how to be productive after school

i used to procrastinate SO badly after school every day, which resulted in me having to follow a really intense schedule during my school holidays in order to make up for the time lost and prepare for my exams. i really think i would have been a lot less stressed if i made better use of my time after lessons instead of spending hours on social media and starting my tutorials at bedtime 💀 (it actually got so bad that i was doing math questions even in my dreams at night...)

these are some changes i really wish i made earlier on to prevent wasting so much time after school and feeling super guilty about it 😭😭😭

1️⃣set the mood!! 💪

after a long day of school, it's really normal to feel like you deserve rest. school is really tiring not just academically wise but also social-wise, so yes, you deserve to rest!!! however, the timing of that rest is super important.

i find that when i start my after-school routine by indulging in rest, the inertia when i try to get myself to start studying is so high, and i end up spending the entire afternoon/evening just resting, because rest feels so good.

beginning is always the hardest. so if you start on a productive note, you're more likely to stay productive throughout the rest of your day, because you've overcame the 'inertia'. this does not mean skipping rest, but to rest only after you've 'set the mood'

a good way to do this is to list down all the things you want to get done that afternoon/evening, then just start on one of the simpler tasks and take a break in the middle of it. that way, it's easier to get back to completing your tasks after your break, as compared to if you were to start on your tasks only after you rest.

to make this a little easier, i actually try to envision my afternoon on the way back home from school. i visualise myself being productive and tell myself that i would try to finish my tasks for the day!

2️⃣DON'T start with the most important tasks 📈

i know a key part of productivity is the ability to prioritise, but prioritising doesn't always mean you do the most important things first, it means differentiating between the amount of time and effort you put into different tasks. if you start with the tasks that are 'higher in priority', it's easy to get sucked into these tasks and end up spending way more time than needed on them, because 'a task expands to fill the time available for its completion.' i experience this a lot myself, when i try to complete my assignments before i do other tasks, such as my tutorials. i always end up spending way too much time on my assignment and leaving little to no time for my tutorial questions and other tasks.

plus i couldn't really work on my assignment in peace, because my mind would also be preoccupied with worrying about the fact that i still have other things to do after this big gigantic task 😩 it makes me feel so unmotivated.

what has always worked for me was to clear my to do list before i devote the rest of my time to the more important tasks, so i could really focus on them!

3️⃣choose wisely the entertainment you indulge in when you rest!!

i used to really like watching study vlogs whenever i take a break from studying. it might seem a bit odd because lol why am i still watching people study when i'm supposed to be taking a break from studying??!?

but i think watching study vlogs actually really motivated me to stay productive! a lot of study vloggers are also so good at editing omgg so i really love watching their content bc i love admiring well-edited videos HAHAHA 😁

I also observe how people study in these study vlogs. I actually picked up a lot of tiny habits from these videos that have made the process of revision more efficient for me. for instance i was watching a study vlog where there was a timelapse of them creating a table for chemical energetics formulae and definitions, so i decided to do the same. After i made the same table, i could actually remember the content so much better because in my head i remember how the table looks like and the different colours i used for different terms, for instance exothermic/endothermic processes.

however i know that this tip might not work for everyone, bc afterall breaks are supposed to be restful. so if you don't enjoy watching people study, don't force yourself to watch study vlogs ok HAHAHA alternatively you could also consider watching these shows that have motivated me to study!!

these are the 3 main things i would have started doing earlier to get myself in the ✨ hustle mood ✨ after school. remember, productivity is all about building habits, and that takes time and consistency :) it might be difficult at the start, but it'll only get easier from here. YOU JUST HAVE TO START 💪

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