Tips for Ultra Productivity and Getting the Most out of the Hours You Have

I'm kinda hitting the point where I have 0 motivation and I'm not getting a whole lot done. Certainly not as much as I would like to. So I came up with some ideas to help you all stay productive and utilize all the hours you have in a day, because we all know there are not enough of them.

1. Start your day off earlier than you do now. (Unless you get up before the sun already. Then you're probably fine.) Set the alarm and jump out of bed - don't think about what you're doing or what you need to do, just get out of bed, turn off the alarm, and go. I personally prefer an actual alarm clock over my phone. I leave my phone downstairs to charge at night, which solves two problems. First, I don't stay up until 3 am scrolling through apps, and second, I don't spend two hours on it when I get up. If you have to have your phone in the same room as you, at least put it across the room or in a spot where you it's not within arm's reach.

2. I know a lot of people say that you should make a to-do list the night before, and if you can remember everything you need to do at that time, awesome. I can't just sit down and remember every little thing I have to do the next day. Instead, I keep a running to-do list each day. Usually at least three, actually - one for that day, one for the next day, and one for the weekend. I will sometimes start the lists the night before, but I really keep it going all day. It really doesn't overwhelm me too much, even if the list just keeps growing. It's easier than trying to remember it all at 9:00 the night before.

3. Half-Hour Method. I wrote a blog post on Sydney's blog recently, and you can find more info about this (and get some more tips) here. (While you're there you might as well read all of Sydney's blog posts because they are freaking awesome.)

4. Figure out what is stressing you out the most, and do it first. Even if you find that your motivation is lacking dramatically, just get it done - you will feel so much better.

5. Promise yourself a reward. This is kind of a "duh", but do it anyway. Tell yourself you can watch a TV show, read a book, go outside, watch all seven Star Wars Movies and all the bonus features (that is not extreme, don't start thinking that), I don't know what you do for fun, but do it after you've completed a day of hard work. Do not watch a forty minute episode after every thirty minutes of math. Take little breaks when you need them, and promise yourself the big reward at the end of the day. It'll keep you more motivated then if you reward yourself every hour.

So that's it. Fairly basic stuff, but they all help me a lot and I'm able to get so much more done. (Also make sure you always have water with you. Water makes life so much better.) Remember that you're almost there, and you can survive the final few months of school - then get on to being productive outside of constant studying.