There’s something magical about the morning hours. This quiet, calm time of the day is unrivaled. In fact, the morning time is so unrivaled that it’s the only time of day in which thousands of articles and hundreds of books are written about every year. Benjamin Franklin said one of the most quoted phrases in history about the morning time:

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

We’ve all heard that before. So, what’s so special about mornings? Why do so many successful people give the early morning so much credit? I’m going to tell you.

This guide is going to empower you with everything you need to wake up early, be unbelievably productive and even help you understand why you should wake up early. Let’s get started.

1. Why Be a Morning Person?

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” — Jim Rohn

Your morning sets the tone for the rest of your day. That’s great news, because you can control your mornings. You can use them to achieve your goals and accomplish some pretty amazing things. However, we all know that a bad start to your day can bring the rest of your day down with it.

Being a morning person doesn’t mean you have to be disgustingly cheerful from the moment you pop out from under the covers. It simply means that you start your day on purpose, as opposed to only waking up because you have to be somewhere.

Why are mornings so great? Here are a few reasons:

• Peace and quiet. If you live with someone, especially young children, you may have a hard time finding a quiet place to do anything. Waking up before everyone else will give you the peace and quiet you need.
• Your time. You need time to yourself. For yourself. Waking up early is a great way to make that time happen. Many successful people spend the first hours of each day alone, to reflect, think, meditate and grow.
• Your happiness. Morning people are generally happier than evening people. One study showed that morning people are less likely to be depressed than people who prefer evenings to do their work.
• Accomplishing goals. Morning people are more likely to set and achieve goals. Waking up earlier allows you to plan for the day, which means you can plan to make progress towards all of your goals.

It’s simple. If you wake up earlier, you’re more prepared. You’re not going to be rushed like you may be if you wake up just in time to be somewhere. If you’re used to over sleeping, you can add several hours to your day just by waking up earlier.

That’s all great to hear and it sounds wonderful, but what if you have a hard time dragging yourself out of bed each morning? I thought you might ask that. Now you know the why, here’s the how…

2. How to Actually Wake Up

I used to sleep until noon everyday. It didn’t matter if I went to bed early or not. Eventually, I stopped being a complete loser (not that waking up late makes you a loser, but I was definitely a lazy loser) and got a job that required me to start waking up around 8:00 am.

Once I decided to start controlling my mornings, I began waking up earlier. I started by waking up at 7:00 am, and over the years I have started waking up earlier and earlier. Now I wake up at 4:00 am. Yes, the world is in motion at 4:00 am.

This wasn’t something that just happened. It was completely intentional. It had to be. It would have been impossible for me, a former noon-sleeper, to start waking up at 4:00 by some stroke of luck.  Here’s what I did and what you can do to actually get out of bed each morning:

1. Make a gradual change. Like anything else, if you start this in full force tomorrow by waking up five hours earlier than you usually do, you’re going to fail. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Start by waking up 15 minutes earlier than normal. Then wake up 15 minutes earlier than that every few days. Slowly adopt this new habit.
2. Find your reward. Think of something you would really look forward to. It could be a steaming cup of coffee or tea. It could be a large breakfast. It could even be an early morning walk. Find something that motivates you and look forward to it every morning.
3. Start with your passion. What’s your passion? Reading? Writing? Working out? As humans, we are most disciplined in the things we are most passionate about. Start your day with something you’re passionate about and you’ll be much more likely to get up and do it.
4. Move your alarm clock. Once you’re out of bed, you’re less likely to go back to sleep. Move your alarm clock to a shelf across the room. This is a great way to make sure you get out of bed. Once you’re up, stay up. And wake up to a pleasant sound, not an ear-shattering beep.
5. Wake up at the same time. If you go to sleep and wake up around the same time each day, you’ll condition your body to naturally be tired and wake up at those times. If this doesn’t work with the hours at your job, try to stay on a schedule as much as possible.
6. Use natural light. Since you’re reading this, you probably prefer waking up before the natural light of the sun is shinning through your window, but you can find a natural light alarm clock that will do the trick. Natural light helps your body to naturally feel awake.
7. Understand sleep cycles. One sleep cycle is about 90 minutes, so plan to sleep for a number of hours that’s a multiple of 90. For most adults, 7.5 or 9 hours is a good goal to strive for. Worst case scenario, sleep for at least 6 hours. If you wake up just before your alarm, go ahead and get up; your sleep cycle is over. You can always try the Sleep Cycle alarm clock. It monitors your heart rate and attempts to wake you up once your sleep cycle is over.
8. Get moving. You don’t have to head to your local CrossFit box or run a marathon, but get your blood pumping as soon as your get out of bed. A quick walk or a few minutes of jumping jacks will do the trick. Just do something that wakes your body up physically.
9. Change your mindset. If you dread mornings, change your mindset. Start looking forward to them and all the productivity they bring. I know it’s possible to shift your mindset, because I am a self-made morning person. It wasn’t natural at first, but now it is.

