With Regular Decision application deadlines just around the corner amidst a pandemic, motivation to finish those remaining supplemental essays may be low. Here are a couple of techniques you can use to increase your productivity and block out all distractions as you finish up your college applications.
1) Write Down Your Remaining Tasks
It may seem like there are a lot of things you have to get done, but writing down everything you have left to complete can help you get a better idea of the workload you have ahead of you.
2) Create an Ideal Schedule
After you have created your task list, it’s important to assign each task a due date and create an ideal schedule for the days ahead. By doing this, you can see if the goals you set out to complete that day are attainable or if you made a certain day’s workload too light. Once you do this, you can reallocate tasks depending on what works best for you.
3) Use The Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by 5 minute breaks. This is a great way to break up your work into smaller intervals to ensure you are spacing out your work in an effective way. While you can very well utilize this technique just by setting up a timer on your phone, there are also apps that can help you regulate this technique.
One app suggestion for this technique is Flora. Flora is a free productivity app that allows you to grow “trees” while you are working. It allows you to set a duration of time you want to focus, and during that time you can watch an animated tree grow. If you leave the app, for social media or games, the tree will die. This app not only uses key aspects of the Pomodoro Technique, but it also blocks out the distractions of your phone while you are working.
4) Take a Timelapse Video of Yourself
While you are about to start, set up your phone somewhere near you and take a timelapse video of yourself doing work. Be sure to set up the camera somewhere where you can get the best vantage point of the work you are doing—which includes viewing your monitor if you are primarily doing work on your computer! This encourages you to stay on task (because you getting distracted will be recorded), preoccupies your phone so you can’t use it, and is nice to look back on once you finish so you can see just how productive you were.
5) Find a Work Buddy
Creating an environment where other people are also being productive can heighten your productivity. BUT make sure you and the person you are working with stay on task and don’t end up spending time talking to each other instead.
6) Block Out All Distractions
Put your phone away! If you are not using it for a timelapse video or productivity app, shut off your phone and put it in another room. This prevents you from responding to notifications, getting caught up on social media, or feeling the urge to check your phone. For Mac users, we recommend the program SelfControl which blocks all the websites you list for the duration of time you set it. There are no workarounds to this and it can only be undone once the timer runs out.
As you finish up your Regular Decision applications, it is imperative that you use all of the remaining time as productively as possible. Hold out for a couple more days to submit the applications, then the rest that happens is out of your hands and you can finally take a breather. Congratulations on making it this far! If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to reach out to us at applicationoverloadblog@gmail.com.
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