If you’re anything like me, right around Week 7 of the semester, you start to lose any motivation you had at the beginning to get all your work done. Yes, we’re supposed to be students who are, for lack of a better term, locked in. However, sometimes it’s not that easy. Life and schoolwork tend to bog you down, and it can be hard to stay focused. So, here are some of the things I do that help me to stay locked in.
For my reader girlies
As someone who loves everything related to reading, I find it incredibly offensive that my schoolwork must get in the way of my reading time. It’s hard to stay focused on school when all I want to do is know what happens next in my book. So, one thing I started doing is at the end of the day, no matter what time it is, I allow myself to read as long as I want. This could range from one page to maybe even a whole chapter.
I actually adopted this practice from the 75 Hard Challenge, and it truly has been something that’s been keeping me sane. I’m always going from book to book and tend to feel down if I’m not constantly in the middle of one. Personally, always knowing a little bit about what my book characters are experiencing can help me go a long way to deal with my own academic hardships, like midterms.
Self-care makes me smarter
I’m a firm believer in the “look your best, feel your best” mentality. One of my favorite things to do during the week is just take a shower. I love the symbolic feeling of washing off the day and, once it’s over, being able to reset for the next. I love a good everything shower, and I find that as a college student, it can be hard to have other modes of relaxation, like going to the nail salon. So, instead of using all my shower products, washing and styling my hair goes a long way in making me feel amazing.
Sometimes, if I’m not feeling motivated, I’ll use the excuse that I don’t have an outfit planned, so I shouldn’t possibly get up for the day. I try to combat this by planning my outfits the night before so I can look my best when attending classes. That way, I can go straight to bed once I get home, and I don’t have to worry about the next day.
Don’t knock it till you try it: Lists
So, this may just be because I’m a Virgo and I love lists and staying organized, but I think that having a personal homework list outside of a Canvas checklist is very beneficial. Sometimes, I’ll look at my assignment lists and see 20 plus assignments that are all due in one week. So, I like to have a little organization planner that I can use to see what I immediately need to get either finished, started, or looked at by the end of the day.
I also like to break up my larger assignments into sections by doing a little bit each day until it’s done. I can feel the satisfaction of crossing something off my list after getting it done. Daily accomplishments are truly one of the things keeping me going!
One other thing I like to do, like many lawyers, is give myself “billable hours.” For example, I set a goal for myself where every day I must do two hours of schoolwork, unless there’s not that much work to be done. Once those two hours are done, I won’t touch or look at my Canvas again that day. I’ve also found that by doing this, I don’t need to do any homework on the weekends, and I truly get to relax and have some me time.
I’m gonna rock (study) with you… all night
I know that in my last point, I just talked about how I try very hard not to overload myself. I also feel that bedtime is a sacred time. However, there are just some weeks when an all-nighter is just unavoidable. When I need to pull an all-nighter, I try to acquire as many sweet treats or snacks as possible to get me through the night.
I’m also a caffeine person, and though I usually try to stick to one caffeinated beverage a day, I love making matcha, and I’ve found it gives me just enough caffeine to make it through the night. Go ahead and treat yourself, girl! You’re working too hard to deny yourself your favorite snacks.
I also think that all-nighters by myself can be highly unmotivating and just overall draining. Whenever I need to do this, I love going to the library and being with all the same people who will also be there late at night. There’s something so motivating about knowing I’m not alone in my academic journey. It’s even more fun when I can stay up with my friends and study. Seeing my friends during a very busy week makes staying up all the easier.
These are just some of the things I do to make sure I stay motivated throughout the semester. It can be tough to continuously do work that seemingly never ends. Even with all these things I do to stay on top of my work, I still sometimes get burned out. I’ve found that even though I do get burned out, doing these things with a little bit of extra TLC (Tender Loving Care) helps me pick myself up much easier.
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