This is going to rattle some of your beliefs, but multitasking is fake.

Your mind is blown, isn’t it?

Multitasking, if you don’t know, is doing multiple tasks at the same time.

For instance, you would do math questions, while checking your social media, while listening to music.

But our human brains are not capable of this. We can barely focus on our work in noisy environments.

I remember thinking that I was able to multitask. When I was younger, I wanted to do so many things (activities that countered my schoolwork).

Thus, I would try to do a bunch of stuff at once while I did my homework.

But as I got older, I realized I wasn’t focusing on the stuff that needed to be done when I multitasked.

If I was listening to music and doing homework at the same time, I would concentrate more on the music and not on my homework (probably because it was more fun and a simpler task).

At that time, I didn’t understand what was going on. It wasn’t until I got I took a psychology course in college that I figured it out.

Why We Can’t Multitask

We were in the cognition unit, I believe, and my professor talked about multitasking one class.

She said that it was fake and this caught me by surprise.

I don’t remember exactly what she said, but it was similar to how this Entrepreneur article explained it:

“Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully.”

So essentially, our brain lags when it has to do more than one thing at once.

And the reason why is because it does not possess the power to do multiple tasks (do it well, anyway).

Ever since then, I only listen to lyric-less music when I am writing or doing work.

I am able to be mindful when I do this and am able to put full focus on the task at hand.

And this is what you should do too (if you want to do better in school).

You have to work on one task at a time and put your full attention on it.

Once you’re done, go on to the next task, and so on.

A Tip on How to be Mindful

If you find that you have trouble focusing, try using the Pomodoro Technique.

This productivity hack will help you focus on a single task at a time by breaking up and timing your work period.

When used, you will work on a task for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break, and then work on another task for 25 more minutes.

This helps you be mindful of your work because you are being timed.

The timing, for whatever reason, forces you to concentrate and be attentive. It adds pressure on you.

You can learn more about it here if you are interested.

Final Thoughts

Multitasking will hurt your productivity.

When you do it, you are mainly focusing on the easy and simple tasks, which the majority of the time are the tasks that cause you to procrastinate.

So, cut it out and do one thing at a time.

And if you really need to have background noise when you are working, listen to music with no lyrics.

I suggest listening to classical and Lo-Fi hip-hop music as these are my favourites.

When I was a student, I always had trouble managing my time.

I procrastinated a lot, which led to me not finishing my work on time.

Sometimes, I just thought I completed my homework already when I actually didn’t (I was also pretty disorganized).

But as I got into the higher grades and eventually into college, I realized that time management and organization are important.

Keeping track of things and staying on top of them was a deciding factor in my success or failure.

And it will be yours too.

But you probably already know that, seeing how you are on this article.

What you want are some tips on how to manage time better.

And, since I’m a nice guy and a borderline pushover, I’m going to give you some tips.

So, let’s get to them:

Keep a to-do list

A to-do list is a list of things that you need to finish in a day or a week. It can be homework assignments, projects, or household chores.

Creating a to-do list is pretty easy.

You can use an agenda to schedule all your tasks or you can make your own with a notebook. There are also different types of agendas as well.

There are daily ones, hourly ones, and monthly ones (I personally prefer the daily ones, if you’re wondering).

Additionally, you can download a to-do list template and use that.

To start, what you want to do is write down the tasks you need to accomplish on any given day.

This could be an assignment, a reading, or a quiz that needs to be studied for.

But be conscientious to not overstuff your schedule.

If you add too many items, you’ll be overwhelmed with the number of tasks you have and you won’t do any. This is called analysis paralysis.

So, try to only keep three items in your task box.

Some days, there will be more. But for the majority of the time, just keep the three items that you absolutely have to do during your core study time.

Additionally, you should spread out the tasks that will take a long time to complete.

For example, if you have a research paper, spread out the process of writing it throughout the week.

On day one, you can do research and planning. On day two, you can outline the paper and craft the thesis, and so on.

By doing this, the task will seem manageable. It will also prevent procrastination because it’s broken into small chunks of work.

Additionally, by breaking up large tasks, you’ll have more time to do other (shorter) tasks that also need attention.

One more thing you can do to make your to-do lists more effective is implementing batch days.

Batch Days

Batch days are days when you group a bunch of similar easy tasks together and complete them all in one day.

For instance, you can batch all your required readings and note-taking into one day.

