Do you want to get into a more productive in life? 'find out how you can develop a highly productive habits to become more positive'
A positive mindset can be difficult to achieve. Luckily, there are healthy productive habits that encourage a more positive mindset.
We are surrounded by so much negativity every day that it can sometimes be so hard to find a silver lining. But it’s so important for you to believe in the power of positivity.
Not only will these healthy and productive habits help you achieve a more positive mindset, but they’ll also improve your overall quality of life and help you enjoy every day to the fullest!
With a positive mindset, you can:
- find more creativity and inspiration within yourself
- see more beauty in the smaller things in life
- find happiness anywhere
- believe in yourself more
There are so many benefits to a more positive mindset that I can’t even count on my two hands and you’ll be able to start seeing these benefits by working on these healthy productive habits.
Encourage positivity and cut negativity out of your life
This is one of the best ways to improve your overall perception of life and to live more healthily and productively. Negativity can impact your mood and your day-to-day experiences so much, especially if you allow yourself to dwell on it.
Some of the ways you can cut out negativity:
- Slowly cut off contact with everything toxic in your life, examples being habits or friends
- Stop expecting things from anyone
- Take responsibility and recognise when you’re at fault instead of trying to find flaws in others
- Give yourself a designated time to release your negative thoughts so that they don’t plague you every second of every day
- Control the content you see on the internet, whether it be social media or the news
In addition to cutting out negativity, encourage and bring more positivity into your life. Not only will this lift your mood, but it’ll also impact those around you in a positive manner as well.
In addition to cutting out negativity, encourage and bring more positivity into your life. Not only will this lift your mood, but it’ll also impact those around you in a positive manner as well.
My experience with negativity and how it impacted my life
Cutting out negativity is one of my personal goals that I’ve been working on for a while and will continue to do so for the next year.
Looking around me, I always managed to perceive everything in a negative light. I saw the bad and the ugly in every situation. Over time, I went from a sunny, uplifting person to someone who found herself in a mood 90% of the time. It was affecting my sleep, my grades and my desire to do anything worthwhile and productive.
That’s when I realised that something needed to be changed. I didn’t want my mind to remain in the shadows anymore. I wanted to smile more, to laugh more and to celebrate every day to the best of my ability.
So, I began to live my days more purposefully.
I decided to make a conscious effort to bring more positivity into my life and to cut out some of the negativity.
I reduced contact with anyone who made me feel bad about myself and surrounded myself with people who encouraged me to be the best version of myself. Instead of constantly comparing myself to those around me, I focused on improving myself and becoming someone that I liked.
When I found myself thinking negatively about someone, I would try to put myself in their shoes to see if I could understand their reasons.
However, the most important change I made was that I stopped having expectations of others. I realised that no one has an obligation to treat me a certain way and I can’t expect someone to treat me the same way that I treat them. As long as I could look myself in the eyes every morning, then I was happy with myself.
These healthy and productive habits helped a lot with reducing the negativity that I felt and I started feeling more content with everything in my life.
1. Plan the night before
Whether you’re a middle schooler or a college student, planning the night before is a crucial step to a productive next day.
Oftentimes, you don’t have enough time in the morning to plan out the day, set goals, get ready for school, etc. Instead, do all of this the night before!
2. Create a todo list
Every day (or rather, every night before), create a todo list detailing everything you need to do. These should not include what you already do on a daily basis (like brushing your teeth or walking the dog).
List out the homework you have to get done, what part of the project you have to start, etc. Be as detailed as possible and break them into multiple tasks if necessary.
Personally, I use a physical todo list notepad to track the day’s tasks. It’s minimalistic and doesn’t require me to fill out everything about the day, which helps me stay on track with my tasks.
3. Create a not todo list
A not todo list is just as important as a todo list in terms of productivity and staying on task. Simply list out the things you tend to do when distracted, and aim to not do them while focusing!
For example, you could list some of the following:
- Don’t go on Instagram until I finish my essay.
- Don’t watch Netflix until I get into bed.
- Don’t watch YouTube until I finish all my homework.
- And more
4. Wake up early
Waking up early is difficult, but it’s a crucial step to ensuring a productive day. It gives you more time to prepare for the day, reduces stress, and is the optimal time for brain activity.
The perfect time to wake up should be at least 1 hour before your classes start. For me, this is 7:30am. This means that to get a good amount of sleep (around 8 hours), I need to sleep before 11:30pm.
Figure out when the optimal time to wake up is for you (it should be between 5am and 9am), then adjust your sleep schedule accordingly
5. Have a morning routine
The morning is often the most relaxing and abundant time for me. The busyness of the day has not yet reached me, and I have time to do things for myself.
A healthy and productive morning routine will set you up for an equally productive and successful day. And if you build a consistent routine that you follow every day, you’ll be able to ensure a super productive day every day!
If you’re not sure how to create the perfect morning routine for yourself, check out these posts:
6. “Eat the frog”
In other words, always do the most difficult task first.
Go through your todo list in the morning and decide which task you really do not want to do. Choose the one you dread the most, and get started on it.
Once you finish that task, you’ll feel accomplished and relieved, and after a short break, will be able to get going with the now much-easier tasks.
7.Block your time
Time-blocking is something I harp on in almost all of my productivity posts. Time-blocking is essential for anyone who wishes to be super productive. And it’s so easy!
Simply spread your todo list over the time you’re awake and create blocks of time for each task. Don’t forget to schedule breaks as well!
You can do this on a physical planner or a digital calendar. Some like using a planner to get all the nitty-gritty details down, while others like a digital calendar for its ease of use.
