By calculating your own churn rate, you can determine, precisely, how effective you are and how this effectiveness changes over time and different types of projects. The details of this calculation are as follows:

1. Make a list of active projects that are important to you to complete. These should not be projects that have deadlines. Instead, make them the optional work that would really help you get ahead if completed. Each should require around 1 – 2 weeks of fairly regular attention to complete. If it requires more, break it up into smaller chunks. If it requires less, don’t include it — it’s a task, not a project. Overall, you should have between 4 – 8 projects on this list.

2. Over the next 3 -6 weeks, try to work only on the active projects on your list. You’ll still have to complete deadline-driven work, of course, but don’t get seduced by a new idea and add it to your list until you’ve completed what is already there.

3. After around 3 weeks you can start calculating your churn rate as often as you like. The formula is as follows:

CR = [(number of completed projects from list)/(days elapsed since start of list)] * 100

Source

Source: MakeUseOf

A good Sunday ritual consists of the following (from Follow A Sunday Ritual):

1. Immediately after waking up, go grab a big breakfast (realistically, considering that last night you were out partying, this is more likely to be a brunch). Do this on your own, with strong coffee, and a copy of the Sunday Times (or, anything else that is both mentally stimulating and completely unconnected to any schoolwork). Take your time. Spend an hour.
2. Swing by the nearest library. Spend 20-30 minutes to review your calendar and to-do lists. Get a feel for what work you need to get done this week. What deadlines are looming? What personal projects have fallen fallow? If you follow the GTDCS method (or something similar), this is the time to assign specific work to the specific days of the week. Make sure you also set aside around three hours of work to get done today. Preferably select something intellectual but also non-intimidating, such as catching up on reading assignments.
3. Clear your head. This might involve going for a quiet walk. Or, hangover permitting, hitting the gym. Conclude with a snack that will boost energy.
4. Settle into the most deserted possible library on campus. (At this point, it will be in the early to mid-afternoon) Taking quick breaks every 50 minutes, efficiently plow through your three hours of work for the day.
5. Conclude by sketching your Monday schedule. It’s important for your stress levels that you feel like you have a detailed plan for the next day. Now, clear all work thoughts from your brain. Have dinner with your friends. Spend the evening doing whatever it is that you like doing. You’re ready for the new week.

I do find it difficult to start Monday morning trying to think back all the way to Friday. Usually by Monday, any momentum I had on Friday is long gone , so I decided that it would be more effective to do a preliminary clearing out of my brain on Friday afternoon, and then to also do a Sunday Ritual, as Study Hacks suggests.

The result has been an amazing lessening of stress and an increase in productivity. It’s part relaxing day off, part getting back into the swing of a busy school week and it makes the transition from weekend to school week so much easier.

Photo: Comfort Food

Then, before we know it it’s 2am and we have a major paper due in 8 hours and we’re scurrying to the finish line again! Or it’s the weekend before an exam, and it’s like “What? How did this sneak up on me?”

Does this sound like a familiar scenario? Unfortunately for most of us it is . Take heart–even the most organized, productive students sometimes fall prey to the procrastination monkey jumping on our backs. Mere mortals that we are, it seems like we’re constantly in danger of falling into a downward spiral of avoiding things that we know we should be doing.

Sometimes it helps to sidestep the dreaded procrastination monkey if we understand why it’s there in the first place. JohnPlaceOnline lists the top 11 causes and cures of procrastination as being:

• Complicated-task anxiety: Break big, complicated tasks into smaller pieces. Complete a starter task, no matter how small.
• Fear of imperfection: Accept that perfection is
  rarely attainable and seldom necessary. You’re a person, not a robot.
  Use the 80/20 rule whenever appropriate.
• Indecision: Determine your decision-making criteria, then set a deadline for your decision. Ask a friend to hold you accountable.
• Priority confusion: Distinguish obligations from options. What are you really responsible for? List and prioritize tasks.
• Boredom from minutiae: Automate simple repetitive tasks whenever possible.
• Lack of focus: Minimize distractions. Check e-mail and voicemail only twice per day instead of every 5 minutes. Find aquiet room where you can concentrate. Resist the urge to keep taking breaks.
• Poor organizational skills: Clean your work area. Put tools and utensils in their proper place so you can find them when you need them.
• Laziness: Remind yourself of the consequences of procrastination. Resist the urge to be a couch potato. Try to complete several small tasks to provide a feeling of accomplishment. Reward
  yourself.
• Lack of energy: Maintain a regular sleep routine. Eat healthy. Exercise regularly. Do not skip breakfast.
• Early morning lag: Before you stop working each day, make a list of the tasks you want to begin first thing the following morning so you can hit the ground running the next day.
• Post-lunch fatigue: Before leaving for lunch, make a list of the things you plan to do when you get back so you can pick up where you left off. Avoid eating a heavy lunch.