Or, you can batch all of your weekly homework assignments, such as math or science review questions, into a day.

By batching, you’ll create more time for more to work on difficult tasks.

You’ll be able to spend more time focusing on longer, more difficult assignments because you won’t have to worry about finishing the easier work.

This is also a good way to prevent Parkinson’s Law from affecting you because you’ll be setting a reasonable time limit for completing tasks.

Rank Your Tasks

This tip will go hand-in-hand with the previous tip.

As you are scheduling your to-do list, you should rank your tasks. If there is a complex assignment that you need to finish before the week’s end, you should do that first.

The reason why you should do this is that you’ll have more focus and energy first thing in the week. You’ll also have more time to work on and complete it.

If you were to leave it until the middle of the week or to the last minute, you’ll be too tired to do it. You’ll also be short on time.

Too stubborn to believe me?

Imagine this: you’ve just spent nearly a week working on math homework, reading a couple of short stories, studying for a science quiz, and working on a fill-in-the-blanks social studies assignment.

Would you now want to also write a 5-page report that’s due in a day?

No, you’re not (and if you do, you are a big, fat, liar).

Your brain will be fatigued and you’ll be unenthused, and you’re not going to put your best foot forward. You may even just give up and not finish the assignment on time.

But by putting some urgency on this task, you’ll put in the time and effort needed to do it well.

Also, if you start working on this first thing in the week, you can break it up into smaller, daily tasks, as I mentioned earlier.

So, rank your tasks by figuring out what requires the most attention and brainpower.

Do these first thing in the week or first in your study period. The simpler tasks (the ones that are less fatiguing to your cranium) can be done after.

Use the Pomodoro Technique

If you’re the type of student who easily loses focus, try implementing the Pomodoro Technique.

The Pomodoro Technique, which you can read more about here, will help you stay focused on your task, saving you time in the long run.

It does this by making the work period un-intimidating by forcing you to break it down into short chunks.

In these 25 minute chunks of time, you will put your undivided attention to working on a task.

If your task is a long one, like writing a paper, you can break it down into stages.

Then you can work on a stage during a Pomodoro.

If you have a bunch of smaller assignments, you can work on each one during a Pomodoro.

For example, let’s say you have to read and take notes for social studies, solve 10 math equations, and read a chapter for language arts.

During the first Pomodoro chunk, you would do your math.

Once the 25 minutes are up, take a 5-minute break. Then, you would do your social studies. Take a short break when the Pomodoro is up.

Finally, you are going to do your language arts.

When the 25 minutes are up, you will take a longer break (15-30 minutes) and start a new Pomodoro cycle if you have more work to do.

If you don’t, then you are finished your study period. You are free. Go do whatever you want.

By using Pomodoros to study, you’ll cut out slack and save time.

Your work time will be concentrated, which will result in you having more time to do other things.

Conclusion

By applying these three time management methods, you’ll be more organized, less of a procrastinator, and will have more free time.

They’ll allow you to work smarter and more efficiently, rather than working longer and harder.

So give them a try and see how much they will benefit your life.

You’ve probably heard the term essay from one of your teachers before.

But if you’re one of those students who don’t pay attention because you’re thinking about something else, like sneakers or tech, you probably don’t know what an essay is.

But more importantly, you definitely don’t know the structure of an essay… and how to write one.

This is probably why you searched this topic and landed on this article. So, I’m going to help you out.

First, an essay is a type of long-form writing.

It is meant to either argue for a belief, persuade readers into believing something, or to expose an idea or process by sharing how-to steps.

The Essay Format

The easiest way to learn the structure of a 5-paragraph essay is by imagining a burger. This process is called the Essay Burger Plan.

So, I’m sure all of you know what a basic hamburger looks like. If you’re vegetarian, imagine a Veggie burger. They both look the same.

How to Write the Intro Paragraph

Anyway, the top bun of the burger is your introduction paragraph. This is where you will try to capture the reader’s attention.

Following the first bun is usually a slice of lettuce.

If you normally don’t have this in your burgers, then I have to ask: Are you a monster? Who eats a straight-up meat burger?

But I digress.

The lettuce is where you would put the thesis.

The thesis is a statement that tells the reader what your essay will be about.

This is where you would put your stance on an idea or argument, or what the theme of your essay will be. It is also part of your intro paragraph.

