5 Productivity Hacks for a Successful 2024

Are you having trouble staying focused? Do you ever feel a little unfulfilled at the end of the day, as if you could've done more? This does not have to be the case. You can leave work feeling ecstatic and satisfied with your accomplishments. It only takes a few productivity hacks to help you work more efficiently and, more crucially, to give you more free time every day.

Explore these productivity hacks to help you get things under control and boost your productivity battery!

1. Plan your day ahead of time.

The first step to being productive is planning a day's schedule in advance. You should know what you're doing when you're doing it, and how long on any given day. Without a schedule, you're likely to miss out on important tasks.

Write down a detailed plan of the day early morning or the night before. Write everything you need to do so that you have a sense of direction and know what to focus on next. This eliminates all guesswork, and there's less chance of you drifting away and wasting time because you do not know what you'll do next.

2. Clean up physical workspace and digital workspace.

Keep your desk and office area free of clutter like rubbish, miscellaneous items, and basically anything that doesn’t have anything to do with the work you’re doing. Create folders, group files, tasks, etc. based on project type and categories for quick searches. Use a consistent and relevant naming convention for your folders, tasks, documents, etc. Do a digital audit every week and move unnecessary files into the rubbish bin.

Organizing both areas from time to time will help you avoid future distractions, and frustrations, and clear out unnecessary items that may interfere with your flow and concentration.

3. Use the Eisenhower matrix to organize your task by priority.

Having trouble prioritizing tasks? Try using an Eisenhower Matrix!

4. Use the Pomodoro Technique.

Work in intervals of 25 minutes to maximize attention and focus. The Pomodoro technique is a time management technique that works great for those who have a hard time focusing on one task at a time, procrastinators, and for self-claimed perfectionists who take too much time revising or thinking about a task.

5. Meditation and get some quality sleep.

Clear your head before going into study or work-mode. Allow time for yourself before the workday begins (self-reflection/alone time to centre yourself). Get quality sleep and get in tune with your circadian rhythm.

Staying on task and motivated to improve your productivity isn't easy in a world full of demands and distractions, especially when you're in school. We all know that feeling of being overwhelmed by the number of tasks on our plate and the looming sense of dread that comes with them, and it’s easy to get sidetracked (or unmotivated), especially when we’re trying to focus on a task that we don’t find particularly interesting or inspiring.

It’s a great thing there’s a hack for everything these days!

Also, if you’re struggling on having a will to study - here are some ways to overcome Procrastination!