Are you nagging your college student about being productive this semester? Do they keep saying that they should be getting more work done but just can't do it? What's "productive" enough?
Students are often feeling the "tug of work"—"I need to take a break and not think about work", but then they just spend time thinking about work, not doing it, and time passes.
They often feel frustrated, they don't enjoy their downtime, and they don't get anything done. When they tell themselves to just get started, they don't.
👉 Interested in knowing why? Check out my blog post on why students procrastinate (and how to avoid it!)
In this blog post, we're going to break down how I teach my clients to set goals for productivity, achieve them and define their wins!
How to Help Your Student Stay Motivated in College
Working with my clients has been all about defining the win— so they have a way to define when they've been "productive enough" instead of just feeling like they "should have gotten more done." By setting clear goals, students can create a structured plan that helps them stay motivated in college.
Setting Clear Goals for Productivity
Before we define the win, we need to set clear goals for productivity.
Try this exercise or share it with your college student:
Determine Your Goal:
Take this small step to plan how you will be productive for the day.
❓Ask yourself: What exactly needs to be completed TODAY and what will you have to show to indicate it was done? ✔️Examples could be: notes from a chapter read, a document created, a form submitted, an email sent, bullet points on a program researched.
Schedule Time to Complete Your Goal:
Then, ahead of time, decide how much time you will need to complete each task and when you will do it that day, and why you want to do it then, as opposed to another time. What's the pay off for getting it done then? 📅 Planning ahead makes it easier to follow through!
Set Your Timer
When the time comes to work on the task, set your timer on your phone or laptop and get to work!
⏳ Timers create urgency and help students stay focused!
Define Your Win!
If you stick to this plan and follow through, then that's a win for the day! 🎉
No More Guilt—Just Productivity
The rest of the day can be spent hanging with friends, sleeping, watching TV or movies, playing video games—whatever feels good!
NO MORE GUILT or "shoulding" yourself that you should have been more productive, just because you could have been.
Helping College Students Overcome Productivity Struggles
I help students who are in college, about to start college, and just out of college, learn how to define their wins, plan them out specifically, and then manage the emotions that come with following through. Defining their wins, and having a concrete plan for their brains to gauge productive vs unproductive creates success.
📅 Schedule a free consult to talk about your college student who struggles with getting work done, productivity, procrastination, or overworking!
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