It’s important to figure out what works for you and do it. Whatever it takes to get out of bed, it’s worth it. Don’t go off how you feel. It’s likely that you’ll feel a little groggy at first, but once you get up, even just 10 minutes earlier, you’ll feel much better.

Sometimes my morning self seems to think my night self is cruel for setting the alarm so early, but a few minutes after I’m out of bed, my morning self is thankful for my responsible night self.

If you’re still having a hard time rolling out of bed, you may just need a little will power. When you wake up in the morning and you don’t feel like getting up, consider these 4 tips from Leo Babauta for what to do when you “don’t feel like it”:

1. It’s on my plan, I gotta do it.
2. Past Me said to do it, and Future Me will thank me, so let’s do it.
3. Once I start, I’ll be glad I did. I just have to take the first small step.
4. I don’t need to decide on this, or think about it. It’s already decided.

If all of that somehow fails you, you can always try acupuncture to wake yourself up. Or perhaps a cold shower?

3. Your Productive Morning

Start your morning on purpose, at a specific time. And for God’s sake stop hitting the snooze button. That extra nine minutes can be quite productive if you’re awake and it won’t help you feel better. If anything, it will make you even more tired and groggy than you were the first time the alarm went off.

Just get up. Get out of your bed. If you really want to go back to bed, promise yourself a nap later in the day. Even better, try a coffee nap later on. They’re better than coffee or naps alone.

One of the most important factors to waking up early is getting enough sleep. Let’s talk about sleep for a minute…

4. How to Get Better Sleep

“When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, ‘Did you sleep good?’ I said ‘No, I made a few mistakes.’” -Steven Wright

If you’re not getting a good night’s sleep, your not going to have a very productive morning. Here are some tips for getting better sleep:

1. Avoid caffeine and alcohol within the last eight hours of your day.
2. Get a high quality mattress and pillow. They make a difference.
3. Make sure the temperature is at a comfortable setting for you.
4. Avoid heavy meals at night. They decrease sleep quality.
5. Avoid “blue light” during the last few hours before bed.
6. Use visualizations when going to sleep. They are quite effective.
7. Use sleep technologies, such as black out curtains and sleep monitors.
8. Exercise regularly. Studies have shown that people who do, sleep better.

Now that you know how to sleep, let’s move on to morning time. For many, a morning isn’t complete without a cup of coffee. Should caffeine be part of your morning routine? Perhaps, but you should use caffeine strategically.

5. How to Effectively Use Caffeine

Caffeine can be your best friend or your worst enemy. If you have ever had a caffeine withdrawal headache, you know what I mean about the latter. There are highly effective, healthy ways to use caffeine, but first, I have a challenge for you.

If you consume caffeine on a daily basis, try completely cutting it out for a couple weeks. At least one week. This will allow your body to reset your tolerance to caffeine, thus making it more effective when you start using it again. It is a drug after all.

