A Productive Mindset: My Daily Routine
I am rather late to using Medium. I used it very briefly during College, but only since 2022 have I begun writing blogs frequently to share my experiences as I navigate through law school. As a student, it’s fairly important to understand how to operate efficiently and last week I shared my most productive apps with you all, so today, I thought that I would go one step further; how I structure my day to maximise my productivity… but it firstly starts with YOUR mindset!
My day starts at 6:30 (madness, right? It’s still dark out) but nonetheless, I begin my morning looking through the Financial Times breaking stories of the day and use Telegram to write a brief summary and share them with my productivity team group chat.
This lasts for around 30–40 minutes as I catch up with the world. This morning I focused on GSK’s and Pfizer's joint venture into the consumer health unit as in my finance module, our class is having a ‘mock’ stock challenge and well, I chose GSK as one of my shares.
At around 7(ish) after becoming all-knowing :) I manage to find the willpower to jump out of bed and into the shower where I listen to The Economist’s Morning Briefing for a five-minute overview of current affairs.
Being reluctant to get out of the shower, after debating with myself, I hop out, get myself ready and head downstairs to make myself some breakfast (oats and blueberries at current) and I turn on the news with a hot cup of tea, this way not only am I getting exposure to financial news, but I am also aware of the more general happenings within society. I remain fairly comfortable until around 8 when I decide that it is time to begin my day.
At around 8 am I prepare my work-from-home station as I am not on campus until later in the day and load Trello (an amazing To-Do list!) and look through my long list of commitments. I begin with a TED talk as I review my daily newsletter and listen to an empowering talk by Candace Parker on breaking down barriers. Upon taking in this, I load up Notion (my virtual brain) and begin writing some thoughts down from the TED discussion.
I often find that the little steps from the offset help build the foundations to the rest of the day, and so through becoming aware of the world that I live in and taking some time to listen to a TED talk for inspiration (and doing some admin), it is now around 9 am and I begin my day.
Firstly, I begin by creating my Society’s weekly newsletter and sending it out to our members and then I check through the email to ensure that all urgent emails have been answered to — for anyone not quite yet at university, getting involved in student societies is a great way to help make a difference and gain valuable skills which employers often appreciate.
Once I have done this, I begin all of my reading for the day and take notes and complete the follow-up tasks ( I also reviewed a mock essay before submission for feedback). Thankfully, I have managed to keep ahead and so by 12 noon, I have produced some detailed notes and finished my reading. With a productive morning, I decided to head off to campus earlier to have some lunch with my girlfriend.
While I live rather a trek away from my University, this gives me the opportunity to read, this year, I set myself the target of reading a book each month (non-law related for fun). Having completed my first book of the month, I have since been making good progress on my next audiobook; The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
The weather has been rather reasonable and so I caught up with my girlfriend and ventured around campus before heading to my session at 2 pm.
At the University of York, much of the modules in law feature a collaborative effort and so after a Christmas break, it was really nice to be back in the classroom around the table, discussing our scenario of the day that we needed to tackle. We managed to get through this rather quickly and so I was headed back home around 4 pm.
One of the many things that I appreciate about York is just how beautiful both the scenery and the sky can be, and today was definitely those days. Again, I listened to my audiobook and headed back and also took some time to appreciate and capture my surroundings.
Arriving back home around 5 pm, I cooked myself some chicken tikka and rice and had a look at a task ahead of tomorrow and did some reading and the follow-up tasks. Since working at home where possible, I have been able to continue my studies just as efficiently as previously, but this time from the comfort of my own bedroom (which is definitely more comfortable).
At around 8 pm, I clocked out for the day and had a catch up with my housemates and watched some TV before deciding to head out and get a jog in for the day, I often find that after such long periods of studying and focusing, going for a jog allows me to let go of anything that has bothered me, in particular, that day and refresh myself as I wind-down for the evening.
The jog did just that — it allowed me to clear my mind and unwind as I enjoyed the rest of my evening. My only complaint; it was hella cold out there, it just made me work a little harder I guess one could say.
And that brings us here… concluding my first day back at university as I embark on yet another adventurous term. I think the most important thing for me is being able to work productively, however, also being able to have a balance and complete other things which I enjoy.
Where possible, I have linked all of the resources I use each day and hope that they can influence/ inspire others to embark on a more productive lifestyle, ultimately it is about what works for you, and as long as you know what that is, go for it!
Thank you for reading this post, if you liked it, maybe comment on your routine or tips on how you enhance productivity, and if you want to join me on my journey, then a follow would be hugely appreciated.
For me, it's time to get some sleep and do it all again tomorrow, but I wouldn't change it for the world: Day 1 ✅
Take it easy ❤️
