Review after learning
Information sticks better if reviewed right after learning. Being attentive in class is helpful, but the clutch method is to review what you’ve learned in class for about 30 minutes. This saves a lot of time, because reviewing right after class reduces the need to study at home by a large amount, and you still get the benefit of the information being fresh in your mind.
Be at your highest potential
Slow down. Get rest, work out, eat healthy, do your hobbies. Keeping this momentum is really the key to being at optimal performance. The rest can be scheduled, for instance, stop working at 6-8pm. This is all for the sake of being sane; balance is key, and so is rest.
Eliminate time between tasks
Don’t take long breaks. Don’t randomly open your phone while working. This may seem counterintuitive since the last point is about promoting rest, but the buildup of breaks can really affect your potential optimal flow-state activity by nearly 50%. One routine that helps here is the 888 rule:
- 8 hours of personal time - hobbies, entertainment
- 8 hours of deep work - actual flow-state work
- 8 hours of sleep - actual hygienic sleep
Finish all work as soon as possible
This method helps greatly to prevent procrastination and frees up the schedule. The “fuck it, just do it” rule, or the “eh, if I have to do it eventually, why not now?” rule. There’s also the “snowball” method, the amount of work increases exponentially as breaks go by.
This can also apply to “eat the frog”, which consists of doing the hardest task first.
Do not follow cheat codes like this one religiously
Once again this may seem contradictory, but if you spend your time watching productivity videos, you’re still wasting your optimal time. The harsh truth, and the sum of this whole list, is the fourth point above. Stop watching videos about “you can do it” and actually take action and do it. Ask yourself: are you watching these types of videos to make yourself feel better?
The magic is in the work you’re avoiding.
So the final cheat code is to shut up and do it.