Once you have cut the caffeine and are ready to add it back to your life (oh caffeine, how sweet thou art), try some of the following ideas:

1. Drink coffee or tea over a longer period of time. This will release the caffeine more steadily, over a longer period, which will help sustain your energy levels instead of spiking and crashing.
2. Drink water first, before the coffee. Hydrating your body can increase your energy and you may not even need the coffee. Or you can instead use caffeine later in the day when you start to lose energy.
3. Don’t go back to drinking coffee daily (switch to decaf if you must). Use caffeine when you need it. It will be much more effective to only use caffeine when you have a big job to do or when you need an extra boost.
4. Don’t be so quick to grab a second cup of coffee or tea. You may not need it, or it may be more effective to save it for later. Give the caffeine time to start working. Wait before you make the quick decision to grab another cup.
5. Eat before your coffee. Consuming caffeine on an empty stomach can be a bad thing. I admit that I like taking caffeine on an empty stomach when I really want to get a boost and it is very effective for that, but don’t make it a habit. Here’s why:

“Drinking coffee on an empty stomach, such as first thing in the morning, stimulates hydrochloric acid production. This can be a problem because HCl should only be produced to digest meals. If your body has to make HCl more often in response to regular cups of coffee, it may have difficulty producing enough to deal with a large meal.” Source.

6. Create Your Perfect Morning

“Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.” -Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book

You will wake up about 25,000 mornings in your adult life. Make them count. There are many ways to start your day each morning. You will be most productive if you have a ritual.

I use the word ritual, because “routine” usually creates a negative, boring, mundane picture. I define a ritual as “an activity or group of activities, practiced daily, that leads you toward your goals.” Doesn’t that sound a lot better than some boring routine?

To maximize your productivity, you need a plan. Here’s how to create your plan that creates your perfect morning:

Plan the night before.  It only takes 10 minutes to plan your morning if you do it the night before. If you wait until morning, you may still be a little groggy. Not having a plan for your morning can be enough to motivate you right back to sleep. When you wake up, you should know exactly what you need to do.

7. Creating Your Morning Ritual

“I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” -Steve Jobs

What should be included in your morning ritual? Steve Jobs started his day with a question and then preceded to spend time with his kids and help them finish up any homework they had left. That was part of his morning ritual. Here are 12 ideas of what to include in your morning ritual:

1. Affirmations. Affirmations are a highly common way to start the day. The process is simple: remind yourself of everything you have and everything you have done and can do. Write these down and read them to yourself each day. There is power in writing these down and even more power in speaking them out loud.
2. Breakfast. Unless you’re an intermittent faster, you probably eat breakfast most mornings. You’ve just went many hours without eating (break-fast). Eating a healthy breakfast can not only calm your appetite, it can give you plenty of energy, if you do it right.  Stick to high-energy foods like vegetables, fruit and smoothies. Protein foods are good too. Stay away from heavy grains that will make you feel tired and sluggish.
3. Exercise. Exercise gives you energy. Often we have a false sense that, when we are tired, we need more sleep. That may not be the issue. You need exercise to increase your energy levels. This goes together with eating a healthy diet. Both are important to increase your energy.
4. Family. As I mentioned above, Steve Jobs spent the mornings with his kids. Wake them up a little earlier for some early morning family time or spend some quiet time with your spouse before the kids get out of bed.
5. Gratitude. Start your day by being thankful. We all have many things to be thankful for. Even if you’re an extreme pessimist, you can find something. The things we have, the things we’ve accomplished. Even the ability to breathe and wake up each day is something to be thankful for.
6. Meditation.  Many people swear by meditation, while others still think it’s some form of voodoo.  This doesn’t have to be spiritual (though it can be).  Meditation can be as simple as sitting in silence and focusing on one thing, such as your breathe, for a certain amount of time.
7. Prayer. If you’re not spiritual or religious at all, this could just be a time of silence, like I mentioned above. But if you do have someone or something to pray to, it’s a great way to start the day. Connecting with your spiritual senses first thing in the morning will set a positive course for your day.
8. Reading. Read something positive. A good book, non-fiction or fiction. A spiritual book. Whatever you like. But positive books are going to lead to a more positive day.  There’s no better way to begin your day than growing and learning.
9. Silence. Starting your day with complete silence is a great way to set a relaxed mood for your entire day. It could be just a few minutes, but early morning silence has a huge positive impact on your entire day.
10. Visualizations. This is becoming more popular everyday. You can use visualizations in different ways. The traditional way is to visualize yourself having already achieved the goal your striving for. The more modern way has you visualize yourself doing the action it takes to reach your goals, such as writing like a madman or running as fast as you can. I prefer the modern form, but it’s your ritual. Your call.
11. Water. If you don’t include any of the other ideas, include this one. Drinking a liter of water, or at least a full glass, will boost energy levels and hydrate your dehydrated body. You probably don’t drink water in your sleep, so you just went several hours without the most important thing your body needs. Drink water, first thing.
12. Writing. If you’re a writer, this is a no-brainer for you. If you’re not a writer, you may think this doesn’t apply to you. It does. Even if you’re not writing a book, article or blog post, simply buy a journal and start scribing. You can write about yesterday or just record your thoughts. You will grow to love this habit.

