7 Reasons Why You Aren't Productive— And How To Change That
It can be hard to be productive in college with so many distractions. You have a plan to get an assignment done and before you know it, you’ve spent an hour on social media that was only supposed to last five minutes. Another scenario could be going to the library, seeing friends and spending most of your time socializing than working. The reasons are endless so let’s get to the root of your productivity issues.
Reason #1: Too many commitments
As college students, sometimes we overcommit. We give others too much of our time so we can’t be productive with our school work/projects and forget what we came to college for. Involvement in college is great but means nothing if your grades are dropping.
The Solution:
Look at everything that takes up your time and prioritize what you should give your time to based off of your professional goals or current semester. If you are in a time-consuming modeling troupe and aspire to be an accountant, maybe you need to reassess your priorities. If modeling is a passion project, do it, but get serious about managing your time and prioritize wisely.
Reason #2: Social media distractions
It’s easy to scroll through social media to see who liked or commented on your picture. After checking that picture, you spend a few more minutes scrolling and minutes turn into hours. When you have a clear goal of what you need to get done, you can do it with fewer distractions from social media.
The Solution:
Turn off your post notifications on all of your social media accounts. If you are not obligated to talk to anyone, turn your phone on airplane mode or cut off your WiFi so you won’t pick your phone up. If you do take a break in between your work, set a timer on your phone and commit to that break.
Reason #3: Priorities aren’t written down by the due date
You accomplished the easier assignment due two weeks from now. This could lead to procrastination for the assignment that requires more of your time and is due in just two days.
The Solution:
Keep a daily to-do list. When you look at your to-do list, prioritize which assignment requires the most time and the closer due date. Once you knock out the assignments that require a lot of your time, productivity is easier.
Reason #4: Multitasking
Don’t multitask unless you are eating and watching a movie. When it comes to your productivity, you are moving from one task to another and it’s taking you longer.
The Solution:
Focus on one assignment and give yourself a time increment to work on it. If you don’t like time increments, go off how your energy feels. For example, if you aren’t mentally prepared to work on three assignments, just work on two.
Reason #5: Working in an unproductive environment.
You can’t perform at your best if you are doing your work in environments where you are distracted.
The Solution:
Don’t work in your bed! It’s a setup to fall asleep and not finish your assignments. Instead, work at a desk or in the library where no one sees you.
Reason #6: Waking up late
If you wake up right before class time, you are already overwhelmed by thinking about what’s due soon.
The Solution:
Wake up early enough to get breakfast and plan your day ahead. Get in a consistent routine of waking up early so you can knock some tasks off your to-do list and clear your mind before you start your day.
Reason #7: An overwhelming to-do list.
It’s harder to accomplish tasks when you have a gazillion things to do. You immediately become overwhelmed by everything and less motivated to complete your tasks because you are already thinking about how it’s impossible to do everything in a short amount of time.
The Solution:
Accomplish the top three priorities on your to-do list. Look at it and see which task you could knock out so you will feel rewarded.
Productivity can be hard, but it’s very possible by changing a few of your habits.
RELATED ARTICLES
