izstudies:FINDING YOUR DAILY ROUTINE // for those students who have all of 3 contact hours a week.Wh
izstudies:FINDING YOUR DAILY ROUTINE // for those students who have all of 3 contact hours a week.Why should you have a daily routine? Well, not only does it provide structure, it also: improves productivity and efficiency; helps you sleep better; and manages and/or relieves the symptoms of mental illness!Okay, that doesn’t exactly sound bad. How do I do it?- Firstly, establish your wake-up and get-up times.It’s recommended that teenagers between 14 and 17 should get somewhere between 7 and 11 hours sleep per night. For young adults (18-25), it’s 6-10. Everyone’s different, and everyone requires a different amount to function at their best (as opposed to barely functioning with the help of coffee). Generally speaking, the younger you are, the more sleep you need. You’ll need to find out your own personal optimum sleep length through trial and error.Sleep hygiene is really important for achieving optimum sleep quality - although it’ll be hard at first, get up at the same time every day, even if you’re a walking zombie. If you are, you’ll find wtf to do to fix it in a sec. Patience, grasshopper. Then, work out when you need to get up. It doesn’t really matter at this point whether you’re a lark or an owl - everyone has obligations and every needs to get up at some point. Even if you don’t, businesses have limited opening hours and relatives and/or friends probably won’t want to talk at 3am. You need to make sure your waking hours and these normal functioning hours overlap at least a little. If you have a standing obligation - like school or work - make sure you factor in time to have a calm, mindful breakfast; don’t just grab a banana to eat in the car. Then, subtract your optimum sleep time (plus a 30-minute contingency for actually falling asleep) from your wake-up time, and voila! Your bedtime. Example: I want to wake up at 7:30. I know I need 9 hours sleep. So, allowing 30 minutes to fall asleep, I’ll be in bed with the lights off by 10pm.- Secondly, work out your ‘active’ hours.If you spend the majority of your time in self-study, sometimes it can all see a bit overwhelming and you seem to be spending endless late nights doing work amirite? There’s a solution to this: treat your work like it’s a job. Aim to be sat down at your desk for x o’clock and aim to leave your desk at y o’clock. Split your day into manageable chunks (I like 90 minutes), giving yourself 10-30 minute breaks in between, as well as a lunch break. Use your breaks to get food or put on laundry or have a flick through Facebook. When your break’s up, get back to work. Then, when it gets to y o’clock, you’re done. Finito. Put your books away, shut your laptop down, and relax. This is where whether you’re a lark or an owl comes into play. If you’re a lark, get to work within a couple of hours of waking, and relax at night. If you’re an owl, chill out during the morning and get shit done in the afternoon/evening. It may seem like you won’t have enough time to get all the stuff done that you need to, but trust me. By keeping a routine and committing yourself to only doing assigned tasks during your ‘working’ day, you will get more done in the same amount of time. Example: I aim to sit down at 9:15 am. After my first task chunk (90 minutes) and a 10 minute break, it’s 10:55. My lunch break starts at 12:30, and I give myself two hours in case I need a nap. Then, I have two more 90 minute chunks, with a 10 minute break in between. I’m done by half five, I’ve got the whole of the evening to chill the fuck out, and I’ve had six hours of focused work instead of six hours of multitasking, punctuated by Tumblr scrolling. - Thirdly, plan your day.If you’re observant, you’ll have noticed I have an hour and forty five minutes between waking up and doing stuff. This is me-time. I give myself an hour to eat breakfast, read the news, check Instagram and, most importantly, plan my day. Assign yourself the three things that you need to accomplish that day. Don’t make a single thing comprise of multiple parts. 1 thing is not English reading chapters 3-6 + notes; 1 thing is one chapter with notes. Now, it seems counterintuitive to under-plan. But you’ll be more productive if you frequently make dents in your to-do list and end up getting more done in the day than you had initially planned. Also, don’t underestimate how long a task will take. It’s better to overestimate and have leftover time to do smaller, unplanned tasks than feel stressed or rushed when it’s getting to five pm and you’ve still got notes for three chapters to make. If you’ve still got time left over even when overestimating, plan for some smaller, more menial tasks in there too. Stick to your ‘task chunks’, adhering to your break whether or not you’ve accomplished the chunk’s task. It’s okay to give a chunk more than one task - sometimes, I like to dedicate a chunk to lots of little bits that need to get done (like making a phone call or sorting out my school bag). - Lastly, get the hell to bed. Waking up at the same time is all very well if you’re maintaining a regular bedtime too, but it isn’t magically going to make tiredness from not getting enough sleep go away! Don’t eat a heavy meal too late at night, and try not to exercise within two hours of falling asleep. Turn off your technology - phones, tablets, computers, TVs - within 90 to 30 minutes of going to bed. I find an hour is the sweet spot for me. Take the opportunity to have a bath, journal, read a book or plan the stuff you need to do the next day. Establishing a night-time routine will help your body recognise when it’s time to wind down. If you’re super duper tired, your bedtime is the thing to adjust. Don’t get up later; go to sleep earlier. I know all the good TV is on after 9pm - but that’s why OnDemand TV was created. I promise it’ll still be there tomorrow. So that’s the basics of creating a functioning, well-rounded daily routine. It can be adapted for days when you actually have stuff to do (such as attending those precious few lectures), as well as for students whose education isn’t mostly revolved around independent study. Just do fewer/shorter task chunks per day and do them after/before school or university or work, or apply the tips only at the weekend to create a routine for getting stuff done!Stick to it and you’ll be more energetic, more productive, and happier! -- source link
#routines