There are many ways to start your day and create your ritual. You can find an entire plan, like the Miracle Morning, or you can create your own. Either way, create a ritual so you’ll know exactly what you plan to do each day. It’s also important to do what you do best. You may be highly creative in the mornings. If that’s the case, create something!  If you’re mind doesn’t work too well before 10:00, you may want to stick with more trivial tasks. Either way can be productive as long as you do what you do best, at the right time.

You’re responsible for creating your morning and waking up on purpose. You’ve got to find your “why.”  Figure out why you want to wake up early and what you want to accomplish.

“Every morning I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work.” -Robert Orben

Your goal may be to earn more money. It could be to become filthy rich. Or you may want a closer relationship with your family or your God. You may simply want to grow as a person by becoming more fit or learning something new each day.

There are thousands of reasons to get up each morning. You’ve got to find your reason. Once you find it, do everything in your power to make it happen. You’ve got thousands of mornings left. Make them count.

The post The Ultimate Guide To Your Most Productive Morning Ever appeared first on Lifehack.

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In recent years, our reliance on our mobile devices has skyrocketed as an increasingly large number of applications are developed. Little pieces of our lives are outsourced to our smartphones in the name of efficiency and enhanced communication. Despite all of this, here are 16 reasons reduced mobile dependance can benefit your life.

1. To be engaged in conversation

You are never really present when your mind is anticipating the vibration or ping of an expected text message. Good conversation is found when two people are invested in the moment, devoting their time and attention to the other.

2. To create more than you consume

Mobile phones are more often a product of consumption rather than creation. Granted, there are exceptions for those rare individuals who produce stunning mobile photography or well-crafted written stories. However, the vast majority of casual creators are using our phones for intake. If we’re consuming, we aren’t creating. At some point, you need to break away and put all of that knowledge to use.

3. To relieve the mental burden

Reducing clutter–physical, spiritual, mental or otherwise–relieves a huge burden on your mind. Every item you get rid of is an item your mind doesn’t have to keep up with.

4. To break your addiction

Have you ever noticed those people who pull out their phone, unlock it and tap through a few apps looking for notifications before locking it again? And then they do it all again a couple of minutes later. Though we might not recognize it, much of our society is addicted to their mobile phones. It’s no surprise–we turn to our devices for shopping, directions, communication and many other conveniences of life.

5. To find value in yourself

Texts, tweets, emails, likes…they have become a social currency putting a price on attention and worth. Breaking away from that will help you find value in yourself, not in your notifications.

6. To reduce distractions

Two hours of uninterrupted time is far more productive than three hours split up into six half-hour blocks throughout the day. Each time we have to re-begin our process, we have to find that flow all over again. This takes up valuable, creative time. Turning off the notifications cuts down on the amount of distractions and interruptions in our work period.

7. To free up more time

We spend approximately two hours on our mobile devices each day. If we cut that down to 30 minutes a day, we’re giving ourselves over 22 full days a year of time we could spend on projects. Of course, this obviously doesn’t apply if you’re a mobile phone technician or something.

8. To be aware

Awareness has a lot more to do with your mental state than simply lifting your eyes off your screen, but getting your head up is a start. Being “in the moment” is often achieved simply be taking notice of your surroundings and being acutely aware of your senses. Take out the earbuds, turn off the notifications, and be present.