I can say ditto to all those great observations and cures. For myself with writing papers and such the thing that causes me to procrastinate is that I sometimes feel overwhelmed by all steps needed to complete the task–the research, the outline, the first draft, the everything.

I conquer this by just forcing myself to dive in right away–I have the goal of getting the paper done before the due date. It’s just a mental game I play with myself to spur me to action. Really the first step is the hardest, and it’s downhill from there.

What about you guys–What are the things that cause YOU to procrastinate and what do you think the cure is?

Photo: Squirrel monkey

Remember back in the day when we used to have to hand write our class notes? I know, what an archaic thought . The dark ages! (Or just earlier this decade.) Nowadays though we have those paper thin laptops we tote to every class making it oh so much easier and cooler looking to be studious and take notes.

Taking online notes is super easy with NoteSake, a free app that lets you take notes, save them, organize them, search them and print them in a handy dandy .pdf or .doc. One of the coolest features is that you can easily share your notes with a group (as big as ya want!) so that they’re easy sharing of info between classmates.

NoteSake makes staying organized easy even for the most absent-minded of students. This equates to less time searching for notes, allowing you to spend your time doing more important things, such as getting actual work accomplished.

Source: Lifehacker

These 6 tips come from the College Scholarships blog, with my commentary:

1) Lay off the stimulants! Red Bull, cocaine, ephedrine, and other performance enhancing or stimulant drugs can make you feel frazzled and unhealthy. (Do we really need to specify cocaine as a no-no? Eeek!) You know what we mean. If you normally drink Red Bull or Mountain Dew or your high energy drink of choice, drink what you normally drink, but don’t ingest any substance with the intention of staying awake for an entire week to study. You will not learn the info you need to learn in that state.

For optimal study performance you need to take care for yourself–eat healthy meals at regular intervals, drink lots of water, exercise, and get a full night’s sleep every night.

2) Choose your study setting carefully. Everyone has their own preference for where they concentrate the best. Some of us like to lie on our beds and sprawl out, while others prefer a desk in our dorm rooms, and still others feel the need to go to the library to cram. If you have roommates that might be noisy or keep interrupting your studies, you might want to go to the library (duh, right?). That is my preference. It’s so peaceful and quiet there, and if you find your own study carol it’s really hard to get distracted.

3) Take a chill pill. We have all freaked at one time or another when exam time rolls around. I know I did this for one history class I took–I was just terrified for some reason. I had studied and was worried about what the questions would be or if I was even studying the stuff that was important. Don’t let this happen to you! There is nothing good that comes from worrying about what will be on the test. You just need to believe in yourself, believe that you’re adequately preparing for the exam, and proceed with confidence. Talk to a friend or your mom if you need some reassurance, but try not waste too much energy freaking yourself out.

4) Get a game plan. Make a list of your studying priorities. You only have so much time and your brain is only so big, so you need a plan of attack. Make a list of which classes need your attention the most and study for them first. For each class, write down the main things you need to cover, so you don’t waste time learning stuff that is really not that important.

5) Create a studying schedule and stick to it. Yes, we’re getting kind of obsessive here, but it’s called for and will relieve a bunch of stress. You’ve developed your game plan, now plan out your day to determine when you will study, what you’ll be studying and for how long. Having a structured schedule will help you relax and stay focused on your mission.

6) Don’t study with your Crush. This is not the time to make headway in the romance department, even if that sweetie you’ve been dreaming about from your PSYCH 310 class asks you to help her cram. You gotta pass on this one–it’s hard enough to concentrate without puffs of delicate perfume wafting across your desk. Just tell her you already have studying plans, but would love to take her out to dinner after the exam. Above all, do not invite her into your sacred studying cave–RESIST!

Photo credits:
Mountain Dew Bottle Collection Closeu
Sweet Lips!

Take regular breaks. I know, it sounds counterintuitive. You have papers due, exams coming up, presentations to make (eek!), plus class, plus studying. It may feel like the only way to get everything done is to cut back on leisure time, but that’s simply not the case. Your brain needs time to rest, and you’ll actually accomplish more if you work less.

The Strategy: For every 45 minutes of work, take a 15 minute break. Get up, walk around, talk to people, watch TV, eat something, walk outside–whatever, just get away from your desk, your books and the computer.

This is a little of a mind trick–if you sit down at your desk and think “I’m going to study all night long” your mind will rebel, and you will have trouble concentrating. But, if you know in your head that you will be rewarded with a break in 45 minutes, your mind will kick into high gear because it sees the finish line in sight.

In addition to taking regular breaks during study time, it is also essential to take a day off once a week. That’s one 24 hour period of time when your brain can relax and have fun.

After a break or a day off, you will come back to your work with fresh eyes, and you’ll find learning so much easier. It also helps when you go to take your tests–you will show up refreshed and energized, which beats stumbling in unshaven with wrinkly clothes and a frazzled look on your face after pulling an all-nighter .