As a Year 11 GCSE student, I have found that in order to increase your productivity, it is vital to incorporate some healthy habits into your life. Not only would this make you feel more organised, but it would also consume less energy and time as you know when and how you have to perform these habits. 

So in today’s article, I will be discussing some habits you need to incorporate into your routine for this school year.

Make a to do list every day.

Making to do lists can help to prioritise and manage tasks. It can also prevent you from procrastinating. I use three planning systems. Find what works for you and make it a habit

Have a time in the day for reflection.

Amongst our busy lives; it can be extremely easy to just get caught up into it and not have the time to stop, breathe and relax. Having a time in the day set to either pray to God, meditate, perform yoga or even just recite positive affirmations really helps. As a Muslim, there are 5 prayers a day to do this.

Read books/listen to podcasts and audiobooks

Even if you dislike reading, you can still try to do this. Whether you do this as soon as you wake up or before you go to bed, it is a means of seeking knowledge. Other alternatives are listening to podcasts or audiobooks.

Exercise regularly.

Exercise is so important yet many teen students tell themselves ‘they don’t have enough time.’ It may be the reason why some teenagers end up feeling lazy. Even exercising twice a week (once in PE lessons and once in the weekend for example) can really help.

Have a good skincare routine.

Some students neglect the importance of skincare while others try way too many products and cause acne for themselves. Instead, use a few producers that actually work for you and keep it sustainable so you can perform it regularly. This skincare routine should be for your face, arms and legs.

Pack your backpack and tidy your uniform the night before.

Have you ever been in that situation where you forgot a book for class because you were packing your bag in a hurry in the morning? Make sure you are not in that situation by spending some time the night before to pack your bag and tidying your school uniform/outfit the night before school. It will save you time in the morning.

Drink enough water every day.

This is surely something that not everyone does. Drinking enough water is necessary to keep you going but it can be hard to maintain. If you drink one litre of water at home and one litre of water at school, that is pretty good.

Study at least one hour every day.

If you don’t feel like studying some day, try to study at least one hour. It will make so much more difference and it is better than doing nothing. Little but consistent revision is better than doing everything last minute. 

Have a limited screen time.

If you are using your phone 5 hours a day for using social media, chances are you are not being productive in those 5 hours. If you have an iPhone, check your settings and then screen time or download a screen time app on your phone. Check how many hours you use your phone and on which app. Then give yourself a screen time goal of how many hours you want to use your phone. 

Build some good tidying habits.

Did you just tidy your room what literally felt like 5 minutes ago, only to see that ‘a typhoon hit it’ and you have to tidy it again? Maybe it is time to regularly tidy your room. You could do this by tidying your room every night and doing a clean and disinfecting on the weekends for 15-20 minutes. It can leave you feeling like your life is together.

Those were 10 habits that I think are pretty useful. There may be more so feel free to comment below any habits that you think may boost your productivity. As always, please check out my other articles relating to Islamic content, My Experiences, Teenage Advice, Book Reviews and Poetry.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!