With finals quickly approaching, we’re all preparing ourselves for sleepless nights, endless stress and days consumed by studying. One of the worst parts of studying for finals is procrastination; we all do it because anything and everything is more appealing after studying for days on end. Finding motivation to continue work is difficult, but it isn’t impossible! Here are five ways to find motivation when preparation for finals has made you feel completely drained:
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Make a Study Playlist
Create a playlist filled with music that helps you focus or that makes you happy and energized. Title it your “Work Playlist” and only listen to it when studying, writing or reading. Tailor the content to fit your study environment needs. If you need white noise or background chatter to focus, find tracks that help most! If you need to feel energized while working, choose your favorite upbeat songs to add. If you only listen to your playlist while working, you’ll feel more motivated to work whenever you hear the songs!
Use a Reward System
The best part of studying is the reward at the end! Set up a reward schedule before every study session so that you have something to immediately look forward to following each session. Your rewards can be anything from a snack to a song to an episode of your favorite show — anything that you find enjoyable! Make sure you establish study checkpoints or time limits for these rewards. A lot of small, timed reward sessions give you the mental break you need to power through.
Schedule Time to Spend with Friends
We all need longer breaks after some successful study sessions to refresh our minds. Find a group of friends also facing the struggles of finals and form a study/reward group with them. Spend some time motivating one another to complete their work, then close your books and get out! Do something relaxing and fun for a few hours after you feel satisfied with your work for the day. Not only will this give you all something to look forward to, but it will also encourage you all to take a relaxing break with friends feeling the same stress.
Make a To-Do List
Before you start studying, write out all of the tasks you want to accomplish during that week, day or study sessions. You can make a traditional bullet list of tasks and check them off as you go, or you can get creative! Write each task on a slip of paper and post them around your study area. Randomly pick one following each completion, and work until you find every slip! This will give you a visualization of how much you’ve done and how much you have left to do and motivate you to finish it all!
Set Both Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Setting goals is one of the most important things to do while studying. Make sure you know what you want to accomplish every time you sit down to study. Those are your short-term goals. Make sure you also think about your goals for the week or next few weeks. Think of what you hope to get done before your exams/due dates, what results you want on your finals and what you want to do after all your finals are over. Thinking long-term and short-term keeps you motivated to work now and reminds you about what you’re working for!