Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Day

Trying to find enough hours in the day to keep up with your coursework, going to lectures, job applications, playing sport and having a social life sometimes feels impossible. To help you out, here are seven ways you can take control over your time, boost your productivity and make the most of your day, every day.

To quote the great Lao Tzu “Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.’” So how can you find more of this precious commodity?

1. Create a routine

After finally escaping years of the 9 – 3.30pm school day, it’s tempting to enjoy your freedom and have a little lie in– who doesn’t love their bed?! But structuring your day from 9 to 5 means working in normal daytime hours and the earlier your start, the earlier you can finish, leaving you to enjoy the evenings and relax.

2. Preparation is key

Some lucky people out there are morning people, some are most definitely not. Preparing the night before means one less thing to worry about in the morning. Making lunch or packing your bag, whatever it is that you normally do, have it done so that you’re ready to go and won’t forget anything.

4. Good Time Management

Find something that works for you; old school paper and pen, a diary, or an app, Any.do is great and completely free. Make a daily to-do-list, with hourly slots. Breaking up your day into tasks will help you concentrate better as you know it’s for a set amount of time. It’s also crucial to allow time for brief periods of relaxations – there is only so long you can concentrate before you start getting inefficient and tired.

5. Avoid Distractions and Focus

Smart phones are proven to have lessened our attention span but there are lots of way to counteract their lure. Delete those apps that you are constantly looking at but aren’t really seeing anything.

Removing Facebook for example will ease the temptation to mindlessly scroll, helping your concentration – plus image heavy apps drain your data so you’re saving on your usage too! Putting your phone away, or turning it off helps you stop thinking about checking it.

Download programmes for your computer like Leechblock or Citrus, they’re completely free to use, and they block sites on a timer, which you yourself set. Find out what your time-stealing sites are and block them for an hour, followed by a glorious binge on Pinterest or Twitter.