8.Multitask when able
It’s not a good idea to multitask when one of the tasks needs your full attention. For example, if you’re writing an essay, don’t multitask. If you’re taking a mock math test, don’t multitask.
But if you’re doing some relatively “chill” tasks, take the time to multitask and do something productive! For example…
- Listen to a motivating podcast while making breakfast.
- Read the news while eating lunch.
- Memorize a few vocabulary words while working out
9.Stay healthy
You can’t be productive if you’re sick, sleep-deprived, tired, etc. So before you take care of your todo lists, take care of yourself!
Here are some healthy habits to take up:
- Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.
- Stay hydrated!!!
- Always eat breakfast.
- Take a short walk every day.
- Get up and stretch after a long time at your desk.
- Take naps when you need them
10. Studying
While all these habits mentioned above apply to studying as well, there are some more specific tips that will truly maximize your study time.
Plan ahead
Just as I mentioned in my previous post, planning ahead is crucial to studying productively and effectively.
Before you even begin studying, determine the following things:
- What you need to study.
- Who you will study with.
- When you will study.
- How you will study.
- Where you will study.
Implement this 5-step process and you’ll be ready to be super organized and productive while studying.
11.Break things down
When you receive a large assignment or project, analyze it and break it down into smaller, more feasible tasks. This will help you reduce stress while studying and stay on track more easily.
For example, if you receive an assignment to write a 5 paragraph essay in one week, immediately break down the assignment into…
- Deciding on a topic/thesis.
- Finding evidence for your argument.
- Writing the introduction.
- Writing the body paragraphs.
- Writing the conclusion.
- Proofreading and finalizing.
This will help you track your progress and complete your assignment on time and confidently.
12. Set Goals
When you see the world “goals”, do you think of long-term goals like earn a million dollars or get into Harvard University?
Those are perfectly reasonable goals. But what I’m emphasizing right now is short-term goals. You must set small stepping-stones while you study that help you get through everything effectively.
These go hand-in-hand with breaking tasks down. Your goals should be as simple as read chapter 11 in the textbook or write 1 paragraph of my essay. These small, reachable goals are what will help you reach your bigger goals.
13.One thing at a time
Studying is generally not a good time for multitasking. You should be putting all your energy and concentration into the task at hand in order to maximize productivity.
So while you’re studying, zone out everything else and focus on the assignment you’re working on. Of course, sudden thoughts may pop up and break your concentration. This is where the next tip, a distraction list, comes in.
14.Keep a distraction list
Sometimes while studying, you get sudden realizations or reminders about an email you have to reply to, or a project you need to delegate to a classmate.
But instead of breaking your concentration to do that thing that popped up, quickly jot it down on a notepad then get back to work.
Once you’re done with the task at hand, refer to your distraction list and quickly do the things that are listed there. This helps ensure you’re not missing anything important, but are still staying productive.
15.Create systems
Everyone studies their own way and has systems that are unique to themselves. Although it can take some trial-and-error, always take the time to figure out your best system of studying.
16.Use music strategically
Some students find that listening to music helps with focusing, while others find it distracting. Oftentimes, I listen to lofi music when doing homework, and occasionally ambiance when concentrating hard.
Here is an example of an ambiance video I listen to ofte
17.Take breaks
Breaks are super important to help you “reboot” your brain after long periods of studying. I like to use a variation of the Pomodoro method, where I study for around 30 minutes (or until I finish one part of an assignment) then take a 5-10 minute break.
It’s important to try and not take breaks until you’ve finished a certain amount of work. Some like to stay strictly with the 25-5-25 minutes rule, but I find myself to be more productive when I measure by the amount of work done instead of time passed.
18.Organization
Staying organized is another large part of being productive. The following tips will help you organize your physical and digital space. However, if you’d like to read a more extensive guide, check out this post:
19. Clean your workspace
Whether you’re working at the dining table, in a study, or at your desk (hopefully not in your bed), a clean and tidy workspace is essential.
Decluttering your space helps declutter your mind, and you will subsequently become more focused and productive. You can check out my top tips by visiting my post,
20. Listen to uplifting and inspirational podcasts
If you find it hard to be inspired, listening to uplifting and inspirational podcasts can be one of the best ways to stimulate your mind. Not only can it improve your mood, but it can also encourage more ideas to flow through your mind.
21. Limit social media usage
Social media can be anything you want it to be. It can be inspiring and positive or dark and negative. It can be the platform to kickstart your creativity and inspiration or it can be a huge time waster. In essence, social media is what you make it to be.
Social media can be overwhelming. If you find that it’s impacting you negatively, make an effort to turn it into something positive by only following those who inspire you. In addition, if you realise that you spend a lot of your time each day checking on your various social media accounts, then it may be time to limit your usage.
Checking up on all your social media accounts can be a huge time suck. It can be really easy to find yourself mindlessly scrolling when there’s a lot more that could be done. You can probably recall a time when you found yourself watching video after video with no recollection of how much time had passed.
22. Maintain a healthy and consistent sleep schedule
Regardless of if you’re a morning bird or a night owl, maintaining a healthy and consistent sleep schedule is so important for keeping your productivity levels high and mindset positive.
- reduce your need to sleep in
- ensure that you get enough hours of sleep
- reduce your need for an alarm
- help you feel well-rested
- help keep your days structured
Feeling alert and well-rested can help keep your levels of productivity high throughout the day.
Personally, if I wake up feeling refreshed, then I know it’s going to be a good and productive day. However, if I wake up tired and lethargic, then my entire day is going to consist of me moping around and refusing to do anything worthwhile.
Conclusion
I hope these productivity habits will help you become a highly productive and efficient student! Leave a comment with your favorite from this list or your own productivity tip!
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