“How to become a PRODUCTIVITY BEAST”...ENGINEERING PEER HELPERS Final Tips & Tricks 1. Limit...

“How to become a PRODUCTIVITY BEAST” ENGINEERING PEER HELPERS Lookingtounleashyourtruepotential?Looknofurther!Thishandoutwillhelpyougetthebestresultspossible,manageyourtimelikeaboss,andbecomeaproductivitybeastthissemester!

ENGINEERING PEER HELPERS

Productivityisn’tjustaboutcheckingboxesoffyourto-dolist;it’saboutmakingsureyou’regettingtherightthingsdone,intherighttimeframe,inasuccessfulandeffectiveway.

Reflect on how your time is being spent - with 168 hours/week, how much of that is actually put to good use?

Asseenbelow,aplannedweekcanhelpyoucompletelytransformyourproductivity.

ApersonwhousestheUNPLANNEDroutemayfindthemselvesaskingwherethetimewent,whileapersonwhoPLANScanincreasetheirproductivestudytimeandstillhaveplentyoffreetimetospare.

Let’s find out how this can be done!

ThispackagecontainsthefollowingitemsthatwillhelpyoubecomeaPRODUCTIVITYBEASTthissemester,starttoend(&beyond):

❶ How to establish effective goals? ❷How to boost your efficiency? ❸Tools you can use to manage your time ❹Final Tips & Tricks It’sbesttostartfreshatthebeginningofthesemester,butitisalsoimportanttorememberthatit’snevertoolate–byusingsomeofthetechniquesoutlinedbelow,youwillbeableto

excelbeyondyourownacademicandpersonalexpectations.GoodLuck!

ENGINEERING PEER HELPERS

❶ How to establish effective goals? • Acommonmistakethatstudentsmakeiscreatinggoalsthataredauntingatfirstsight.

The🗝istobreakdownlargetasksintobitesizedpieces.• Let’scomparethedailytasklistsofStudent1and2.

o Student 1didn’tstudyanythingtodaybecausehistasksincluded“Readthetextbook”;hedidn’tknowwheretostart,sohegotsidetrackedbysocialmediaandfunnycatvideos(4hourslater,herealizedthathehadaccomplishednothing).

o Student 2outlinedsmall,bite-sizedtasksforthedaylike,“Readchapter4”,andevenmanagedtotakeabreakandsleep7.5hours.

• Onceyouareabletobuildahabitofestablishinggoals,you’llbeabletomore

effectivelyprioritizetasksandsettimemanagementguidelines.• Itiscriticaltowriteyourgoalsdownonadailybasis.

Student 1 Student 1’s

Daily Task List Student 2 Student 2’s

Daily Task List

• Readthetextbook• Doproblemsets

• Readchapter4today• Reviewchapter3fromlastweek

• Takea40-minstudybreakandeat

• Completeproblemset5• Re-attemptproblemsthatIgotwrongfromthepast2weeks

• GototheGym• Get7.5hoursofsleep

• Makesureyoutakethetimetostepback,reflect,andunderstandthatevenseeminglytedioustasksarepartofalargerprojectwithapurpose(professionalorpersonal).

• Honingyourprocessalongthewaywillhelpyouworkmoreefficientlythanyoufirstexpected,whichmeansmoregoalsareaccomplished!

Engineering Peer Helper Tip! YoucanuseGoogleKeeptoeasilycreatedailytasks

ENGINEERING PEER HELPERS

❷How to boost your efficiency? Thereareproventechniquesthatcanhelpguideyourwaytoincreasedproductivity.

80/20 Rule Rule of Five The Eisenhower Matrix

Workingonthistaskrightnow

Workingonthistaskrightnow

Workingonthistasknext

Workingonthistasknext

Notactuallyplanningtowork

onthistask

20%percentofyourtasksareprobablygoingtohave80%oftheimpact.By

prioritizingthetasksthathavethemostimpactfirst,youwillbeabletoredeemthehighest

benefitforallyourwork.

Accordingtothisrule,twoofyourfivetasksshouldbeonesyouareworkingonrightnow,twomoreshouldbethetasksyouwillbeworkingonnext,

andonetaskshouldbesomethingthatyouexpecttoworkon,buthaven’tactually

plannedforyet.

