How to stop wasting time and become more productive

Cuz time doesn't wait for anyone.

Things that bring growth and success require active effort on a person's part which makes it difficult for most people to keep up with healthy habits.

We, the modern age generation are both blessed and cursed in a sense that our elders weren't. Even in the most recent history, a person's activities depended on the rising and setting of the sun.

Once the lights went out, very few options were left to kill time. That's why our grandparents woke up early in the morning because they had nothing to do during the night.

Honestly, how many hours could you spend playing board games before your eyes shut down in defeat and boredom?

But we, on the other hand, have no concept of time because we can be equally productive during both day and night.

It looks like we are at an advantage but, this blessing of not being dependent on the rising and setting of the sun to be productive can become more harmful than ever if not recognized. We're at a greater risk of wasting our time because we have more distractions.

Our phones offer us a peek into multiple worlds and lives which makes it impossible to get bored. So, it's very easy to waste away not only a whole day but night as well!

So let's look at how to utilize time the best way!

Don't talk to anyone when you wake up

Our brain is most active after a night's sleep, so the things we do right after we wake up are the things that have our maximum focus.

When the brain wakes up, it's free from distractions which makes it an ideal time to work on your goals.

Things like talking to someone or doing something else before work can affect the quality of our attention.

So, if you have an exam coming up or you want to work on something that you know is important then you need to stay focused.

Here are the tips that I use and that have paved my way to medical school.

1. Plan your day the night before.
2. If you have to study or work on something that requires your focus then be ready for a quiet morning.
3. Bring a water bottle into your room so you won't have to go out to get it(this will minimize your interactions and distractions).

If you can't survive on water for two to three hours then grab yourself a quick breakfast and try not to talk with people.

This method has been extremely useful for me. Medical school demands your absolute attention. Even if your brain gets slightly distracted your chances of retaining anatomy become slim to none!

I have my breakfast three to four hours after I wake up and drink water in the meantime. It helps with hydration and also helps me focus on my task because my stomach is neither too full nor empty.

But if you're someone who likes to have breakfast as soon as you wake up then go to the kitchen, make yourself a light breakfast and then go to your room.

The reason why I'm emphasizing this is that when we wake up, our minds are like clean sponges, ready to absorb knowledge. When we take our time getting ready to do work, we risk losing that concentration.

I advise you to avoid talking to anyone because when you do that, you lose focus. After all, the conversations affect our subconscious mind. Most people easily lose focus during activities that demand active brain output. I lose focus very easily. That’s why I don’t tempt myself and get straight to work when I wake up.

It's the most crucial time of the day and if you learn to utilize the first three/four hours without distractions, you already get way ahead of everyone else.

No phone in the morning

Trust me you don't have to check your Instagram or Snapchat when you wake up.

I know we have a very strong urge to keep up with what's happening around us because we fear feeling left out.

When we check social media after we wake up, we use up our mental strength to combat the negative energy that we get from these platforms. All the news that we're exposed to, takes a toll on our subconsciousness.

It's a small price we pay for keeping in touch with things that don't even concern us. For example, when you see an acquaintance having dinner at a nice restaurant what do you feel?

I bet you could have lived without knowing that Alexa from biology had dinner at some restaurant last night or Janet from chemistry spent the day at the beach.

We see these pictures briefly but their effect on our brain is lasting because we can't just discard information we get, whether useful or useless. Our mind needs time to process things and this requires energy. So you see, how we waste our energy even before we're out of bed?

So, don't look at your phone first thing in the morning.

Go to the bathroom as soon as you're awake(staying in bed after being awake is only gonna weaken your resolve).

1. Immediately go to your workstation and let your phone be.
2. Don't bring your phone to your workstation (I usually put my phone where I have to get up to get it).
3. Stare into space(let your mind take a break), when you get tired of working.

Our brain gets tired when it receives information faster than it can process it. It then signals us to relax but when we grab our phone instead of giving our eyes and brain rest, we end up distracting our brain instead of resting it which breaks the whole rhythm of productivity.

Focus on the task at hand only

It’s very common to get a 3:00 am boost of motivation to change the course of our life after wasting a whole day using TikTok.

Usually, such plans are a product of our guilty conscience and often off the mark.

So, instead of planning to memorize the whole course book in one day, focus on just one chapter.

Focus on giving your best to the work at hand instead of getting the work of the whole week done. This will make the time you spend doing work incredibly productive.

Also, you'll waste less time worrying about ridiculously high goals you set for yourself and will have more time to do something productive with your time.

To make these working sessions even more productive, you can try the following things:

1. Break up your work from most to least important.
2. Work on the more important stuff first.
3. Only work on the small, intricate details after you're done with the main stuff.

Don't waste time counting pages!

If you get the important stuff out of the way, consider your day a success.

Studying is like art, you sketch the main thing and then work on the details over time. The biggest way we waste time during work or studying is by paying attention to perplexing things that we can do without and end up ignoring things that matter.

Breaking a task into smaller pieces takes out the dread surrounding it. You're more likely to sit down to study if you tell yourself that you have to do only one chapter. It helps greatly with procrastination.

The day ends at 12:00 am

No matter how you spent the day, the thing that you should be aware of is that it ends at midnight.

After midnight, you get a whole new opportunity to get things in order. Your excuses are valid till twelve.

The opportunity to turn your glass slippers into power heels starts at twelve.

I can't emphasize it enough!

We make plans about improving ourselves but we mess up the very first step.

If you use Instagram the whole day and promise yourself to get your life in order the next day then, you need to put down your phone and go to sleep at midnight!

Because after twelve a whole new day begins and you mess that up when you put down your phone at dawn.

You mess up your sleep schedule this way which ends up messing up your whole day because your whole routine gets messed up.

If you want to make self-improvement promises then do so before twelve because after twelve it's action time.

There's a whole new day that should be started after a good night's sleep.

I see people making plans to be more productive but with this tiny mistake, they sabotage the first step which keeps them from establishing a healthy routine.

We promise ourselves a productive tomorrow while indulging our vices, these thoughts silence our conscience and send our procrastination into an overdrive which keeps us scrolling till keeping our eyes open becomes an effort.

We refuse to sleep because we fear the work that the next day will bring.

We sabotage the whole night which screws up the whole day and this destructive cycle goes on and keeps us trapped because we're too lazy to step out of our comfort zone.

Remember, that everything that improves us takes effort. Self-improvement doesn’t come naturally at all, you have to shed your blood, sweat, and tears to become the best version of yourself.

*****

Hi everyone!

I hope this article was helpful.

I'd love to hear your opinions.