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STUDY HACK: How I get things done in 4 hours a day

Hi guys, Lala here! I want to share with you guys how I am able to get things done in 4 hours a day. I know that for some of you the idea seems ridiculous. I thought the same 3 years ago. But I realized that while I would study, I was actually pretending to study because I would actually drift away from my studies and work and end up reading something completely unrelated to what I was supposed to get done. 

I would “study” for very long hours and didn’t get even half things done. And what is interesting is the fact I was actually burned out and stressed. About 2 years ago, I came across this article on Quartz called “The 4-hour workday is not a crazy idea”. While this is targeted towards businesses, I said to myself “School is basically work, so why not give it a shot”. And I am not kidding guys, it has helped so much. I actually get more things done, and I am not overworked because studying or working for 4 hours a day leaves me with plenty of time to focus on personal goals and my health. And while university leaves you with a ton of work, I am able to do it following the principles I shared with you above. 

If you guys want to know more about the methods that I talked about here, you can find more info below:

Time-blocking 101

Avoid the urgency trap with the Eisenhower Matrix

Productivity 101: An Introduction to The Pomodoro Technique

How to improve productivity with time batching

Hope you guys found this useful, and if you want to know more study hacks, feel free to check out my blog.

How to catch up to your classes

Figure out how behind you are

The first step is figuring out how behind you actually are. Will you get anxious? Yes. Will you panic? Most likely. However, brace yourself. You got yourself in this, so make sure you get yourself out too. If you don’t, nobody else will. Grab a paper or open a document. And do the following:

1. List all your subjects
2. Mark what you will be evaluated for. Is it an essay, presentation or your good old theoretic exam?
3. For each item that you have to deliver write down the following

• Essay: How long should it be? Is it a team project or individual? How
• Presentation: Is it an individual presentation or with a partner?
• Theoretic: How many chapters will the test be based on?

Don’t panic. Prioritize.

I’m not going to lie, you WILL be overwhelmed once you finish that list. However, you are not obligated to do all of them. What do I mean by this? Well, why don’t you try to make a couple of them during resit period? I started a whole semester late, I had double the exams than my peers. Is taking all the exams at once doable? Certainly, but you will have to sacrifice your sanity and be content with a passing grade. However, I am not the type of person that is satisfied with a passing grade and I am also kinda lazy so I would choose which exams I would take in the examination period and which ones I would take in the resit period. That way, I didn’t overload myself with stuff and ensure a high grade nonetheless. Work smarter, not harder, kids.

This is where prioritizing came in handy. Based on the previous information gathered in the first step, filter which exams are the most important. Do you have a subject that requires an essay, presentation and a theoretic exam? Make it a priority. Is that theoretic exam feared among all students for being hella difficult? Make it a priority. As a rule of thumb, make all team projects a priority. So, then… What do you leave for resit? Is it an individual paper that does not require a lot of work or cannot be too long? Resit. Is it an individual presentation? Resit. Is it a simple test in a subject you are confident in? Resit. Although I do recommend trying to take all the written exams in the examination week. However, if you see that the workload is too much, move one to the resit.

Create a Master Calendar

Now that you know what you will be prioritizing, it is important to create a master calendar that will help you catch up. Here are some guidelines on how I do it.

1. Mark off all your deadlines first
2. Per subject divide the study material in tasks: What chapters do you need to study? When will you outline your paper? When will you write? Revise it?
3. Schedule the most pressing or time consuming assignments first
4. Assign 1 or 2 study subjects per day

If you work with programs such as Notion or other software that helps you with project management, doing a big backlog can be a game changer. Want more in depth information? I wrote a blog just about that here.

Have a structured and mindful study routine

I was surprised at how much I improved my study when I implemented a study routine. Before having one, I would spend hours and hours on one thing, or I would start reading about something and quickly started doing unnecessary research on what I’ve read. I thought I was being productive but truth of the matter is that I wouldn’t finish what I actually HAD TO do. Some weeks back, I shared my study routine with you. Having a study routine is important, if you want to ensure you are completing your tasks. Pro-tip: use the pomodoro technique or set a specific time for you to finish each of your tasks. You’ll finish more things that way.

Have a partner to keep you accountable

Finding a study buddy is one of the best decisions you can make when you are behind your studies. BUT make sure they are serious. This helped me so much back in my minor, I teamed up with another classmate and we created a shared doc where we each assigned a chapter to summarize. We would then come together and explain the chapter to each other. Thus cutting the time we spent reading and writing the summaries in half in order to focus on learning. Try to come up with ways to divide the workload between the two of you and then explain and discuss about it. This is a more interactive way of learning and is sure to keep you more engaged and help you remember it afterwards.

5 tips on how to be productive when studying from home

Hi, guys! Lala here. 

I previously posted my study from home routine. I wanted to share additional information/ rules I go by that also help me get things done while at home. 

Personaly #5 Communicate Expectations is the one that I don’t see a lot of people talking about. If you live with other people in your house, it can be an extra challenge to get things done especially when you have a latino mom that thinks I am playing and on Facebook the whole time instead of studying and thinks its a always a good time to barge in the middle of my classes and evaluations. I personally have gotten so much value out of it, as it allows me work smoothly without the interruption of people entering in my room or mindlessly knocking at my door. 

So you have any other tips that help you get things done while studying from home? Let me know!

If you’re interested in knowing more, check out my original content:

My study routine for ultimate productivity

Minimalist student toolkit

Planning 101: A student tested guide to planning your shit

the apps that helped me go through all sorts of shit in college

GOOGLE CALENDAR

God bless all the people on the Google Calendar team. User interface is friendly, easy, notifications arrive just when I need them. Without Google Calendar, I would be lost. You can read more about how I use Google Calendar for my studies and overall life here.

EVERNOTE

Evernote’s web clipper has saved my ass many times. I love how advanced the web clipper of Evernote is. I get to save all the links in their respective notebooks. Or if I’m in a hurry, I just use tags. If I didn’t do any of that, Evernote’s search engine is so crazy good, I just have to type some keywords in the search bar and J am guaranteed to find the webpage I save. The web clipper is a just, especially when researching. I just login to Evernote to find my sources and all I have to do is put them in the literature. 

SCRIBBR

Talking about literature, Scribbr is also another website that has saved my life. Citing your sources is just so incredibly easy on Scribbr. All I have to do is copy-paste the link and Scribbr will automatically cite your source in APA or MBA. And it is also available in several languages. Saved me from all those last minute details so fast. Honestly, Scribbr should be more hyped among college students. It has seriously added so much value to my academic life.

GOOGLE DRIVE

Le Holy Grail of productivity: cloud storage. I love Google Drive because you get 15GB storage free, which let’s be honest that’s more than enough for most people. Everything goes into Google Drive. Literally everything. From the syllabus, to slides, handouts, class notes, essays. Everything. All categorized by year-semester-subject. I can easily search for whatever I’m looking for in a matter of seconds. And I can scan documents right from the app, allowing me to go paperless. Google Drive has helped me be so organized, I have become the reference point for both students and professor alike when something is needed.