10 Ways To Work Smarter Not Harder (Work For Students Too)

If you want to get greater productivity and bigger results, you need to work smarter not harder. When it comes to being able to work smart, not hard you are supposed to use your time in that way so that you work less and be more effective.

Though a quick search for "time management tips for students" doesn't help them much, use a schedule, give priority, enough sleep. These high-level tips only go so far. To really optimize your time and get ahead on school projects, you need to be more strategic.

Click here How to Manage Your Time Effectively to learn to use and manage your time to increase your productivity. 

For students or everyone, time management is about being purposeful with your day.  Time management is about taking control of your time and using it to enhance your productivity, focus and most important balance.

To succor you, I am going to share some tips which I found helpful and useful for my children to stay focused, beat procrastination and manage their time. In short, these are productivity strategies to work smarter not harder.

Set the goal first

If you are a student, classes, and seminars might take up the majority of your day, but how you plan your time can make all the difference. But before planning, you have to be clear about your wants. Being clear about your goals is a crucial step to school success and areas of life beyond the classroom. When you set your goals, it gives you steps to complete your tasks according to their importance which gives you more time and energy to achieve your goals. Setting goals increases motivation and also teaches you organization, planning and time management skills that you can use in the classroom and at home.  When you set your goals then write them on paper. Clear written goals have a great impact on your thinking. Unwritten goals give you confusion so to avoid it set the goals first then write them in your paper.

In this article How To Make This Year More Productive I have shared some tips to make your life productive to accomplish your goals.

Planning- Use 10/90 rule

Without planning your goal is just a wish. If you want to spend a purposeful day or life, you have to plan it. Planning helps you see in advance those things that can help you achieve your goal and those things that can prevent you from achieving your goal. Planning reduces anxiety. When you plan, you find it much easier to take steps towards your goals and keep going.  Author Brian Tracy in his ‘Book Eat That Frog’ says about the 10/90 Rule to improve your productivity. He says “the first 10 per cent of the time that you spend planning and organizing your work before you begin will save you as much as 90 per cent of the time in getting the job done once you get started. You only have to try this rule once to prove it yourself.”

Be clear on your priorities

When you have set your goal, now you are making a plan to achieve your goal, you start by making a plan step by step which is necessary to achieve your goal from beginning to end then organize the steps by priority. You have to be clear about the most important task you need to complete first. If you work through your priorities you will feel more effective and powerful and then you think better and more creatively.

Break down your big tasks

Breaking down big tasks into smaller tasks it’s a very simple and effective strategy to accomplish your goals. If you break your big tasks or projects into small steps, it would be more achievable faster. It can help you to be more manageable and less overwhelming. As a student, it allows for making steady progress.  For instance, if you have to write a 20-page report, you can get overwhelmed. However, if you do two pages a day, you will be done in about ten days. The intention behind this is to overcome procrastination and complete your big project without being overwhelmed.

Set a deadline

Set an imaginary deadline is one of the best ways to keep you on track of being productive and beat procrastination. It helps you to get more things to get done faster. I also use this way to get my articles done on the time or my imaginary deadline. Most of the time I write my articles as I have only one day to publish my articles and it works wonders. You also should give it a try.

Put the pressure on yourself

Putting pressure on you can be an effective way of achieving your goals, but you may go about it in the wrong way. Some say that if you set a deadline, it can lead you to disappointment as you can fail in meeting the deadline. However, I can say from my experience that setting a deadline and putting pressure on yourself isn’t an issue, the trouble begins when you set unrealistic deadlines. If you have unrealistic expectations of yourself with an impossible deadline to meet, you will likely fail. There is nothing wrong with putting pressure on yourself if you have a goal with a deadline, you plan your day in a way you optimize the chances of achieving it. That pressure pushes you beyond your current level and expands your capacity to reach a higher level.

To pursue your goals you have to leave your comfort zone. Click here Leave your comfort zone if you want live a comfortable life and How to expand your comfort zone to be clear on this concept.

Stop procrastinating with five minutes rules

Although procrastination can't be ruled out, we can't let it ruin our whole day. Instead, we need a bit of determination to get into the flow of a task. To beat procrastination you can follow 5- minutes rules which are popularized by Instagram founder Kevin Systrom.  This rule means telling yourself you are going to do 5-minutes of work on a project. In most cases, that’s enough to get you motivated.

Control the usage of technology

As author Brian Tracy says that technology can be your best friend or your worst enemy. You have to keep your relationship with technology under control. Procrastination is easier when you have social media and entertainment at your fingertips. Use technology to pursue your dreams. Don’t be addicted to it, instead, make it a treat. If you make it through your whole day social media free, give yourself an hour of personal time as a reward or treat.

Apply 80/20 rule

The 80/20 rule is one of the most helpful concepts for time and life management. This is also called the “Pareto Principle” after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Put simply the, 80-20 rule states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of causes. For examples- 

. 20% of seeds planted result in 80% of the flowers

. 20% of the world has 80% of the wealth

. You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time

Anyone can apply this rule to get the desired result in their fields. If you are a student, you can use the 80-20 rule to improve your studies. You should be more focused on those topics which can give you good results. Try to spend more of your time working on those areas that can make a positive impact on your life and career and spend less time on lesser value activities.

Take breaks at the right time

You may feel that break time at work is a waste of time, but let me tell you that breaks are one of the effective time management strategies. When you work continuously, after 2 to 3 hours your mind and body slow down the speed of work. Meanwhile, a 10-minute break recharges you. After that, you start working with initial speed and concentration.

To work smart, not hard the key is to do less stuff and focus more on your biggest strengths and opportunities. It is about being more effective, not efficient. These tips will help you make the progress you want towards achieving your goals. If you have some tips which you think can be beneficial for our children or anyone, share them with us in the comment section below.

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