Finding motivation

“How and where do I get that much needed motivation to study?”- a never-ending question that students from around the world ask themselves. Frankly speaking one of these students inspired me to write about this topic (hi Em!). First and foremost, yes that might be hard sometimes and of course after summer holidays or cosy Christmas holidays it might be extremely hard to start writing an essay or prepare for the exams. I thought about all the years of me trying to motivate myself and all the motivational books and articles I read searching for the answer and here are some tips that might come in hand.

1. Make ‘to do’ lists! When I started my ‘to do’ lists it seemed like a waste of time and it didn’t work for a while. Later I found out that the problem was that my lists were too complicated. Keeping it simple works everywhere for example small tasks such as tidying up your desk, ordering the book you need etc. The best thing is when you cross a task off your list you really feel more motivated to cross all of them off.
2. One of the best pieces of advice I have heard from the motivational speakers is to do something, preferably the hardest thing, in the morning. I remember when I was finishing off my dissertation, I decided to wake up early and at around the time when people started their normal day, I had had done some work already. And let me tell you that was really motivating. I felt like I had taken an extra hour or two from the day.
3. And the last one is finding motivation in the people around you. For example, when I had an essay to write I preferred to sit in the library around people who were doing their own work. I know that some of my friends liked going to a park or a coffee house, but that depends whether or not you prefer a background noise while working. Another option is arranging a study group with other students. In this case I would advise thinking thoroughly about who you will be in the group with and preferable keeping the group as small as possible (3-4 students). Otherwise a lot of organisation is needed.

Remember that motivation is in our minds. Be positive in every situation and you’ll find motivation everywhere.

Rima

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