With the last semester of the school year upon us, many students are looking for ways to improve their GPA. Whether their grades slipped because of work, stress, or family circumstances, many students struggle with rebounding from their grades slipping. To avoid falling behind, here are a few tips on how to maximize productivity in a short period of time.
The easiest way to complete all of your work in a timely manner is to make lists. Lists have many benefits: they allow you to find and see all the work you need to do, check off the work as you do it, and feel a sense of accomplishment once all tasks are finished. When using lists, group similar activities together. For example, if you have 4 past-due APUSH assignments to complete, do them all at once to help ease yourself from the burden.
Multitasking is another important element maximizing productivity. Multitasking does not have to look like it does in movies and tv shows, where the protagonist accomplishes all of her work in 30 minutes where she wrote an essay, practiced for the ACT, and cleaned her room all at the same time. Multitasking can still be productive on a small level. When doing your homework, take a break and open your laptop for your next assignments so you could save time moving between tasks. If you have a lot of online work to do, open each of the tabs so you can switch between them quickly. Multitasking can cut the amount of time you spend playing catch-up in half!
A smart way of looking at the idea of “working smarter, not harder” is by using the GPS method. The GPS method was coined by Mitzi Weinmann in her book, It's About Time! The acronym GPS stands for, "goal, purpose, and scope" (Taylor). This acronym is useful because it lays out how to maximize efficiency step by step. To complete tasks, you need to have your own goals. Think about what you need to finish by this week, and how you intend to do it. You must also have an objective in mind so that you know why you are completing the task. By having purpose, you motivate yourself to accomplish the tasks that are assigned to you. Lastly, you need to have scope so that you know how in-depth the assignment should look like.
Creating and sticking to your routine is perhaps the most applicable productivity tip. When trying to get tons of work done in a short amount of time, the best thing you can do is to have a set routine to go back to. Wake up at the same time everyday, plan your work, meals, or any physical activities accordingly. Having a blocked out day can be an advantage as it allows you to move through the day mindlessly while saving energy to do work. Time blocking can also lead to increased productivity since it enables your mind to focus on the tasks at hand. If you normally wake up at 9 in the morning, train yourself to do homework at 10 A.M. After that, you can reward yourself with an hour break.
It is totally normal for us to struggle with productivity. School work is difficult and boring, but by setting study methods, you are able to make working much easier for yourself. If you work smarter and not harder, you will accomplish more in less time!
Works Cited
Taylor, Megan. “‘Work Smarter, Not Harder’ the Meaning behind the Motto.” Forsyth Woman Magazine. 2018. https://forsythwoman.com/work-smarter-not-harder-meaning-behind-motto/ Accessed 1 February 2023.
