Being Productive For The New Year

It's coming up to the new year now and for most of us, this a time for a change. That change tends to be a positive one but it doesn't matter if the change is big or small just as long as you're happy then it's fine.

Now one of the biggest things I struggle with sometimes is being productive as I tend to procrastinate a lot. It takes time for me to be productive and I have to be in the right mindset to be productive. I thought I'd share with you a few tips on how to be productive.

1. Write everything you have to get done now
Whether that is to write an assignment or prepare for something then write it down. Write a big to do list of everything you know you have to do then put it in the order it needs to be completed by with the first one being the one you have to do first as it is due in before the rest.

2. Start it now
I know it's still the holidays and work is the last thing on your mind but maybe just do a little bit. Maybe look at what it is you have to do whether that is an assignment. Just take a look at it then maybe do a little bit of research. It might take you ten or fifteen minutes but it gives you the time to know what exactly it is you have to do. There's probably some guides about what you have to do and I suggest you take a look at them. Just make some little notes so when you do actually start this assignment after the holidays then you have a rough idea of what you are doing.

3. Start waking up early
I know getting up in the morning can be a struggle. For some reason your bed is so comfy in the morning that you don't want to leave it but honestly waking up early is the best thing you can do. It gives you more time in the day to work and more time to relax after that work. You don't feel so pressured because you have so many hours to do the work.

4. Give yourself a reasonable bed time
Now the best way to get up early is to make sure you have had enough sleep as you won't feel so tired and groggy in the morning. I know some of you probably stay up late watching another episode on Netflix or watch YouTube videos or check your social media but you need to bargain with yourself. I'm normally on my laptop at night watching YouTube videos but I try to shut down my laptop at around half eleven at night and I make sure I'm all ready to go to sleep before midnight because then I know I'll have eight hours sleep because I normally wake up at eight in the morning. I also turn my notifications for my social media off so I'm not disturbed by the sound of notifications. This method does kind of work because the more you do it then your body will be used to it. I find getting up early does make me more tired in the evenings and most of the time I just want to go to bed so it does help you if you stick to this routine everyday.

5. Motivate yourself
Give yourself the right motivation. Think about what you want to achieve. For me that is to get a degree. I want my three years at university to be worthwhile and to get a degree at the end of it all. That is the point of university. You are there to get a degree but it's up to you whether you do get it because you're the one who has to do all the work. Nobody else is going to do it for you. You also want to try and give yourself the best mark you can. You don't want the mark that is from when you did the assignment from the night before because even though you might have just passed that one then you won't realise how well you can actually do if you put a little bit more effort into it. Giving yourself the right motivation will make you do it, just think about what you'll achieve if you do get it done. Plus the sooner you get it done, the more time you will have to relax and you won't be stressed out because you will have done it. Don't be the person who has left it to the last minute and is completely stressed out because they have no idea what they're doing, they can't ask for help and they don't know what to write or if their writing makes sense. Don't be that person.

6. Organise
Another way to be productive is to be organised. The way you can start to be organised to is to tidy your work space. Get rid of any useless papers or put the useful ones into a folder so you know where they are. Just make your desk tidy so that you don't have any clutter surrounding you while your work. You will work well if your surroundings are clutter free. Also organise yourself. Get a diary or planner and start using it. Make a note of all your deadlines so you know how much time you have to do them. You may also notice that you may have deadlines in the same week which means you should probably make a start on them now. Also every week, open your planner to that week ahead and make a note of when you want to work, exercise, go out somewhere or when your lectures are. Just make a note of everything you want to achieve that week and make sure you stick to it. Do make sure you put your work and lectures and before anything else but also do give yourself a break and relax a little during your week but not too much that you've just spent a week relaxing rather than being productive.

Anyway, that's all my tips on being productive for the new year. I hope they were helpful to you with whatever it is you do. Let's try to be productive in 2017 rather than procrastinating this year. Make this year worthwhile.

This will be my last post of 2016 but I am going to be setting myself a challenge for this blog in 2017. I created 125 blog posts in 2016 (including this one) and so in 2017 I thought I'd set myself the challenge of creating 200 blog posts in 2017. I thought it would be a fun idea and it means more blog posts from me to you. I do want to be productive with this blog this year as I do love blogging. So that is the challenge for 2017 is to create 200 blog posts on this blog. Hopefully I'll be able to do it.

Now I'll be back in January 2017 with my first post of the year. I wish you all a very happy new year and I'll see you next year.

Megan x