Productivity Tips and Tricks

[natshar]

How do you get things done? Schoolwork or anything else. I want to hear your best time management and productivity tips and tricks. Not just generic tips but specific methods, tips and ideas you personally use to succeed at school and life.

I realized this forum is filled with lots of highly motivated people who get things done and I would like to know how you people do it.

[cookderosa]

How do you get things done? Schoolwork or anything else. I want to hear your best time management and productivity tips and tricks. Not just generic tips but specific methods, tips and ideas you personally use to succeed at school and life.

I realized this forum is filled with lots of highly motivated people who get things done and I would like to know how you people do it.

I have a white board next to my desk (a BIG one made by a 4x8 piece of melamine sheeting - screwed that sucker straight into the wall) and I have my in progress as well as specific goals there.

Since you want specifics, my daily looks like this:
I have written out a calendar (in dry erase) for 6 months at a time. For my blog, I schedule posts to appear 3 times per day, once at 8am, once at 3pm and once at 8pm. I schedule those in advance. Half circle around the date number for 8am, half circle around the date number for 8pm, and line down the middle for 3pm. If I have a date number WITHOUT a circle, I know I have to write and schedule that. Currently, all of my blog posts are scheduled except for Tuesdays and Saturdays through March.
I allocate time in bulk to do that since it is time consuming but I post by topic, and found that the only way I am successful is if I follow a topic outline. So, I revise every 6 months, but under my calendar I wrote each day of the week:
Sunday- promotion
Monday- CLEP
Tuesday- Cost map
Wednesday- DSST/ ACE
Thursday- AP
Friday - Freebies
Saturday- Cost Map
And I know exactly what topic/theme to post on those days. Separately on the side I list 3 things to do. I know you can make big lists, but if I do that, I start cherry picking and won't get anything done, so my to-do list is always very short and always complete before adding anything new. Currently, my todo for today says:
1)Write 2 Cost Maps for Southern New Hampshire University (NH)
2) Fix my pop up form (for my blog)
3) Write a course description for {a speech I'm giving}

No question I could have a 1000 things on there, but I get a lot done in a day, and I think I do that because I focus on finishing items on my list instead of adding to my list. If there is something lingering or I just keep procrastinating, I remove it. Guilt-free. Cancel / erase it and do something else. I HATE carry over items, and almost always just erase them or power through.