9. To strengthen your mind

It is incredible how much of our life references our mobile devices. When we need to solve a math problem, we pull out the calculator app. When we need to get directions, we pull out the map app. When we need to be entertained we pull up Facebook or Twitter or the latest mobile game craze. Limiting your interactions with your phone strengthens your mind by forcing you to tackle daily problems yourself. Math, directions, entertainment… join the DIY generation.

10. To reduce petty communication and force deep face-to-face interaction

Nothing replaces in-person interactions–not text, a phone call, or even Skype. Removing the digital barrier to interactions cultivates greater opportunity for face-to-face communication with others.

11. To separate work life from home life

Stories are rampant of the spouse who gets a phone call or email concerning work after he or she has left the office. Perhaps it interrupts dinner with your wife or a relaxing evening with your husband. The lines have been blurred, in large part, by the accessibility of colleagues after-hours. Managers know that a phone call or an email notification will catch the employee’s attention. By limiting mobile usage, you mute the accessibility and enact a very real boundary between work and home life.

12. To reduce drama

I can’t tell you how often I have heard people complain or whine about the social media posts in their feed. But they don’t stop looking for more. Social media is a drama magnet, encouraging people to hash out controversial issues through a limited medium which often results in irritation, gossip or worse. Just stop going where the drama is.

13. To learn to love books again

Books hold a wonder that few, if any, mediums possess–the stories draw you in for a long-form journey that our short attention span culture does not seem to fully appreciate any more. Moving away from the screen gives you more incentive to re-discover the magic of a good book.

14. To strengthen your eyes

Though the facts are widespread, it is evident that long amounts of time in front of a screen can weaken your eyes. Be sure to catch some off-screen time when you can!

15. To lengthen your attention span

News alerts, 140-character tweets, 500-word blog posts and text messages have all contributed to the shortened attention span. We want soundbites now, which causes us to miss out on some of the long-form content. I recently read Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis, and though I had to train myself to enjoy a story that took 90% of the book to set up, the ending was well worth the investment.

16. To force you to think/plan ahead

What if you didn’t have a way to call if you broke down? What if you didn’t know how to reroute if you got lost? What if you weren’t able to Google something on the spot? I believe the ease and availability of the internet and smartphones has given way to a culture that doesn’t plan ahead anymore. Problems are often dealt with as they come up when, perhaps with a little forward-thinking, they could have been avoided in the first place.

Featured photo credit: photo/Wilfred Ivan via unsplash.imgix.net

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Are you  an expert at working remotely? You will be if you apply these 10 simple tips to your daily routine.

Being efficient working from home can be a challenge. There are tons of distractions, less accountability, and less communication than when you’re working in the office. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. There are lots of ways to keep yourself working productively from any location.

Whether you work from home every day, a couple of times per week, or even if you’re just working from home while you recover from an illness, these tips can help you to get the most out of your remote work hours. You won’t believe how much you can get done in a day!

1. Keep yourself to regular work hours

This is the first step to ensuring productivity while working from home. It’s tempting to give yourself total flexibility as to when you get started, take breaks, and call it a day. But you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t keep yourself to at least some amount of consistency. Setting yourself consistent hours keeps you accountable to yourself and to your boss. It makes you more likely to get all your work done, and it makes it easier to get in touch with you.

Here are the important factors to consider when you’re setting an at home work schedule:

• When your boss needs you to be available
• Communication with your coworkers and customers
• Time of day when you are most productive

This doesn’t mean that you need to work 9-5 every day. You should work at the times of day when you’re most productive. However, it’s a good idea to find out when your boss really needs you to be at work. For example, it might be important for you to check your emails each morning, or to be available by phone in the afternoons. Other than that, choose times of day when you’re likely to get the most work done. Communicate those hours of availability to anyone that might need to get in touch with you, and you’ll be on your way to productive, consistent work days.

2. Keep work time and personal time separate

Just as it’s important to work when you say you will, it’s important to give yourself time off when you’ve promised it. Don’t extend the work day too far beyond what you planned, at the risk of burning yourself out.

