How to Be Productive After School

Motivating Yourself to Be Productive

Set rewards for yourself. Whether it's a video game, 30 minutes on social media, or a candy bar, find something that you really want to do. Make an agreement with your family that you will only receive the reward if you complete a certain number of tasks after school every day. This way, you'll have a reason to get things done as soon as you get home. You don't necessarily need to arrange rewards with your family in order to motivate yourself to be productive. If you can be disciplined, you can be in charge of rewarding yourself after you've gotten a few things done. Ask your parents if there are any incentives that they can think of to give you for being consistently productive after school. EXPERT TIP Treat watching TV or playing online like a reward for finishing your work. Don't let yourself do it until your assignments are done. Jennifer Kaifesh Jennifer Kaifesh Founder, Great Expectations College Prep Jennifer Kaifesh is the Founder of Great Expectations College Prep, a tutoring and counseling service based in Southern California. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience managing and facilitating academic tutoring and standardized test prep as it relates to the college application process. She takes a personal approach to her tutoring, and focuses on working with students to find their specific mix of pursuits that they both enjoy and excel at. She is a graduate of Northwestern University. Jennifer Kaifesh Jennifer KaifeshFounder, Great Expectations College Prep

Perform some simple stretches to activate your body. Stretching will get the blood flowing and make it easier to get started on your first task. Stand up and stretch your back by tilting backwards with your hands on your hips. Use your toes to lift your ankles 3–5 inches (7.6–12.7 cm) off of the floor to stretch your hamstrings. Then, keep your legs straight as you bend over to touch your toes. Stretch your upper body by pulling back on your palms as they point away from you. Bend your elbow behind your upper back and push on your triceps to stretch your arms. Jumping jacks, yoga, and jump rope are all good physical activities that can be used instead of stretching. Stretch for at least 5 minutes before moving on to your next task. This will help get your body in the habit of moving before

Eat a healthy snack when you get home. Your body is going to need a little energy after you get home from a long day at school. Have a healthy snack, like an apple or bowl of oatmeal when you get home. Fueling your body will give you an energy boost and make it easier to get started. Don't sit down for a full meal. Your body will get tired immediately after eating a full meal as it spends energy trying to digest the food. EXPERT TIP Jennifer Kaifesh Jennifer Kaifesh Founder, Great Expectations College Prep Jennifer Kaifesh is the Founder of Great Expectations College Prep, a tutoring and counseling service based in Southern California. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience managing and facilitating academic tutoring and standardized test prep as it relates to the college application process. She takes a personal approach to her tutoring, and focuses on working with students to find their specific mix of pursuits that they both enjoy and excel at. She is a graduate of Northwestern University. Jennifer Kaifesh Jennifer Kaifesh Founder, Great Expectations College Prep Our Expert Agrees: When you get home from school, allow yourself about 30 minutes to unwind and have a snack. Then, dive into your homework right away. Procrastinating until late at night will generally result in lower-quality work and will often keep you up later than you should be.

Announce your plans to be productive to the members of your family. You're more likely to be productive if other people know about your goals to get your work done. Tell your family members that you are actively going to be productive after school every day. This way, you'll know that you need to get to work when you get home in order to avoid letting your parents down.Tip: For an added layer of motivation, tell your siblings to remind you that you promised to be productive. They won't be as kind about it as your parents will be, which could help keep you extra busy!

Write a positive note of encouragement and post it in your home. A simple message like “stay busy!” or “getting stuff done feels good” can be written on a post-it note or piece of paper. Hang the paper up in a visible area in your home to give yourself a visual reminder about maintaining a positive mindset while getting your work done. Remind yourself why you want to be productive and think about how good it will feel when you're done with your homework and chores. The satisfaction of getting a lot done is a strong motivator when it comes to getting yourself moving.

Organizing and Planning

Make a list of what you want to get done after school. Compose a to-do list before you get home with 3-6 tasks that you want to complete. Arrange it so that your list is ordered from most to least important. As you work, cross things off of your list. This will help you track whether you're meeting your daily productivity goals or not. Keep your daily to-do lists in the same notebook and bring it with you to school. During lunch or on your way home, review your list from the day before to see what tasks (if any) you need to carry over from the previous day.

