BY KAYLA COLLETT We all know how hectic our work and school life can be, and sometimes it feels as if there is no way to control all the obstacles and challenges life throws at you! When you wake up in the morning of a school day or work day, you know you have to do a lot of things during the day, but we typically end up having a hectic, uncontrollable day if we do not plan it correctly! Sometimes it may feel like you are losing your focus or control over the day to come, and the only way to solve this is by being efficient, planning your day, organising, and adopting productive and good study and/or work habits to help you get through the day in a calm and ordered manner. Here are a few tips and tricks, and even a few mobile applications, that work wonders for organisation and productivity! I guarantee that if you organise your workload efficiently, getting through your day will be a piece of cake. See if these tips and mobile applications work well for your daily productivity! 1)            Plan your day ahead by writing out an entire to-do list For me, this is the main trick that works wonders for my productivity. As a naturally competitive person, I always strive to finish my daily tasks because I view them as a competition that I have set for myself, which means that I need to finish all the tasks before I am able to settle down and relax for the day. This works amazingly, and although simple in nature, setting daily tasks to do and writing them down really helps to build your productivity as well as keeps your tasks organised and easy to visualise. Trust me when I say, when you cross off the last task you needed to do for the day, you experience an immediate rush of satisfaction and happiness! There is nothing more satisfactory than completing all your daily tasks and then going to bed to finally relax and watch your favourite show! 2)            Visualise yourself completing your tasks during morning meditation If you practise daily meditation in the morning (and if you don’t, you certainly should give it a go!), you should definitely try to visualise yourself completing the tasks you have set for yourself. This helps you become motivated by having the inspiration to complete your goals for the day! It gives you a realistic vision for the day to come and definitely works in boosting your productivity by giving you the drive that you might need. By visualising yourself completing your tasks, you get an understanding of exactly how much you can do in a day and it also allows you to be able to set achievable goals for yourself. 3) Try the app “Forest” Although this is an app that requires some payment, it is definitely worth the money. I invested only $ 1.99 in it and can safely say that it has worked amazingly in boosting my daily productivity! “Forest” is essentially a productivity app that works by having you plant a tree and set a timer on how long you want to work or do a particular task. The aim here is to complete your task within the time that you set for yourself (which ranges anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours), and if you do not, you have to cancel the timer, which kills your tree. You get coins for each time you complete a task within the given time, and the longer you set the timer for, the more coins you receive for completing your task. With your coins, you can buy new types of trees or plants to grow. Alternatively, when you reach 2,500 coins, you have the choice of planting a real-life tree! So far, 652,618 trees have been planted by Forest’s users, so by using the app to plant real trees of your own, you are supporting an extremely worthy cause while simultaneously being productive! Amazing! Forest also allows you to leave the app if you need to send a text or check out your social media, but why would you want to do that if you are trying to be productive? Therefore, if you want a real challenge, you have the option to toggle into the “deep focus” mode, which means that you cannot leave the app at any point during the countdown of the timer; otherwise your tree instantly dies. This is an amazing app which I absolutely swear by and it definitely works in helping me with my productivity! I use this app on a daily basis – when I am busy writing articles, doing homework, or even doing mundane household tasks like washing the dishes! With my experience with the app, I can safely say that it is the only app that has ever worked in helping me be organised and efficient in completing a task. Even if you are a broke student like I am, this app is extremely affordable, since it is only a one-time purchase and is certainly worth the money – it costs just $ 1.99 (only Rs. 360)! To conclude, these tips and tricks (as well as the Forest app) really work to help boost your efficiency and motivation when going about your day-to-day life. If these tips work, then you have found yourself a new way of being productive, and even if they do not (which I highly doubt), what have you got to lose? Try them out and see how they work for you!   PHOTOS @SIPPINGSODA/INSTAGRAM, CLAUDIA WENSIERSKA/DRIBBBLE.COM, SEEKRTECH CO., LTD./FOREST – STAY FOCUSED (MOBILE APPLICATION)