Keeping work time and personal time compartmentalized also helps you keep productive while you’re at work, and reduces stress when you aren’t at work. In the same way that you scheduled your work hours, schedule, communicate, and plan when you will not be available to work. For example, if you like to take evenings to spend time with family, make sure you communicate that you aren’t available for work during that time. And then hold yourself to that commitment!

3. Plan your workflow

One surefire way to keep productivity up is to get smart about planning your work day. Before you even start working, make sure you know what your priorities are for the day, how long you think it will take you to get everything done, and what you will work on if you have extra time.

You might find it helpful to take a few minutes before you go to bed to plan for the next day. You may find that you sleep better without the stress of planning in the back of your mind. If you find that planning before bed actually keeps you awake, try making a plan for the day while you eat breakfast or exercise before work.

In your planning, consider the following:

• Do the highest priority tasks first
• Plan your day around your own natural cycles–do the hardest work when you have the most energy throughout the day
• Plan yourself rewards and breaks throughout the day

4. Break up the day

If you followed the last step, then you’ll have already planned breaks for yourself throughout the day. Make sure you get up from your desk during those breaks–get some fresh air, grab a healthful snack, and talk with another human being if at all possible. All of these activities will help you reset, get your blood flowing, and make sure you’re ready to tackle the next chunk of tasks.

Try planning how you’ll spend your breaks ahead of time, so you have something to look forward to. Just make sure you decide how long you will spend on a break, so you don’t get too distracted. Ten to 30 minutes is great for shorter breaks, and an hour or two is perfect for lunch.

5. Dress like you are at work

Even if you won’t be interacting with another person all day, it’s important to dress for success. This includes showering and brushing your teeth! This will tell your brain that it’s work time, not relaxation time, and that will give you a lot more energy. Sweatpants and a T-shirt might be more comfortable, but you may also feel sluggish, sleepy, or unmotivated.

It’s also a good opportunity to give a new outfit a test drive–risk free!

If you have a hard time motivating yourself to get ready in the morning, try laying out your outfit the night before, or planning an outing during the day so that you have to get dressed.

6. Create an at-home office

It might be tempting to work from your couch, easy-chair, or even from your bed, but this could take a huge toll on your productivity. Try to always work from a consistent room, desk, or chair, to tell your brain that it’s time for work, not relaxation.

You are likely to feel more alert, more confident, and more organized. Try setting up a desk where you always work. Set yourself up with a comfy, supportive chair, a spacious desk, and consistent workplace tools. Make sure to personalize your space. After all, you will be spending a lot of time there!

7. No roomies allowed

Being efficient working from home is all about boundaries, as we have previously discussed. This also means setting boundaries for kids, pets, and your spouse or roommates. Try to encourage them to leave you alone while you are working so you can stay focused.

Try to keep the boundaries friendly and playful, but make sure you stick to them. One fun idea is to make a sign for the door of your office that indicates whether you’re working or not.

8. Be your own janitor

Unlike in the office, you don’t have a janitor to clean up after you, which means you have to do it yourself. Keeping your home office clean helps you stay focused, get organized, and be productive. Even if you’re someone who isn’t bothered by a messy desk, keeping some semblance of order helps ensure that nothing important falls through the cracks (or gets lost in a stack of paper, as is more likely).

However, this tip goes beyond just keeping your home office clean. Having a messy home could inspire you to procrastinate on work tasks in favor of cleaning–which is bad news for your productivity.

Setting yourself a weekly cleaning schedule can help you keep on top of cleaning your home, so you won’t be tempted to clean during work hours. Make sure to schedule regular tidying of your home office!

9. Tune in to inspiration

A great advantage of working from home is that you can’t distract your coworkers. Go ahead and play those pumped-up jams loud and proud, if that’s what gets you moving. Or try a more soothing soundtrack, with nature sounds, instrumental music, or even by leaving the windows open to let the sounds from outside come in. If you’re doing repetitive tasks, an audiobook or podcast may even be what you need to keep moving.

Try a few things to find what works best for you.

