Be Productive After Work

After an extremely long work day, all you’d like to do is relax. While lounging on the couch is super inviting, it isn’t totally productive. I’m not saying you need to write a novel overnight or start a new company. 【小题1】 Can’t you accomplish goals that you always say you’ll do? Here are a handful of ways to stay productive after wrapping up your work day.

Unplug

【小题2】 Just you. With social media, constant emails and Tinder updates always buzzing(发出嗡嗡声) around us, focus becomes nearly impossible. Obviously, unplugging from technology every evening is unrealistic, so try doing it even just one night out of the work week. Take time for yourself and reflect on your day. Then you can see yourself from a different angle!

Spend time on a hobby

Instead of devoting hours to something less meaningful after work, why not learn a new skill?

Cooking, public speaking, poetry writing, ballet; the list goes on and on. 【小题3】 I guarantee you can make time to pick up a hobby just once a week. You can make new friends, pick up a great new skill and have fun together. Sites like meetup.com and Yelp are perfect for discovering new classes and meeting new people. 【小题4】

Work out

One of the biggest struggles with being productive is combating fatigue(克服疲劳) and maintaining a substantial level of energy after work. 【小题5】 Following a consistent fitness routine can boost your creativity, and confidence, both at work and in your personal life. More importantly, when you exercise, you’re increasing blood flow to the brain, which can help sharpen your awareness.

When you are sitting in class, have you ever drawn pictures in the margins(页边的空白处) of your notebooks? If so, you are doodling. Many people think of doodling as a distraction(分心) from more important things But it might be just the opposite.

One study shows that doodling may help you remember things you hear. In 2009 researchers asked two groups of people to listen to a phone message. One group was encouraged to doodle, but the other was not. Neither group knew that it would be asked to remember information from the message. But the group that doodled remembered 29% more.

Other people have suggested other uses for doodling. Jesse Prinz, a professor who studies doodling, says it can help you think creatively. Walking away from a problem to draw might actually help you solve it. When you come back, you'll have a fresh perspective（观点) and figure out an answer more quickly.

An author named Sunni Brown wrote a book on doodling. She argues that doodling is a tool that can help people think. She admits that people see doodling as doing nothing, but she wants to change that. In fact, she runs a business that helps companies improve organization and planning through doodling.

Brown believes doodling is helpful because it includes many ways of learning. You learn in four ways: seeing, hearing, reading or writing, and through movement. The more ways you use, the better you learn. And when you doodle while listening to a lecture, you use all four.

You might think that being good at drawing is important for doodling. But if the point of doodling is to help you think, then it doesn't matter what the picture looks like. Even if you're not an artist, doodling can help you. So next time you need help focusing, pick up a pen and doodle away!

Walk Out of the Comfort Zone and Try New Things

For most high school students, free periods (课，节) are useless. From what I have seen, few do homework. 【小题1】. This makes it impossible for those who actually want to do work to complete any. As a senior next year, I think extra periods should be used to take optional subjects.

【小题2】. Now is the time for us students to choose a suitable one. We will experiment in different fields of study. We will never know if we are interested or talented in a subject if we don’t try it.

In my 8th grade, I was told that I had to take an art class as a graduation requirement; so in the 9th grade I took Studio and Art. One of the projects was to build a clay pot, but I built mine incorrectly, so it broke in the kiln (窑). 【小题3】. Now I know for sure that I do not want to be an artist. However, the class was one of my favorites that year. I was able to try new activities and test my ability.

【小题4】! College is when we should focus on a specific major, but high school is when we have to figure it out.

Half of all college students change their major at some point. By doing that hundreds of dollars are wasted on classes that they would have never needed to take. So use our extra periods to find out what we want to do in college. 【小题5】.