We’re only about a month into the spring semester, but you may already be feeling the mid-semester slump. Going to school in the winter can be difficult, and it can be hard to stay motivated until the end of the school year. Staying motivated includes everything from giving your schoolwork enough attention to maintaining good mental health. Follow these tips to get ahead in school, keep your sanity and do the best you can.
1. Stay organized and keep a schedule.
Staying organized is my number one tip! I can’t count the number of times my life has (seemingly) gone to ruin because I’ve failed to keep a detailed planner. If you’ve never used a planner, it may seem like a lot of work to get started; however, I can assure you that it’s worth it! It’s so much easier to stay organized by writing things down than to scramble when you’re trying to remember what you need to do. I highly recommend using a planner not only for schoolwork but also for extracurricular activities and events. Make use of the monthly layout to look ahead, and use the weekly ones to keep track of the most important, imminent things coming up.
On top of using a planner, try keeping a schedule. I’ve found my days to be much more manageable when I keep a consistent schedule; I know what to expect and what I need to accomplish each day. I suggest sticking to a daily schedule to keep yourself motivated throughout the semester. You’ll find that you actually have more freedom because of how organized you are — it may seem paradoxical, but it’s definitely true.
2. Talk with people.
Everyone has one friend who is always killing it; talking to her is like a breath of fresh air because she’s truly inspiring and uplifting. Conversations with even strangers can really motivate you! Talk to old friends and new friends; talk to the strangers in your lecture or your peers in discussion. Learn what others are doing, and learn what makes them happy. It’s hard to strike up conversations with people you only sit by to take notes every other day, but making these random connections is actually a good thing! You will learn what others are doing to manage their busy college schedules. That way, you, too, may learn of new, amazing opportunities.
Also consider talking to your professors and TA’s. These professionals — especially your professors — possess wealths of knowledge just waiting to be discovered by students. They can give younot only the inside scoop of what’s really going on in class, but also real-world knowledge and tips about your industry. These people understand your school struggles —they were in your shoes before, too!
3. Take care of yourself.
It’s essential that you take care of yourself this semester (and every part of the year) to stay motivated and do your best. You perform better in everything you do when you feel good inside and out. This means not only maintaining good physical well-being, but also taking care of yourself mentally and emotionally. There are endless ways to take care of yourself this semester. For physical health, this could include going to the gym more often, trying yoga or walking to class more often. For emotional health, this could mean connecting more with your emotions and figuring out what makes you tick. Pinpoint what makes you angry and avoid these things; find something that consistently brings you joy and do it more often! To stay mentally healthy, take some time for yourself to sit and be still. Find a quiet place — leave your phone in another room — and just sit and listen to your thoughts. Listen to what’s going through your mind and try to sort through your day. As you walk to class, unplug from your music and observe the things around you. Take a couple of extra minutes after mass to pray for a calmer week. Make an effort to eat your meals without watching Netflix. Take your time to do things deliberately, and you’ll find that you get things done more efficiently and with a greater purpose. When you take care of yourself, you’re bound to be more successful and motivated.
4. Try out a new activity outside of school.
The new semester is the perfect time to start a new club or organization. You may have seen most of what UW-Madison has to offer at the org fair, but you can find some hidden gems outside of campus as well. Look for something outside of school that you find meaningful — it may keep you motivated throughout the semester. Finding a hobby or activity just for yourself will balance out all of the homework and studying you need to accomplish. If you have a hobby that you’ve been doing for years, that’s great! But, you may want to find something new this semester as well. A new activity can be a great refresher, and it’ll give you inspiration and newfound confidence to do your best. It may seem like there’s no room in your schedule to add another activity, but trying something new will make your life feel a little more balanced when you have more than just school to focus on.
5. Make limits.
Limit yourself. Limit the amount of time that you do daily tasks, and do things only at certain points of the day. Making limits for yourself is a great way to practice scheduling. It may seem strange to not do homework all of the time, but taking breaks from your schoolwork at the right time will actually make you more productive and leave you with more time to do other things in the future. Working on schoolwork at every hour of the day will quickly drain your brain; you may find yourself stuck in a rut without any motivation to get anything done. It’s much more effective and efficient to make specific time limits for homework, extracurricular activites and work.
6. Keep everything in perspective.
Doing well in school is important, but it’s not the end of the world if you fail one test. It can be difficult to acknowledge that sometimes our greatest accomplishments in college are not the perfect A’s, but rather our ability to live our lives and make good choices. Cut yourself some slack, and you may find that you have more determination to get done the things that really do matter. When you’re weighed down by stress-thinking, think about all of the things that made you anxious in high school — do they matter to you now? Most problems and dramas from a couple of years ago have no meaning today; similarly, the problems that consume your world right now may not be such a big deal in a couple of years. In five years, will you care about the drama you had to endure or the one bad grade you received? Probably not. Keeping everything in perspective trains you to look at things from the big picture and examine your life from the outside. It’s a way to maintain goals and keep your priorities straight, rather than being burdened down by the challenges you face.
Finding motivation is an everyday challenge. There are so many distractions, and it’s easy to fall prey to them again and again. Some of these distractions are good in moderation (looking at you, Netflix), but sometimes our laziness can overtake our lives. Ultimately, balance is key to staying motivated. Find a balance between school, friends, activities and, most importantly, yourself. If you don’t feel balanced internally, it will be much harder to balance everything that you have going on in your life externally. Challenge yourself to try these tips and good luck having a calmer, more meaningful year!