10. Stay in the loop

One of the best things about working in an office is the potential for collaboration and socialization. You don’t have to lose this just because you are working from home. Try to check in with your coworkers at least a couple of times per week, whether by email, phone, Skype, or even in person.

Make sure you keep up on a personal level as well as a professional level. You can do this without taking a lot of time–just share the things that are most important, and encourage your coworkers to do the same.

If you can master these 10 tips, you will be a work-from-home wizard before you know it. You might even find that the days you work from home are your most productive days!

What are your tips for being efficient working from home?  Let me know in the comments.

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Are you headed to college soon? Or are you already in college and still apprehensive about how things are going to turn out?

The reality is that the transition from high school to college can be a bit difficult. It’s important that you know your goals beforehand and make plans to achieve those. There are many things you need to consider and be careful about.

Nevertheless, college life should be fun and will ultimately help you shape your career. Here are 10 tips every college student should know.

1. Budget! budget! budget!

Be financially literate. Know your constraints beforehand with respect to money.

If required, start keeping a record of all your savings and expenditures. Stop spending on things you don’t need. Buy your books and supplies only if it is very necessary. Try taking things from library or rent them. It will save a lot of money and effort in case you decide later on to drop a class.

There is a subtle difference between needing and wanting.

Cut down on your credit cards, if you are an avowed shopaholic.

If you wish to establish a credit history, make a small purchase regularly using your account number.

Start saving regularly. Trust me, these small savings will make a huge difference. If you really need some extra money to sustain yourself, consider a part time job.

2. Time management.

Time management is very crucial. Manage your time well between your classes, part-time job (perhaps!) and other extra curricular activities. Be disciplined in classrooms.Take notes. Participate in discussions. You will thank yourself later on.

Before committing to anything, make sure that you have sometime everyday to unwind. Otherwise, all the pressure and stress will catch up to you soon. And you definitely don’t need that.

3. The system is not your enemy!

Remember this always.

Don’t try to work against your college authorities and professors however much you are tempted. Talk to them in case there is any problem or misunderstanding. Be cordial even if in reality, the rebel in you wants to paint the city red. This will pay off in the long run.

4. People always talk. You have to learn to ignore them!

It’s very important to have a social life. Getting along with roommates and batch mates will help you not only adjust in the new environment but also to meet new people and develop lasting relationships.

You create memories and go through various experiences with people you meet in college. At the same time, don’t get bothered by unnecessary rumors.

Some people tend to take comments to heart. It would be advisable to avoid that. Make sure that you know your limits when it comes to having a social life.

5. Internships and hiring.

Plan on getting an internship if you don’t have one already. Practical experience always looks good on a resume. You will be one step ahead of your peers when you start job hunting after you graduate.

6. Confused about a major?

Still not sure if you want to continue in the same major as you entered in the college? Do not worry. You can change it.

For instance, some engineering colleges allow this change after a year of study. As a freshman, you should take your time to explore and think carefully about the possibilities and then make a decision regarding the department you want to major in.

Take different classes to discover new areas of interests. You might surprise yourself.

7. Your adviser is there to help.

Usually colleges make every effort to initially match students with a faculty adviser who is in their area of interest. But, you can match yourself with an adviser of your choice later on if you feel that you want to learn more from him/her.

8.Library/Research Facilities

Get to know the facilities provided by your college for your research work.

If you need some tutorial/remedial classes outside the classroom, ask around if those are available or can be arranged. In short, try to have knowledge about every program which is running at the college which might help you.

9. Set goals.

College is where the most mind opening learning of your life will happen. It is important to set clear goals for each class you wish to take. Try to take at least one extra class per semester. At the same time, do not over burden yourself.

10. Stay healthy!

This tip is old school. Research says that physical exercises result in increased blood flow to the brain which indirectly improves mood and sleep; reduces stress and anxiety. Exercising a few hours every week will help you increase alertness and attentiveness which leads to faster learning. It’s very important that you eat right, exercise regularly and stay fit.

So, hope you enjoy your journey in college!

