10 Ways To Increase Productivity In Graduate School
1. Plan
Pick a day to plan. Planning doesn’t always have to be done on a Sunday, but it must happen weekly or monthly consistently. If you’re like me, you work and attend school. Therefore, you must plan, plan, plan.
Choose your method. Decide how you’d like to plan, traditionally in a planner, electronically, or both. Personally, I do both. I like having a tangible item, I keep my planner with me at all times, and it gives me an excellent overview of my month. However, high priority deadlines are saved on the calendar on my phone for scheduled alerts. This is helpful if you don’t have class every week; the class may meet week 1, week 5, week 9, etc. You may want to write these dates in but also set a reminder on your phone.
Decide when to start. Start your planning once the syllabus is released. Write down the deadlines for all your assignments, quizzes/exams, and presentations. Next, look back at your schedule and determine what day you need to start working on a task or studying for an exam or quiz. Most importantly, be realistic about the time required.
2. Wake Up Early
Wake up at 4 AM. This is easier said than done, but you won’t regret it; now, I should mention that I don’t do this every day, but it is a great goal to attain. I believe in moderation for everything – including how you spend your time and how much coffee you drink.
Try waking up at 4 AM if you have many tasks to do and not enough time. If you have many classes, assignments may fall within the same week. It may be impossible to complete all the tasks without waking up at 4 AM a few times a week/month.
We all have the same 24 hours. If you don’t think there is enough time in the day, you have to choose to either create time or let go of time-consuming activities (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, TV – the list is indefinite).
On the flip side, get enough sleep. To be fully functional at 4 AM or to wake up to the alarm, you have to go to sleep at a reasonable time. Sacrifice is the name of the game in grad school. If you are accustomed to 8-9 hours of sleep or more, at times, this may not cut it.
A bedtime of 10 PM is reasonable if you would like to wake up at 4 AM; it is essential to account for how long it takes for you to fall asleep. However, striving for an earlier bedtime is ideal; Occasionally, you can get away with 6 hours of sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7 – 9 hours of sleep for adults 18 – 64.
Waking up at 4 AM in part only works if you find that you are more productive in the morning. This is figured out through trial and error.
3. Assess Where You Spend Your Time
More time does not equal more productivity. If you are unemployed during your academic program. More time available does not make you more productive. You need a little pressure, a reason for your back to be up against the wall. Working and going to school does that for you. Managing a work schedule and a school schedule is an art.
Cluster your days. I work Saturday and Sunday; this means that I have Monday to Friday to get my assignments done. I do not plan meaningful tasks after working 12 hours. Working in a hospital is remarkably unpredictable, and there is no guarantee that I will not be exhausted after. Therefore, if I have an assignment due on a Monday, and I work weekends, I have to complete and submit the assignment the Friday before the due date.
Settings > Screen Time. If you have an iPhone, be sure to check out the Screen Time feature. You can assess how much time you spend using a particular app. Set time limits for those apps and turn off your notifications. Do not disturb is also an option.
4. Work Smart, Not Hard
Use dictation. Try using dictation for hand-written notes especially if your lecturer talks fast and you can’t write legibly. Enable dictation on your phone or laptop and dictate anything that will take you long periods to type out.
Use a citation system. If you are collecting research articles for a paper, you should use a citation system or make your own. There are programs that can be purchased; however, to keep costs low, I create a word document for my citations and cite as I go.
5. Master Consistency
Learn how to say no. Stick to your plan consistently. Your friends and family will understand that you don’t have time to hang out. Breaking your plan is a bad habit, and it is hard to get back on track. Learn to say no, they’ll still love you.
6. Value Results
Use your grades to guide your productivity. If you failed the test, look back at what went wrong. Did you do everything as planned? Adjust your schedule to do more or less. Did you need to give yourself more time to study? Did you study too many chapters for the exam in a day, causing burn out? Did you need to better plan out the timeframe to complete an assignment? Did you skip a study day to have brunch? Did you not start the project when you planned to?
All of these questions can guide you in adjusting your plan. More importantly, be honest with yourself.
7. Accept Feedback
You will get feedback. This feedback may be good or bad. You need to adjust based on the feedback you receive. Feedback can drive productivity, especially if the feedback is negative. But, there are times when you should take feedback with a grain of salt.
If you know you are giving 100% and someone tells you that you are slacking; consider that to be an opinion or a perception and know that perceptions are worth pennies. Don’t let feedback discourage you.
8. Don’t Over Commit
Be realistic about how much time you need to study. Break the content down into sections. If the exam covers 12 chapters, try to cover 4 chapters a day. This will take you 3 days to cover all the content, and you’ll need the 4th day to do a cumulative review. If you like to do practice questions, add another day for questions.
Complete tasks in 4-hour time blocks. Try focusing on one assignment or subject for 4 hours and then take a long break (30 min). It may be helpful to switch to another subject for the next 4 hours. Another option is the 52/17 Rule. Where you work for 52 min and break for 17 minutes – this is my personal favorite.
The last method is the Pomodoro Technique, where you work for 25 min and take a 5 min break; followed by a 15 min break every 2 hours.
How many credits is the class? Consider this when planning your schedule, the University of Michigan-Flint suggests that for every 1 hour of class, you’ll need to plan for 2 hours of study time; or for every 3 credits, you’ll need 6-9 hours of study time per week. This can be used as a guide when planning out assignments, chapter readings, and exam preparation for the week.
9. Don’t Compare Yourself To Others, Unless…
Assess your circumstance. Comparing yourself to others not only lowers your motivation but lowers your productivity. Remember that everyone is operating on a different set of circumstances. For example, I have colleagues and peers who praise my productivity. However, I am unmarried, my mortgage is my eldest child, and my job impacts my schedule. I have to answer to no one, except my parents.
On the other hand, I have friends who are married, juggling kids, bills, and work. But, they manage to wake up early, workout out, meal prep, and get sh*t done. I look at them and wonder if I would have been able to do something like that. I wouldn’t try to.
Compare yourself to like circumstanced people to assess if you are as productive as you could be.
10. Switch Up Your Routine
When I started college, my undergrad years were rough. All-nighters were easier, Red Bull was a lifesaver, and I planned my schedule electronically. Now, during graduate school, my eyes burn at 9 PM, and Red Bull gives me tachycardia.
Switch up your schedule to be more productive; sometimes, your body is the one that drives these changes.
Cut yourself some slack when you have met your goals. Grad school can cause immense stress and anxiety. Learn how to manage anxiety in grad school. No one can keep going 100% of the time. Aim for small wins by completing each task; eventually, you become more productive in less time.