Theideaisthatallofyourtaskscanbesortedintofourquadrants,withaxesof“Important”and“Urgent”.Thesefourquadrantsaregiven

numbervaluesof1through4basedontheirpriority.Tasksthatareboth“Important”and“Urgent”receiveaprioritylevelof1,andshouldbe

yourfocus.Ontheotherendofthespectrum,tasksthataredeemedboth“NotImportant”and“NotUrgent”shouldbeputtothe

wayside.

ENGINEERING PEER HELPERS

❸Tools you can use to manage your time: PeerHelperApproved(👍)Webadvisor Class Schedule 1. Printout12copiesofyourclassschedule(ideally

withextraspacearoundtheborder)2. Atthestartofthesemester,spendafewhours

addinginanyimportantdeadlinesandremindersforyourself(ex.Beginoutlineforreport–duein2weeks),makesuretorefertoallyourcourseoutlines(Tip:colourcodingbyclassalsohelps).

3. Youcaneasilybookmeetingsthroughouttheweekandorganizedailytaskswithoutthefearofdoublebookingyourself.

➡Thisway,youwillalwaysknowwhattoworkon.

Physical Planner SimilartotheWebadvisormethod,youcanuseaphysicalplanner(Tip:YoucangetonefreefromtheENGSOCoffice).Besidestheextratimeittakestoaddyourclasses,thismethodworksinthesamewayasabove

Electronic Planner Youcanalsouseanelectronicplanner(ex.OutlookCalendar).Ifyouarelookingtosavetime,thisisdefinitelythebestway;youcanrepeatyourclassschedulefortheentiresemester,addinstantnotificationsandviewyourplanneronvariousplatforms.

Monthly Erasable Planner Lastly,youmaychoosetouseamonthlyplanner.Thisallowsyoutoviewthesemestermorebroadlyandcanbereallyhelpful,especiallywhenusedalongsideaweeklyplanner.TheUniversityofGuelphBookstoreisagreatplacetogetalargeerasablemonthlyplanner.

ENGINEERING PEER HELPERS

❹Final Tips & Tricks

1. Limit distractions

• Youcanuseappsliketheonesbelowtohelplimityoufromdistractions.Thiswillhelpyoubuild

ahabitofstayingfocusedonproductivetasks…andyes,thisincludeslimitingNetflix&ChillJ.

2. Take regular breaks:

• Itsoundscounterintuitive,buttakingscheduledbreakscanhelpimproveyourfocus.Research

hasshownthattakingshortbreaksincreasedyourproductivity.3. Set self-imposed deadlines:

• Whileweusuallythinkofstressasabadthing,amanageablelevelofself-imposedstresscan

actuallybehelpfulintermsofgivingusfocusandhelpingusmeetourgoals.Trygivingyourselfa

deadline,andthensticktoit.Youmaybesurprisedtodiscoverjusthowfocusedandproductive

youcanbe!4. Follow the “two-minute rule”:

• EntrepreneurSteveOlenskirecommendsimplementingthe"two-minuterule"tomakethemost

ofsmallwindowsoftimethatyouhaveatwork.Theideaisthis:Ifyouseeataskoractionthat

youknowcanbedoneintwominutesorless,doitimmediately-completingthetaskrightaway

actuallytakeslesstimethanhavingtogetbacktoitlater.5. Is multi-tasking the right way?:

• Whilewetendtothinkoftheabilitytomultitaskasanimportantskillforincreasingefficiency,

theoppositemayinfactbetrue.Psychologistshavefoundattemptingtodoseveraltasksatonce

canresultinlosttimeanddecreasedproductivity.Instead,makeahabitofcommittingtoa

singletaskbeforemovingontoyournextproject.6. Give up on the illusion of perfection:

• It'scommonforstudentstogethunguponattemptingtoperfectatask--therealityisnothingis

everperfect.Ratherthanwastingtimechasingafterthisillusion,bangoutyourtasktothebest

ofyourabilityandmoveon.It'sbettertocompletethetaskandmoveitoffyourplate;ifneed

be,youcanalwayscomebackandadjustorimproveitlateriftimeallows.

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