This semester has been hard. Reflecting back to last semester and how busy it was compared to now I’m confused as to how I got everything done. Especially how I did so well academically, economically, and socially. This semester just feels so heavy, despite my workload looking the exact same, if not lighter. And yet, I’m finding it a real struggle to get everything done. I’ve become a hardcore procrastinator because I’ve always walked the line between pressure and procrastination, and procrastination seems to be winning more often than not. Somehow it just feels like everything this semester is sucking a bit more of my energy than what I’m used to.
I’m officially burnt out. And I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, friends on campus have expressed similar concerns. Even friends attending different schools are feeling a seriouslack of motivation. I’ve thought about ways to change my time management, my daily activities, or the workload I take on.
Then I stumbled across a “life hack” somewhere on the internet, probably scrolling through a social network feed, that suggested: replace “I have to” with “I get to.” After doing some research on the origin of this idea, the closest I could find was a quote from Erykah Badu stating: “In the morning, instead of saying to yourself, ‘I got to wake up’ say ‘I get to wake up!’”
This simple shift in perspective has really helped putthings into perspective. I get to go to school and receive an education. I get to go to work while so many are unemployed. I get to clean my room since I have a roof over my head. It’s easy to get caught in how annoying the little things are sometimes, but looking at the bigger picture those little things come from great privilege and opportunities.
My grandfather always said, “If you work hard enough, you’ll get what you want. If not, then you’ll want what you get.” It took me a while to understand what he meant by this. Basically, if you work hard you can choose your opportunities, but if you don’t put in the work then you’ll eventually grasping for whatever opportunities may come your way.
Motivation is a fickle thing. It comes and goes, seemingly when you need it most to get started on a new project or path. However, the best way to summon motivation is to get going and stimulate your reward center from productivity. So go do that thing, you get to seize the day!