Start with the most important task on your list. If your room is already clean, getting your homework done first is a good idea. If your parents are having friends over for dinner and you haven't cleaned up yet, you probably need to pick your things up first. By beginning with the most important issue, you'll ensure that you're motivated enough to complete your first task. The positive momentum from finishing your first task will carry you through your next couple of items on your list.Tip: If you find yourself consistently struggling to get the most important thing done first, switch up your strategy. Start with the task that you can complete the fastest to start off on a positive note with an easy victory.

Schedule blocks of time to work on daily tasks like homework. If you have certain things that you need to complete every single day, like homework or daily chores, schedule a specific time to complete them. Set a timer on your phone or alarm clock to remind you when you need to start a daily task. This will ensure that you never accidentally skip something important, and will help you develop the habit of getting stuff done every day. Don't schedule something for a time slot when you aren't always home. For example, if you have basketball practice 2 days a week from 3:00-4:30 pm, don't schedule homework time for 3:30 pm.

Performing Simple Tasks

Do your homework right away when you get home. Starting with your homework is a good way to make sure that you're using your time efficiently. Everything that you learned at school will still be fresh in your mind and it'll be easier to finish it quickly. Homework requires sitting as well, so you can have a healthy snack or glass of water while you work in order to refresh your body.Tip: Partner up with a homework buddy and agree to complete your homework together after school. This will help you keep one another accountable after class gets out.

Clean your room and organize any messy areas. It's easy to leave dirty laundry on the floor and forget about trash in your room. Cleaning your personal space is a good activity to complete after school because it requires almost no brain power to complete. If you want to give your mind a rest when you get home, start by cleaning your room.

Finish any chores that your parents have given you. If your parents give you weekly or daily chores, you may want to get those done after school. If you leave chores for the weekend, you're only eating into your own free time. Once you're in the tempo of getting things done after school, incorporate your weekly chores into your routine. Set a schedule where you complete certain chores on specific days of the week to avoid having to do them all at once. For example, you can do your laundry on Monday, take out the trash on Wednesday, and do the dishes on Friday.

Keeping Yourself from Getting Distracted

Listen to music while you're working to stay focused. Listening to music is an excellent way to keep yourself from getting distracted. Build yourself a playlist on your phone or home computer, and throw some music on when you get started. This will prevent boredom from setting in while you're working through the mundane items on your to-do list.Tip: Podcasts and radio programs are good replacements for music if you want to learn something while you're working. Try to include uplifting and high-tempo tunes in your playlist. If you're listening to slower or softer music, you may find yourself falling asleep or getting tired while you work. Create multiple playlists filled with different artists and genres of music to prevent yourself from listening to the same thing over and over again.

Ask your family to redirect you if you get off-task. Enlist a family member to keep you accountable if they see you getting distracted. Try to work when they're around so that they can keep an eye on you, and don't get upset if they remind you that you're trying to be productive, since a simple reminder will help you stay focused while you work.

Take a short nap before getting started. It may sound counterintuitive, but a nap may be the best way to be productive after school. A 15-20 minute nap can give your body a quick rest and make it easier to fight through the after-school slump. Be careful not to overdo it though; set an alarm on your phone and stick to strict time limits in order to prevent yourself for sleeping through the evening.

Deactivate notifications on your phone and avoid looking at social media. It's hard to get anything accomplished if you're consistently staring at a screen. Turn the notifications on your apps off, and close any social media programs to avoid the temptation altogether. Consider leaving your phone in a separate room or with someone if you aren't using it for music and don't need it for the task that you're trying to complete. Consider downloading an app that monitors and limits the amount of time that you spend on social media. Offtime, Moment, and BreakFree are all apps that will cut you off from Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat if you can't help yourself. If you're leaving it with someone, tell them you don't want them to give you your phone back until they can see you've completed everything.