Featured photo credit: Addy Abdullah via flickr.com

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We often measure our progress by looking forward. We set goals. We plan milestones for our progress. Basically, we try to predict the future to some degree.

We do this in business, in health, and in life at large:

• Can we increase our quarterly earnings by 20 percent?
• Can I lose 20 pounds in the next three months?
• Will I be married by 30?

These are all measurements that face forward. We look into the future and try to guess when we will get somewhere.

There is an opposite and, I think, more useful approach: measure backward, not forward.

Here’s what I mean:

Measuring backward vs. measuring forward

Each week, I sit down at my computer and fill out a spreadsheet to track the essential metrics in my business: traffic, email subscribers, revenue, expenses, and so on. I have the process down pretty well by now, so it only takes about 15 minutes.

In those 15 minutes I get very clear feedback on whether or not I’m making progress in the areas that matter to me. I can tell which direction things are moving. And if the numbers in one area are moving the wrong way I can make adjustments the following week.

Basically, I measure backward (What happened in my business this past week?) and use it as a way to guide my actions for the next week.

I use a similar strategy in the gym. I lift every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. When I show up at the gym, I open my notebook and look at the weights I lifted during my last couple of workouts. Then, I plan my workout by slightly increasing the sets, reps, or weight from where they were in the previous week. I go for tiny increases, of course. I’m interested in one percent gains.

In the gym, just like in my business, I measure backward and use it to determine my next move. I am constantly looking to improve, but I base my choices on what has recently happened, not on what I hope will happen in the future.

The chains of habit

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. – Samuel Johnson

When it comes to building good habits and breaking bad habits, one of our greatest struggles is maintaining awareness of what we are actually doing. The more automatic a behavior becomes, the less likely we are to notice it. This helps to explain how the consequences of bad habits can sneak up on us. By the time the repercussions of our actions are noticeable, we have already become hooked on a new pattern of behavior.

However, measuring backward can call attention to these invisible patterns by making you aware of what you are actually doing. Measuring backward forces you to take notice of your recent actions. You can’t live in a fairy tale world of hopes and dreams. You have to look at the feedback of what has recently happened in your life and then base your decisions and improvements on those pieces of data.

The good news is that you can now base your decisions off of what you’re actually doing, not off of what you project your future self to be doing.

The importance of short-term feedback

The best way to change long-term behavior is with short-term feedback. – Seth Godin

There is one caveat to this strategy: when you measure backward, your data needs to come from the recent past.

If I used data from two years ago to make business decisions, my choices would be off. The same is true for lifting weights or other areas of improvement. I don’t want to base my actions on what I achieved a long time ago, but on what I have achieved recently. In other words, I want short-term feedback, not long-term feedback. The shorter, the better.

Measuring for happiness

There is an additional benefit to this strategy. When you measure backward, you get to enjoy the progress you are making right now rather than yearn for a different life in the future.

You don’t have to put happiness off until you reach a future milestone or goal. Happiness is no longer a finish line out there in the future. Focusing on how you can immediately improve over your past self is more satisfying that comparing your current state to where you hope you’ll be some day.

The idea in practice

Nearly every improvement we wish to make in our lives requires some type of behavior change. If you want different results, you have to do something differently.

The tough question to answer is what should we do differently to get the results we want?

We often respond by focusing on an outcome and setting a goal for ourselves. Goals are good and having a sense of direction for where you want to go is critical. But when it comes to determining the improvements we can make right now, measuring backward is the way to go. Let recent results drive your future actions.

Weight Loss: Measure your calorie intake. Did you eat 3,500 calories per day last week? Focus on averaging 3,400 per day this week.

Strength Training: You squatted 250 pounds for five sets of five reps last week? Give 255 pounds a try this week.

Relationships: How many new people did you meet last week? Zero? Focus on introducing yourself to one new person this week.

Entrepreneurship: You only landed two clients last week while your average is five? It sounds like you should be focused on making more sales calls this week.

Measure backward and then get a little bit better. What did you do last week? How can you improve by just a little bit this week?

This article was originally published on JamesClear.com.

Featured photo credit: Sean MacEntee via flickr.com

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