“You can always be more productive— but I still think that you did a good job, and you should be proud.”

— A highschool teacher (2018)

With a pen in hand, I sit down at my desk and open my textbook. Almost immediately, I become hyper aware of everything except the task in front of me. My computer screen is dirty… maybe I should give it a wipe down. Ugh, my pens are scattered everywhere; I’ll go put them in order. Did that professor respond to my e-mail from last week? I better check, quickly.

When I finally do get around to reading that first page of the textbook, my head fills with thoughts about how long it will take me to finish the chapter. At the same time, I reflect upon the fact that I could’ve finished reading this chapter if I had just followed my schedule and read it last night. Then I proceed to berate myself for being undisciplined. 

Does this sound like you? If not, then it sounds like you’ve got your life much more together than me! 

In the case that this does sound familiar though, I recently have come across a few useful pieces of advice that I’d like to share with you.

1. Rationalization and Acceptance

I likely have discussed this in a blog post before, but it’s worth repeating.

Oftentimes, I find that it helps to take a step back and realize that, yes, the task at hand might take some time… and yes, perhaps I could have finished it sooner. These are facts. But it also stands that ruminating about these facts won’t get me any closer to completing the task. 

Even if it seems like a small drop of water in a huge pool to read a single page of the textbook, it’s still one page close to finishing the chapter! One step is progress, no matter how small the step. Something to show for your efforts. I tell myself, “One page is one whole page. A whole page of information for me to learn, absorb and integrate into my life. There’s just so much wonderful knowledge within this book for me to grasp, so I will savour each and every step of the way.”

Keeping your focus upon completing the small task, and reminding yourself why completing this small task is incredibly meaningful, is more motivating than thinking about what you could’ve done, or what you should’ve done, or about the mountain of stuff that you still have to do. 

Also, be proud of your progress! I often become my own enemy, as I beat myself up for not being more productive or more disciplined. My teacher once complimented my work ethic, and I replied, “Thank you, but I feel like I could’ve been more productive over the break.” The teacher looked at me and scoffed, “Well, yes, of course you could’ve been more productive. You can always be more productive— but I still think you did a good job, and you should be proud.” 

I realized that I had a tendency to downplay my accomplishments, and to constantly think about what I could’ve improved upon. Instead, I now try to remind myself that what I have managed to achieve is worth celebrating. Strive for constant improvement, but also take the time to be proud of how far you’ve come. You are worth celebrating!

A side note, for those who might be thinking, “Okay, great, you tell me to stay focused on the small tasks… but how?” 

If you have trouble keeping your mind from wandering, I highly recommend practicing mindfulness. It can help you improve your focus, while also reducing your stress and anxiety! I use an app called MyLife Meditation, but there are plenty of other options out there, and I encourage you to take a look. 

If you’re truly having issues with concentration that you cannot overcome yourself, you may want to consider visiting the doctor and inquiring about attention-deficit disorders to check for any underlying issues. Also ensure that you’re taking good care of your physical health! Sleep, water and nutritious food are all essential!

2. Urgence versus Importance

I read a fascinating (in my opinion, at least) article about time management for students. In this article, the author groups tasks into four bins. (1) Urgent and important, (2) important but not urgent, (3) urgent but not important, and (4) neither important nor urgent.

An example of something in the first bin might be a fire igniting the building you’re in. It’s both urgent (because if you don’t act quickly, there will be consequences), and important (because the aforementioned consequences are quite serious and include injury and property damage). Another example might be a term paper due at 11:59pm today. It is recommended that you aim to spend as little time as possible on tasks that fall into this bin. Of course, that doesn’t mean to neglect these tasks. Please address the fire and the paper that you procrastinated on!

Rather, what this does mean is that you should take preventative measures such that you don’t wind up with tasks falling into the first category to begin with. You should spend the bulk of your time working on tasks that fall into the second category: important, but not urgent. That is, studying, even if the test is a distant event, and working on your assignment well before the deadline. By spending your time on these tasks, you can complete them before they become urgent and move into the first bin.

In the last two bins are tasks that should receive the least attention. An urgent, but not important, task might be an e-mail or a text message. You may feel the need to be constantly checking your phone or e-mail, and replying right away. Ultimately, of course, this is a distraction. Though I don’t do this myself, so I’m being rather hypocritical, the author suggests that you schedule a time for checking and addressing your e-mails/messages. The author also suggests that you try to defer requests for help as much as possible such that it does not interfere with your productivity. Perhaps I should be doing this.

Finally, neither urgent nor important. This is probably self-explanatory. The article gives video games and TV as examples, and says that we should just dump it. I think that’s a bit harsh. If you can go about your life without watching any TV or ever playing video games, that’s amazing… but I think I need some time to decompress once in a while. Do what works for you, I guess.

The key takeaway is that we should shift our efforts, as much as possible, from completing urgent and important tasks to completing important tasks that are not yet urgent. For those interested, the original article can be found here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292657437_Crux_of_Time_Management_for_Students 

I admittedly have not read the whole thing, but it seems to have a lot of information in it, so perhaps you’ll find other useful tips!

3. Relaxation

The last thing I want to talk about is relaxation. This is, actually, what inspired me to write this article. 

Today, I was browsing the internet when I came across a post. The original poster describes their difficulty in focusing during their scheduled 5 hour work blocks, but when they’re out relaxing with their friends, they find sudden motivation and desire to work on their project. I thought this sounded awfully familiar, so I clicked into the comments section.

The top comment said:

The answer is hidden in your own question: “when I am relaxing”, when you are relaxed, you think clearly and are more focused on whatever you have to do. I guess you just have to learn how to relax and not stress yourself during those five hours. Good luck mate

– dizasteraz, a Redditor (2020)

Something so simple, and yet something I never realized— I never realized just how tense and stressed I was while studying. I would be psyching myself out and thinking about how much I’d rather be watching a cat video than reading this chapter about the immune system. Upon reading this person’s comment, it made sense why I’d start falling asleep after the second paragraph. I was associating productive tasks with being stressed out, annoyed, and tired. And this was causing me to dread the task and in turn feel even more negative emotions towards it. A vicious cycle.

So, the solution is to relax. But how? I am now consciously putting in an effort to push the negative thoughts away while studying, and reminding myself to stay calm. As I suggested before, mindfulness is helpful. It’s not just pseudoscience; studies have suggested that it offers health benefits, according to my textbook and my professors. I hope they’re not lying to me. (If you’re skeptical though, feel free to fact check with Google!)

Learning to keep a positive mindset, stay relaxed, and block out distractions is likely not something that can be mastered overnight, but these skills can be fostered and strengthened with some effort over time.

Let’s all work on constantly improving ourselves, and being proud of how far we’ve come! 🙂