For example, if you received an essay question that asks you: “What tastes better: beef burgers or veggie burgers?” your thesis can be:

“Veggie burgers taste better because they are loaded with natural flavours.”

How to Write the Body Paragraph

Next is the patty. This is where you are going to place your body paragraphs.

In the body paragraphs, you are going to defend your thesis.

You are going to write your reasons for why veggie burgers taste better than beef burgers, for instance.

You’re going to use your thoughts/beliefs, facts, research, history, quotes, case studies, science…anything that can be used to prove that your stance is reasonable.

You also have to add examples to legitimize your reasons. And after each example, you have to explain how it is related to your reasoning.

So, continuing with the burger example, I could say:

“To start, veggie burgers have a lot of natural ingredients.

On the national health site, it says that X brand of ‘veggie burgers have fresh ingredients such as carrots, green peas, and mushrooms improving the patties taste and health.’

This example proves that only natural vegetables are used in producing the patties, which adds to its flavour.”

Additionally, there are usually three body paragraphs per essay (at the intro level anyway). So your burger is actually a triple-burger.

How to Write the Conclusion Paragraph

In the bottom bun, you’re going to write the conclusion.

You’re going to close out your essay by summarizing everything that you talked about earlier.

The easiest way to do this is to re-write your thesis and the important points that you made.

So, if you were comparing veggie burgers and beef burgers, you can write:

“Therefore, the flavours in veggie burgers exceed those in beef burgers because only fresh, natural flavours are used as ingredients.”

And that’s basically how you write an essay.

If you want more tips on essay writing, such as how to write it faster, read this post.

Transitions and Sentence Starters

In addition, I want to add that you should always try to make your essay easy to read.

You can do this by adding smooth transitions and using sentence starters, as well as using simple language for explanations.

Here’s a small list of transitions you can add to your essay to make it flow better (you can find more here):

• In addition
• First, second, third
• Even though
• Regardless
• For the purpose of
• Given that
• In conclusion
• Eventually
• in the center of
• adjacent to

And here are some sentence starters you can use (you can find more here):

• In addition to
• For example
• Accordingly
• As a result
• Because
• On the other hand
• Especially
• Granted
• As you can see
• For all of those reasons

Final Thoughts

By following this essay structure, you can write a pretty darn good essay.

Just make sure your content and arguments are sound and you’ll for sure impress your teacher.

There’s something about morning routine videos that I really enjoy. Even though many of them give me the same information, they’re still fun to watch.

I think it’s because I like watching what successful people (or people I strive to be like) do in the wee hours of the morning.

Additionally, many of these videos are artsy and cinematic, so that adds to the enjoyment I get from them.

But I noticed a lot of these morning routines aren’t made for students -they’re made for entrepreneurs or the self-employed.

I’ve watched quite a bit of these videoes and many of them take hours to complete.

Students don’t have time for that. Students have to wake and be ready for school by 7 or 8 am.

So, this is why I decided to create a morning routine for students.

It includes all the necessary activities students should do to have a productive day at school.

So, let’s get to it:

Drink Water

The first thing you should do after waking up is to drink a gulp (or more) of water.

Water, as you may have heard, is essential to a healthy body. Being hydrated improves cognition and bodily activities.

But while you are sleeping, your body dehydrates.

So by drinking some water first thing in the morning, you’re rehydrating yourself.

This will improve your mental awareness. And if you drink cold water, this will shock your body, waking you up quicker.

After you drink your water, go do your business in the bathroom.

Move Your Body

After you take care of your hygiene, get your body moving. This could be anything from stretching to bodyweight exercises.

You should move your body in the morning because it will get your blood flowing.

It will stimulate your body and brain, getting them to wake up.

And when this happens, you will be able to focus better.

If you’re not entirely sure what you can do, I suggest you do 10 squats and 10 push-ups. You can also do a quick full-body stretching flow.

Additionally, when you do something you don’t really want to do first thing in the day, you’re telling your mind that you are in charge.

This is important because after conquering one tedious task, you’ll set a productive tone for the rest of the day.

And the following tasks will be much easier to conquer.

After you do your light exercise, go on and get some breakfast.

Read Something

As you wait for your breakfast to be made, read two pages from a book, newspaper or magazine.

And make sure it’s the physical one and not one from your phone or tablet (e-book readers are exempt).

If you use your phone or tablet, the chances of you straying from a productive morning are high.

You’ll lose discipline and go on social media or watch a silly video.

