If you're feeling really perky and excited about your work for the day, dive in. But if you're dragging, put a few things that take only a few minutes on your list and do those first to get everything rolling. Even if you're just sending an e-mail to a prof, ordering a book, and printing some reading—and all of the tasks take a total of 20 minutes—crossing three things off your list to start the day when you're not heading in super motivated feels incredible. That said, watch how many of these little things you put on your list and how much time they take.

Next: Know that your work shouldn’t be perfect from the start. ->