We’ve all been there. Whether you felt it in high school or college – senioritis is a real thing.
You feel like you’re so close to graduating, and you start to lack motivation. You think to yourself, “what’s the point in still trying so hard?” when you’re a senior.
You may start to do assignments at the last minute (something you’ve never done in your college career). You might not study for a test you’ve had plenty of time to prepare for. You don’t go to class as often as you used to. Procrastination is probably in full swing at this point – you find yourself putting off all your assignments until the last minute.
As a senior in college, senioritis is understandable. You’ve worked so hard to get where you are, and you’re almost at the finish line. However, when you start to lose some of your motivation in school, things can get more stressful. Procrastination and lack of motivation can easily overcomplicate simple assignments.
With all of this in mind, here is a list of ways to combat senioritis!
Write a To-Do list
Personally, I’ve continuously kept different forms of “to-do lists” ever since middle school. If you have an agenda or a planner where you can write assignments and the due dates, that works, too! The key is keeping everything organized so you don’t have to check every single class and see what you have to turn in. Checking all your classes for your homework uses up unnecessary energy, and it is way easier already having it written out.
Tip: If you have a MacBook, open the “stickies” app and try it out. You can put a digital Post-it note on your desktop screen and easily write out assignments.
Reward yourself
Have you been wanting to go on a shopping trip recently but feel like you shouldn’t? Maybe there is a book you want to buy but haven’t gotten around to it? Or even a movie that you’ve been wanting to watch but haven’t made time for it. Use that as motivation for your schoolwork. For example, think to yourself, “If I get all of my assignments done before Monday morning, I’ll order that shirt I’ve been meaning to get.”
Rewarding yourself is an easy (and fun) way of motivating yourself to get your work done.
Make time for short (or long) breaks
I have always done this unintentionally (lol), but taking a break or two during study or homework time is essential. Worrying about how you need to push through it is not beneficial and adds unnecessary stress to your life. Unless you’re doing an assignment at the VERY LAST minute, you should be able to afford certain breaks during your designated homework work time. Giving yourself a break is a great way to refresh yourself for the next portion of your assignment that you have to tackle.
Tip: Try not to use your iPhone as a break (I know it’s easier said than done). I think we’ve all been there- we go on our phones for a second, and suddenly an hour has gone by. The key to taking homework breaks is keeping them to about 5-15 minutes long. This way, you don’t get distracted and decide to put off the assignment even further. If you do want to use your phone on your break, set a timer so you know when you should put your phone down and get back to work.
Set small goals
Setting small goals for yourself can be extremely rewarding. The whole cause of senioritis is feeling like you’ve kind of already reached the goal and you only have a few months to go, so what’s the point? That’s why you have to set other small goals. For example, let’s say you want to challenge yourself to graduate with a certain GPA- do it! If getting an A in your last few classes will bump up your GPA overall, and you feel like you can do it, why not? Try for those A’s! It will motivate you to finish strong.
Organize your mind and space
A messy room is a messy mind. When you’re going through your last few months of college, try to keep your room (or apartment) clean. No one likes to come home to a mess after going to class and working hard all day. If you don’t complete simple tasks (even if they’re unrelated tasks like putting away laundry or vacuuming your room), you’ll feel like you have a lot more on your plate than you really do. Start with cleaning up your space and tackling those mundane tasks before sitting down to do your homework. Personally, when I clean my room before starting assignments, I feel like I’m on a roll, and I will have an easier time opening my laptop and getting homework done.
This is your sign to keep going!! Let’s finish strong!