How to be more Productive!

I was always a student that was lazy and unmotivated to work. The only way I got motivation was by due dates and watching people working really hard around me. By this, I mean that I would procrastinate on any given assignment, and then get motivated to work really hard due to the stress of not getting the work done on time.

This was already an unhealthy method, but quarantine made this type of motivation not possible due to the flexibility of online schooling. Since there was no one around me who was working hard, I was unable to get motivation from that either. This led to me spending the first few weeks of quarantine very lazily. At a certain point, however, I realized that I have to find something to do other than rolling around in bed all day.

As a pro-lazy high schooler, I’ll be giving some helpful tips in being productive during the day!

1. Wake up, no phone

Especially since I’m not busy in the morning nowadays, it’s really easy to just start scrolling through social media as soon as I open my eyes. However, this is a terrible habit to have and a perfect way to start a lazyday.

Once we start using any entertaining apps, such as YouTube or Instagram, as soon as we wake up, it is very hard to stop and start working on actual things that need to get done. In fact, from early in the morning, we’d get used to not using our brain that when it becomes time to actually start studying or working, it would feel to tiring or boring.

That’s why as soon as we wake up, we need to just get right to what we have to get done. Then, our brain will get used to working in the morning, and it’s easy to stay productive that way. Rather than having a rested brain feel “normal” and a working brain feel “tiring”, our working brain will feel “normal” and a rested brain will feel like a present for the hard work.

2. Keep Moving

Oftentimes, people say that they will be productive the next day, yet they start the next day by rolling around on bed. I know very well how hard it is to get out of bed. Once we get comfy, it’s really hard to tell ourselves to get out and start working. That’s why instead of getting comfy on bed, it’s much better to just start moving.

I realized that if you just start moving around and constantly find things to do, there is no time to get lazy. Even if the activity may not be related to the work that needs to get done, it’s much better to do something productive that will keep the mind and body active.

3. Sleep More

When I actually needed to go to school everyday, I always complained about sleep deprivation and the amount of schoolwork I have. As funny as it sounds, I sleep less now, even though I have so little work compared to back then. The thought that I don’t have to wake up early the next day got me to sleep later and later everyday, and my sleep schedule was completely messed up for a while. However, this terrible sleep schedule greatly impacts my productivity.

If we don’t get a lot of sleep, there is a high chance that we will feel sleepy all day the next day. Then, it would cause the person to get lazy and not want to work on the things that they need to work on. This would lead the person into spending another lazy day and resting all day. Then, by nighttime, it would be hard to fall asleep due to the amount of rest during the day. This is how a terrible, unproductive routine begins.

Therefore, sleeping more will allow the body to be fully rested and ready to take on the tasks for the day.

Ways to stop worrying about what people think

As people grow, their preferences begin to change and they stop liking things that they used to like in the past. Yes, it could just be a process of growing up, but I also believe that one of the major reasons for change is the surrounding people. This means that majority of the changes are not made because there was a sudden change of heart but because of what other people think. I faced many situations like this as well where I wore an outfit that I personally really liked, but once my friends told me their negative opinions about my fashion sense, I felt extremely self-conscious for the rest of the day and chose to not ever wear it again in public. I realized as time passed, however, that it is extremely exhausting to make decisions based on other people’s perspectives and opinions, in addition to constantly adjusting my own style to meet the societal standards. Here are a few ways to stop worrying about what people think.

1. Stop judging other people’s preferences

Not everyone cares about every little thing in life. In fact, the only thing that catches a person’s eye is what he or she is currently interested in or worried about. If you are self-conscious about one part of yourself, that means that is the way you view other people. For example, let’s say that you are self-conscious about your weight and you feel as though your thighs are way too thick. You worrying that other people will think you are fat based on the way you define to be “fat” means that you categorize other people as “fat” and “skinny” when you just look at them. If you learn to stop categorizing people based on your own perceptions and judging them based on what you think, you will soon realize that there is no reason to be self-conscious. Since at that point you’ll stop seeing reasons to judge others, furthermore not see why you should be judged and be self-conscious.

2. YOLO

It is a known fact that everyone lives once (at least it is the only provable claim). If you think about it, the time of our life where we can express ourselves and accomplish the most things is in our 10s and 20s. There is just such a limited amount of time to shine and live as you want. Yes, you can try to live your life when you’re older, but there will be less opportunities that are given and the situation will be much better if you try to accomplish the tasks when you are younger. That’s why there is absolutely no reason to waste the peak time of your life by worrying about what people think and adjusting to their perspectives. There are just so many different ways to enjoy life if we make decisions for our own happiness rather than for others. Therefore, since we have the one life to live, let’s live it to the fullest.

3. Have a moment to yourself

Trying to constantly live a life where you are surrounded by people, especially if you’re self conscious, may not be healthy for your mental health. This means that you will never be able to express yourself completely, always feeling unhappy and empty on the inside. Having a separate moment for yourself can be healthy and allow you to feel good about yourself again. Afterwards, you may realize that there is absolutely no reason to restrict yourself from feeling happy by trying to meet societal standards (unless that will break a law or negatively impact society). Stepping back a little to have a moment to yourself can be good to your mental health and could later change the way you choose to live.

Ways to get motivated to work

When I was much younger and I heard many stories about how stressful high school life is going to be, I didn’t believe it. I constantly thought to myself, how bad could it possibly be? Honestly, high school itself isn’t the worst thing in the world. However, the major reason why so many students suffer (me included) is because of the inability to manage time wisely and procrastinate. What is the major reason for procrastination? Some reasons include laziness, sleepiness, technology, distractions, etc. Therefore, with all of these reasons, it’s extremely difficult to get back on task. Because I suffered from this issue, I tried to find many ways I can get start my work. These are some tips that I came up with that may benefit you!

1. Find a way to integrate your personal interest with your work

This is a very, very, very effective method to start being more productive and actually getting things done. For example, if you have been following with my blogs, you’d know that I own the samsung galaxy buds and had them for about a month now. Due to this, I personally try to grab as many opportunities that I can get to use my buds. However, in order to actually use my buds to listen to music, I won’t be able to watch YouTube videos, which is the place I spend majority of my time in. In addition, if I choose to do my homework or so while listening to music, I’ll try to focus as much as possible for a long time so that I can use my buds for longer. This actually proved to benefit my terrible work habits and got me to be a little more productive.

2. Just get to it

Yes, this is a very vague point, but I realized that the hardest part about work is starting it. By this, I mean that once we start, it’s very easy to stay focused and continue. However, once I start acting lazy and just roll around in bed, the thought of working definitely does not sound appealing. That’s why rather than starting the day off by scrolling around in social media, it’s better to do something that is productive so that the day isn’t started feeling lazy.

3. Make compromises with yourself

The best way to get motivated is if there is a prize at the end. However, no one should be expecting someone to hand them a gift after they do the work that they should be doing naturally. Therefore, it is important to learn to buy a gift for yourself after accomplishing a hard task since no one will truly understand the pain of working really hard other than yourself. This means that you should make promises like “I’ll buy myself this after I finish this assignment” so that there is more motivation to work. This method actually proved to be very effective for me because I actually like getting products for myself so it actually allowed me to work much harder.

4. Search up requirements that need to be met in order to reach a goal

By this, I mean that if you want to get into a certain university, make sure to search up what the school asks of you. The reason for this is because most universities have a pretty high expectation of the students that apply for the school. After reading the expectations and requirement, it will be much harder to just roll around in bed without worries. These requirements will probably cause your rest to be less comfortable and cause you to get to work faster. Although this is a cruel method, it is one of the most effective methods if you have a clear goal for yourself.