This past summer, my family took a trip to Universal Studios Orlando in an effort to redeem flight vouchers before they expired. On that two-hour flight, I was more productive than I had ever been in my life. Maybe it was the lack of cell phone usage or the small number of choices of how to spend my time, but I was somehow able to make measurable progress on my crochet project, take a forty-minute nap, and read fifty pages of George Orwell’s Animal Farm (and I’m normally a pretty slow reader).
After spending several days being in pure awe of how productive I was for this isolated period of time, I finally decided to figure out the reasons behind this increased productivity, so I could duplicate this practice in my everyday life.
Here’s what I’ve come up with: this so-called airplane productivity may be the result of lack of access to my phone (and mindlessly scrolling through Instagram). Another possibility is the lack of choices of how to spend your time because of the insanely small bag regulations for flying.
For me at least, these two are definitely both at play; I am extremely guilty of scrolling through my Instagram explore page and sending posts to friends for long periods of time without realizing (although I like to think that I’ve gotten better since the semester started). And as for choices of how to spend my time, I am a notoriously heavy packer when it comes to my “things to do” bag on vacation, and packing for move-in was no exception. I have many more crochet projects, paint, coloring books, embroidery supplies, fabric to use my sewing machine, and books to read than I have time for. I have been experimenting with different approaches to regaining this “airplane productivity,” and I think I may have found a way to replicate this super-productivity.
One way that I have had successful productivity in my studies is finding a quiet spot in Gateway South in between classes, turning my phone upside down and putting it behind my computer so I can’t see it, and choosing one or two assignments to focus on. This allows me to omit the cellular distraction as well as have limited options of how to spend my time. I also find the quietness to be motivating because it suggests that others around me are all working.
I live pretty far from campus, so when I’m not already there, it is a hassle to walk with my heavy backpack just to study. So while it’s not as easy to limit my options of how to spend my time while I am at my apartment, surrounded by many different activities and projects to do, I have found some ways to increase productivity. I often fear burnout while doing work and just in general. So instead of working on one assignment for a long time then immediately going on my phone as a break, I have started working on one assignment for a smaller amount of time, then switching to another. In doing so, I am able to prevent burnout, spend less time on my phone, and chip away at different assignments at once instead of completing my assignments in an ordered list.
This strategy doesn’t translate well to what to do with my excess time not doing work; if I’m working on too many other projects at a time, I feel like I am making no progress with any of them. To combat this, I choose one free-time activity to focus on each week. Let’s say for a certain week I chose crocheting. Instead of wasting time deciding how to spend any extra time that week, I just pick up my current crochet project.
While I am yet to achieve that perfect airplane productivity on the ground, I have been able to increase my productivity with these methods and hope that maybe you can too.
Lifestyle HACKs is an Opinion column written and created by Zoe Hack ‘24 to discuss studying guides and techniques, healthy cooking and eating, and other lifestyle tips during college life.
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