During this time, you only want to read text that challenges you to imagine or think critically.

Similar to exercising, reading will help make other tasks feel less challenging.

But the logic behind reading is that it’s a mental task that needs to be conquered, which, to some, is actually harder.

So if you were to defeat this task first thing in your day, you’ll set yourself to be on the right track.

Your next mental tasks will be way easier to accomplish.

Additionally, reading in the morning will make you think. And thinking engages the brain, which will help you focus in class.

After reading the two-plus pages, eat your breakfast.

Review Your Day

After you have devoured your breakfast, review what you have to do in the day. This will help you stay on top of tasks.

You’ll be more organized and this will save you time throughout the day.

Reviewing your day will also help you ensure that you have completed all of your assignments.

So, this is a good habit to build.

During this time, you should also do some positive thinking. You can remind yourself of all the things you are grateful for.

Or you can reinforce the idea that that day will be a great day. Just flood your mind with some good thoughts.

Now, head off to school.

After completing these four tasks, you should have a good, productive day at school.

Conclusion

I will add that you don’t have to do all of the tasks every day. But make you do at least two. And never miss a task for more than two days.

So if you don’t complete all your tasks one day, make sure you do all of them the next day.

And remember, you can tweak it to fit your life more. This isn’t a one size fits all routine.

This is what worked for me, but it may not work for you. It’s really just a sample. So, take what works and change what doesn’t.

But give this morning routine a try first and see how much it benefits you.

Have you ever talked to someone who has believed every sound they heard?

Like, those ignorant people who’ll say ridiculous things but truly believe it? Yeah, they’re annoying.

So, to not be like them, you need to learn how to think critically.

Critical thinking is a process of analyzing information with objectivity and reasonable judgement.

The reason why it is important is that it helps you to not believe everything that is told to you.

If you are a critical thinker, you can look at “facts” and see if it’s rational or not. It teaches you to question things and to be logical.

To think critically, you must first encounter something that smells fishy.

Then, you assess it by asking yourself questions such as, “what is another perspective on this case?”

Or you can yourself, “why did this conclusion happen and not another one?” Or, “how is this scientifically possible?”

This is the simplest way to start thinking critically.

But this method will only work if you are proactive about it. You have to put in the effort to ask these questions.

They won’t magically arise every time you read or hear something.

How to Use Critical Thinking at School

So how can you use critical thinking in school?

When you are learning something new, analyze it. If it seems weird or biased, ask yourself why the information seems that way.

Then, ask yourself if there are any other possible outcomes or viewpoints.

List all of the possibilities you can think of.

Then ask yourself some additional questions using the 5 Ws: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

For example:

• Who benefits from this?
• Where can this concept be improved?
• What would be a counter-argument?
• When would this cause a problem?
• Why have we allowed this to happen?
• How will this benefit the majority of people?

After you feel you have thoroughly critically analyzed the concept, bring your research to a teacher, friend, or group.

Have them go through your thoughts and analyze it. They should add to the process with their own questions and critiques.

As they go over your work, adding their own arguments, you are becoming a better critical thinker because you now possess multiple viewpoints.

You are now not only assessing the information from the text but also yours and your group’s as well.

How I think critically

Every time I read the news, I always feel that certain news organizations are bias.

They’ll tend to write a heading (or title) and story that agrees with one side of a case. But they’ll do it in a sneaky way.

They won’t outright say that this one side is correct and the other is wrong.

They’ll just give information that benefits one side and withholds all other information that doesn’t.

So, I always have to be critical when reading news stories. I often ask:

• “What is another side to this story?”
• “Why is this the best scenario?”
• “Who does this benefit?”
• “How does this harm/benefit us/others?”

If I didn’t do this, I would believe everything that I read or heard. This would make me a sheep because I’d just listen and not think.

And that, to me, is not healthy.

You have to be critical and knowledgeable. You have to be able to question things.

Additionally, don’t let your biases affect your critical thinking.

If there is something that you value, like your religion, for instance, you have to be critical and question that information too.

You can’t just critically analyze beliefs that you don’t cherish or believe in.

You have to apply it to everything that you learn.

Conclusion

Critical thinking will allow you to look at things objectively.

You will be able to assess it for its validity.

Also, critical thinking will allow you to analyze your beliefs and viewpoints to see if they are logical.

Thus, start applying this way of thinking to your learning.