The summer has drawn to a close and most of the students are back in the Toon, unpacking and settling into their houses in Jesmond or student halls. It’s time to get back to work, away from home and the summer job you’ve been slaving over for seven weeks, which if you are anything like me, will be motivation enough to get back to Newcastle and studying again. But, if not, and you’ve been holidaying away, enjoying your summer and the sunshine (not that there has been much) then this is for you. Here are my three top tips to motivate yourself back into academia, ready to work hard (and not just party hard!).
1. Reflection
There is always room for improvement in academia and step one is to remember last year’s performance and think of how you can improve upon it. Get out your transcripts and old essays and assignments, and read the comments, taking notes and highlighting the areas you need to improve on as you go along. Not only is this a good way to motivate yourself, giving yourself a goal to strive for, but it should improve your grades as paying attention to these details will improve your overall grade in the long run.
2. Look to the future
Have a read through what is in store for you this year on your course and get excited. Get online and read through the modules you are taking, particularly the optional modules as those are the ones you are most likely to have chosen. This way, you are remembering what interests you about your course, the modules and information you are excited to learn about and find stimulating. This is a good way of getting motivated and reminding yourself of why you are doing the course in the first place.
3. Organisation
Being organised is a great way to get motivated and one of the key things you should do when you arrive in the Toon is to find out your timetable and get a plan in place. Figure out when you have to get yourself up, plan your lunches (are you eating at home or do you need to bring something in?) and what you are doing between lectures and seminars (library anyone?). This will build anticipation for the first week and get you keen to start.
These top three tips are great ways to motivate yourself back to university and academia, ready for the year ahead. And if that wasn’t enough, just remember that if you work hard then you can play even harder and the Toon is the perfect playground for that.