Last year, I began my first year of my undergraduate studies at a community college. I began with my end goal in my mind and a desire to perform in school to the highest of my ability. My ultimate goal is to transfer to UC Berkeley to study computer science under the College of Letters and Science. Berkeley has an amazing computer science program, and is located in the world’s hotspot for technology. In my first year, I consumed a lot of content online and in print on productivity, focus, and the importance of habits. I wanted to learn all that I could on how to stay on top of all classes and be a high performing student. As I progressed through the year, many of the things I thought I had learned and internalized were of no use to me. I was still falling into the same cycles that led to bad performance in school that had hindered me in my last year of high school.

In the time spanning from my first semester to now, I have learned that no studying mechanism or productivity tactic works without grit.

Grit. I had to learn that through too many nearly-failed tests and overdue homework assignments that it nearly all comes down to grit and my ability to be consistent in my work. When I finally learned and did this, the tips and tactics I learned about productivity actually became useful.

The most impactful principle(though its more of an equation), came from Cal Newport in his book entitled Deep Work. He demonstrated that:

Work Accomplished = Time Given * Intensity of Focus This idea really caught me interest and made me realize that my habits of prolonged study sessions and long homework stretches were not going to help me as a student.

Everybody loves to appear busy, and spending ridiculous hours in the library studying a for a single class can be a great way to brag about your dedication to your classmates. But once I learned to apply this principle to my studies, I learned about how important focus and pure grit are in getting good grades and maintaining a time balance as a student. If I can put more effort in focusing in the task at hand rather then on simply spending more time on the task, I can be very productive. This as proven to be really important as my schedule as a college student is sporadic, usually unpredictable, and scarce of free time. When I have uninterrupted free time during an important week, and/or have important and looming work, every second of my day counts, and every moment that I have to get closer to my dreams, I have to utilize to the fullest no matter what.

Here are some of the resources and media I used to learn more about productivity and surviving the college environment: College Info Geek ~ Youtube Channel focused on productivity and study tips catered to college students Deep Work by Cal Newport ~ Great book about sharpening focus in a constantly connected and distractive world How To Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport (I really like Cal Newport) ~ Book filled with great study tactics and frameworks that are not gimmicky The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg ~ Amazing book about how powerful habits are in our brains and how they are the keystone to being productive.