10 Tips for Getting Things Done.

One of the things I heard a lot before starting college was how hard the adjustment the adjustment is to a college-level workload. Fortunately, going to an online school really helped me prepare for that aspect of college life. 

I’m the type of person that is constantly changing study habits to find what works best in what class, how to take the best notes without taking forever (haven’t quite gotten there yet…), how to best absorb information from a textbook, and what I have to do to make sure that I’m not missing anything that a professor says.

Over the last few weeks of the semester, I started making a list of things I was doing in my “crack down” mode during Hell Week with the intent of doing this blog post. Here are my top 10 tips for getting things done, in a school setting, or out. 

• Make a List. This is, by far, the most enthusiastic step I take in revving myself up to get work done. I make lists obsessively, and break them down by class, greatest-to-least importance, and I’ll sometimes even include things I’ve already finished so I can scratch them off right away. It’s a sense of accomplishment before officially “starting” the work and it definitely helps. 

• Turn off the TV/Computer. I don’t know about everyone else, but I most certainly cannot concentrate when there’s a television on in the background. Music helps occasionally, but if my favorite television shows are on, I’m going to lose focus. The “turn off the computer” portion of this doesn’t always apply, since I do a lot of homework on my computer, but when other subjects come calling, like the deadly mathematics, it’s off. 

• Log out of Facebook. I cannot push this more. I find myself getting so caught up in meaningless Facebook posts all the time and before I even realize it, an hour has gone by and nothing has been finished. Logging out of Facebook, even installing apps on my web browser to disable distracting websites completely, has been a huge help when the crack down really happens. 

• Take baby steps. A long to-do list can be severely overwhelming (partly why I love making more smaller, detailed ones), but it can be accomplished if you take the time to make baby steps. Breaking down the guidelines of a work or school assignment and handling them one at a time can make it seem so much easier. 

• Tackle big projects first. This goes hand-in-hand with taking baby steps first. Making sure to finish the most time-consuming projects first — when you have the most brainpower — will give you a great sense of accomplishment and (hopefully) encourage you to finish the smaller tasks. Keep in mind, however, that fast-approaching deadlines may make this option a little more challenging. 

• Save your favorite tasks for last. Saving favorites for last has always helped me so much when it comes to studying. In a way, saving my best pieces of homework for the end is like a “reward” for getting through the obnoxious, tiring stuff. You know, those assignments that are actually fun — for me, it’s putting visual presentations together, or writing an exciting paper. Math comes first, always. 

• Hold yourself accountable. It’s easy for me to hold myself accountable for getting my work done since, if I don’t, stress will take over my life and I won’t be able to sleep until everything on my lists is finished. Find a way to make sure that you get your own work done, even if it means rewarding yourself with an episode of Friends in between big tasks (because that’s on Netflix now! Scooooreeeee). 

• OR have someone check up on your properties. Sometimes, I’ll delegate the “responsibility role” to my roommate. If I know that I need a nap, I’ll ask her to wake me up in 20 minutes. Or if I know that my phone is distracting, she’ll make sure that I don’t touch it while I’m attempting to focus. This is an easier way to stay on track if you’re not good at making yourself do work. 

• Set up a rewards system. As mentioned above in the Friends reference,  setting up a rewards system is an easy way to rev yourself up for getting work done. My favorite way to reward myself is by taking ten minutes or so to read a chapter in my latest leisurely read. That way, I’m still keeping my mind active, but I don’t have to concentrate too hard and waste energy. 

• Focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking has never, ever, ever worked for myself or anyone I’ve ever worked in a group with. Sitting down and trying to finish everything all at once just ends up in a huge, indistinguishable mess. Even if you have to refer back to one task to work on another, make sure that you’re never truly putting brainpower into more than one piece of the puzzle at a time. Trust me, things will actually go faster this way. 

I hope that this list was at least a little bit helpful.

Keep not settling, 

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