I think we can all agree that there’s been at least one day where we could NOT BE BOTHERED to do work! As students, we have all had those moments where tidying our rooms, watching Tiktok videos or just eating lots of food from the fridge became the most interesting thing in our lives! Don’t even deny it! You know you’ve procrastinated like this before… we all have! The trouble is, how do you find motivation when you’ve reached this point? Well, let me enlighten you.
Firstly, find something you’re passionate about; a goal which you can work towards. Having a direction or a path to follow can help you focus your mind and reignite the academic within. As an example, during my A-levels, I often found the day by day monotony of “wakeup-school-work-sleep” to be a real motivation killer. However, I had a burning desire to go to Oxford, so much so, that just the thought of Oxford was enough for me to do a couple more hours of work a day. Having that passion can be very helpful – but if you haven’t found it yet, don’t worry there are other ways to become motivated.
Next, have something to work towards! I’ve already said this in other blogs but this is so important. Set yourself some obstacles that must be overcome before you can indulge yourself. For example, you may have a delicious piece of chocolate fudge cake you want to eat (wow, my mouth is watering) but before you do, tell yourself that you have to revise a certain section of your course and complete a specific problem sheet before you can sink your gnashers into it. Be strict with yourself!
Write all your tasks out into a list. Initially, it may look like you’ve got loads of work to do but as you start ticking tasks off, it is actually very motivating. Further to this, actually writing out a to-do list puts everything into perspective and allows you to assign times better and therefore, you’ll have more time to eat that delicious piece of cake.
Personally, I hate just using boring lined-paper and a biro when I’m revising. Treat yourself to some cool coloured paper, washi tape, highlighters, gel pens, coloured pencils or even some fancy graphics software. These differences break up the normal dynamic of your day – changing the way you revise, write notes etc, is a brilliant way to stay engaged in a task and keep motivated. I also like to watch YouTube videos, read Instagram posts and look at different links on Pinterest to invigorate me when I’m feeling demotivated – there are some amazing studytubers you can watch. Go check them out!
Finally, don’t work ‘day in-day out’. Take regular breaks, whether that be five minutes after every 30 minutes work or 20 minutes after 2 hours work; you have to relax your brain. Also, a piece of advice, assign at least two days of your week or 3 afternoons where you can just relax, chill and have fun. This time is crucial for your brain to recover and also allows you time to reflect on what you’ve learnt.
See… staying motivated is relatively easy! You’ve just got to stay focussed, be welcome to change and set goals to work towards. Remember to get lots of sleep, eat healthily and exercise as well, as these three underpin everything we do! Stay safe.
Lots of love Abbie.
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