If you are anything like me, you may struggle to feel as though you are staying on top of all of your assignments while also balancing your physical health, mental health, a job and all of your clubs. When you are beginning to enter a slump or are feeling completely overwhelmed, here are some tips to get you back into the groove.
- Eating A Good Meal
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When I know I am going to have a particularly stressful day and I am going to have a lot of work to complete, I try my best to eat a relatively healthy meal. This is because I have recognized a pattern where I eat a more sugary or carb-filled meal, and I tend to feel way less energized.
Since then, I have made an effort to plan out what I am going to eat for those particularly heavy days. Meal prepping is a great way to do this, as your meal is already prepared when you would like to eat. Brainstorming what meal or snack that you want to buy before you get there works just as well and is my personal preference.
Some healthier meals that I enjoy eating either before or while I’m completing my work are chicken Caesar salads or wraps, yogurt and fruit, scrambled eggs and Chipotle-style bowls. These are all great food ideas to fuel your body and leave you more motivated than before.
- Finding Ways To Stay Active
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Whenever I feel myself becoming stationary for too long, one of the only things that makes me feel better is going outside and getting some exercise. Typically, sitting around in one place for a long period of time leaves me feeling unmotivated and depressed. I have found that any form of movement or change in setting works very well to get me back on track.
Going on walks either by myself or with friends has been a game changer for my overall mental health and motivation. It sounds corny, but it has truly allowed me the space away from what is causing me stress, in order to come back to it in a much better headspace. It also just makes for an easy way to get my steps in and feel physically healthy.
Creating a consistent gym routine has also greatly helped me to feel motivated and organized. Having a set time of day that you can commit to strengthening your body invites a sense of discipline and confidence that we need to stay motivated. Choosing the workouts that I want to do and creating my own schedule is the reason that I have the desire to keep showing up for myself.
- Setting Weekly Goals
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It can become really difficult to juggle all of your assignments and tasks simultaneously, leading to uncertainty about where to start. I have found that writing out a list of what I am going to complete by the end of the week has been a helpful way for me to keep track of my work and to actually complete what I need to.
Having so much to do can leave me feeling completely unmotivated to do any of it at all. Setting my weekly goals for different aspects of my life has allowed me to feel more organized and to stay on track with these goals. These range from specific homework assignments that I need to complete or how many days I want to complete a full workout to simple chores I need to get done around my apartment.
Making larger tasks seem smaller and more manageable creates space for a greater sense of motivation and reward when they are completed.
- Having Friends Who Hold You Accountable
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Surrounding myself with like-minded people who have goals of their own has been really helpful in keeping me motivated. At times, it can be easy to let myself procrastinate on an assignment or skip a gym day because no one else is telling me that I have to. With friends, I have someone to remind me of my goals.
Creating your goals with your friends or having people who genuinely just want to help you succeed is not only great for a friendship, but also a valuable way to actually stick to the ambitions that you have created for yourself. You are never expected to complete your objectives all by yourself.
This is also a two-way street. Just as my friends will help me achieve what I want to achieve, I actively enjoy doing the same for them. Support from others is pivotal for any type of growth.
- Rewarding Yourself
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Oftentimes, people become so stuck on the task at hand and how they are going to complete it that they forget to celebrate their wins. When I accomplish something that I have been wanting to do for a while, whether it be a long-term goal or something short-term that I have been needing to get done, I make sure to congratulate myself.
These rewards also don’t need to be anything huge or monumental. They can be as simple as taking a moment to remind myself of what I have just accomplished and allowing myself to feel good about it. I can also reward myself by purchasing a new article of clothing if I finish something that was really stressful for me.
Whether your reward is materialistic or just complimenting yourself, it is an important thing to do in order to continue feeling motivated and proud of yourself. You deserve to be rewarded for all of your hard work.
It is important to give yourself grace in times of being unmotivated, as there is a lot that we are all expected to complete as college students. We all have things to get done, which can lead to feeling overwhelmed. Hopefully, these tactics will help you feel more motivated when you are really struggling with this.