By: The Capella University Editorial Team with Michelle Emerson, MEd in Teaching and Learning and education content creator
Reading time: 7 minutes
If your days feel packed but you’re barely budging on your to-do list, remember that working harder isn’t the same as being productive. Productivity is about finding strategies that help you use your time intentionally so you can make real progress.
Capella University MEd graduate and host of the popular YouTube channel Pocketful of Primary, Michelle Emerson*, is an experienced teacher who has developed practical strategies to improve productivity and help reduce wasted time and energy while balancing work, school and life.
Think of systems as repeatable patterns for using your time. “One of the most common questions I get is, ‘How do you have the time to do everything that you do?’” says Emerson. “Everyone has the same amount of time in a day. The difference is in how we use it. I can use my time more efficiently and therefore increase my productivity by having a system and sticking to it.”
Routines also reduce decision fatigue. When your recurring commitments are already mapped out, you spend less mental energy deciding what to do next. A standing weekly schedule makes it easier to get back on track after an off day.
“Creating a schedule allows you to plan your tasks and activities and then prioritize what is most important,” Emerson says. “I use block scheduling to plan chunks of time to complete specific tasks. For example, I might schedule one hour a day to go to the gym and two hours to work on grad school.” This approach is also called time blocking.
Making a schedule is only the first step. “It’s important to stick to your schedule,” says Emerson. “Stop working when it’s time to switch tasks. This motivates you to be more efficient with your time. It also might be helpful to schedule a chunk of time each day for unfinished tasks, so you have a backup plan for those.”
Prioritizing tip: If things feel overwhelming, sort tasks using what’s called the Eisenhower matrix for time management: do what is urgent and important, schedule what is important but not urgent, delegate what you can, and drop what is neither.
Day theming takes scheduling a step further by grouping similar tasks together, a practice also known as task batching. Instead of jumping between email, reading, writing and errands, you give each day, or each block of the day, a focus.
This works because it reduces something called context switching: every time you change tasks, your brain has to reorient. Fewer switches mean less time lost as you get back up to speed with each new task.
A sample week might look like this:
If you can’t dedicate whole days, create theme blocks of time instead. For example, check email at two set times a day rather than every few minutes, or study in one longer session instead of many short ones.
Emerson recommends creating repeatable systems for recurring work. “Getting started is the hardest part of completing a task,” she says. “If you develop a template for completing the task, you know what to expect each time.”
For example, she used the same research document layout for her Capella courses. On the first page, she kept the assessment description and scoring guide for quick reference. Subsequent pages included the article or book title (hyperlinked to its location on the web), citation for the reference page, and bulleted notes. She adds that templates can also be useful for frequently sent emails, lesson plans, even grocery lists.
Explore whether this approach could work for your research notes, weekly planner, recurring emails, lesson plans and study checklists.
Technology makes many parts of life easier, but phones and computers can also be some of the biggest sources of distraction. Protecting your focus starts with removing the interruptions you can control.
It may seem counterintuitive, but Emerson strongly recommends starting with the task you want to do least. In her experience, tackling the hardest or most unpleasant task first reduces procrastination. Once that task is out of the way, the rest of the day can feel more manageable and it becomes easier to build momentum.
Learning in asynchronous online environments rewards structures you build yourself. Emerson used productivity strategies like these to earn her MEd in Teaching and Learning while balancing work and life. To make the most of the flexibility online learning offers:
Learn more about time management tips for online learning in our blog post: 12 Essential ways to manage your time effectively.
These productivity strategies require some planning up front, but once in place, they’re easier to repeat. Over time, they can help you spend less energy reacting and more energy making meaningful progress.
*Actual Capella graduate who agreed to appear in promotional materials
Block scheduling or time blocking is a scheduling method where you assign tasks to specific blocks of time on your calendar instead of working from an open-ended to-do list. For example, you might set aside two hours for coursework and one hour for exercise. Blocking time makes priorities visible and helps you stop when the block ends.
Routines help you avoid constantly deciding what to do next. That mental consistency makes it easier to stay focused and recover quickly after an off day.
Turn your phone or computer notifications off, use airplane mode when possible and set a timer for focused work sessions followed by short breaks.
Treat study time like a standing appointment. Block recurring study sessions on your calendar, break each assignment into smaller milestones and review your plan weekly. Self-paced learning formats such as Capella’s FlexPath (available in select programs) give you flexibility, which allows you to create your own structure and deadlines
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