When your nose is to the grindstone and you’re cranking out problems sets, reading responses, job applications, take-home midterms all while trying to book your flights for winter break, it’s hard to think of productivity as anything that isn’t moving you towards the finish line. Every action will seem to be one of two things: productive or not, helping you towards your goal or slowing your pace. But what may not be obvious at first, yet revelatory upon later experience, is that widening your definition of “productive” to include seemingly “unproductive” experiences can actually make you more productive.

Consider some things that most students consider unproductive:

• daydreaming
• sleeping
• small talk with friends

Now, consider…

The case for daydreaming

Without going into an entire neurobiology lesson, here’s the takeaway:

“By scanning the brains of study subjects asked simply to rest and relax, scientists have discovered that our minds are anything but inactive in these moments. Relieved of the obligation to pay attention to what’s going on around us, we engage instead with a rich internal environment: recalling the past, imagining the future, replaying recent interactions and sorting out our feelings.” (from Annie Murphy Paul’s The Brilliant Report)

The case for sleep (Harvard says so!)

• Research suggests that sleep plays an important role in memory, both before and after learning a new task
• Lack of adequate sleep affects mood, motivation, judgment, and our perception of events
• Although there are some open questions about the specific role of sleep in forming and storing memories, the general consensus is that consolidated sleep throughout a whole night is optimal for learning and memory

The case for talking with friends

Really? Do I need to make a case for this? Fine. You know the value of talking with friends, but I’m going to make a plug for talking honestly with them. That is, sharing your woes and frustrations, and asking about theirs. Bring those little duck feet to the surface and tell someone how hard you’re working and how hopeful you are you’ll finally get your head around a hard concept. Or just hang with someone and telecast your knowledge that being a student is hard and that you care and understand.

The fact is that you need perspective and aim when guiding your productivity. Incorporating seemingly unproductive tasks into your daily routine will help to make sure that you not only cross the finish line, but that you cross the right finish line.