discipline yourself the best you can when it comes to your phone.

7 Make Time For Fun Strange as it may seem, making time to be with friends and cut loose is a great way to maintain high levels of productivity. If you spend all your time studying and not enjoying campus life, thoughts of loneliness and exclusion can weave its way into your study time. Any time spent not thinking about your subject is unproductive time. Give yourself a break once in a while. You’ve earned it!

Yes, productivity is a difficult thing to maintain with all the various distractions that can creep in as part of campus life, but if you heed our advice, you will stay more focused, get all your work done on time, and still have time to enjoy a quality social life, too.