It’s the middle of the semester when midterms are in full effect, the weather is getting cold, and all you want to do is stay in bed instead of going to class or watch Netflix instead of writing that pointless assignment (it’s only 10 points!). It’s easy to get the middle of semester blues and to lack motivation during this time. Here are some tips to help you stay motivated when you really don’t feel like it.
List your reasons
Sometimes finding the motivation to do an assignment feels like pulling your teeth out. There are a million reasons not to do it: “I have to catch up with The Vampire Diaries,” “My friends are going to the movies,” “I have to update my Tumblr because my followers miss me.” Those might be great reasons as to why you should procrastinate, but they certainly won’t help you accomplish anything. Instead, think of the many good reasons why you should do your assignment. Will you feel better about yourself if you don’t do your homework or if you get it done? How will your grades be affected if you don’t do your assignment? Will you be prepared for the exam if you don’t do the reading? Will you miss a pop quiz or important information if you don’t go to class? Think about how not doing what you’re supposed to can negatively affect you and how doing it will benefit you.
Set goals
By setting goals, you can put things into perspective and clearly see what you have to get done. You can make broad long-term goals and then break them down into smaller, short-term goals that can help you accomplish the big goals. If your long-term goal is graduating with honors, then your short-term goals can be to attend every class and study at least one hour each night. Once you start doing the small things on your short-term list, they become a habit and you will definitely start seeing results when you know the answers in class and your grades start going up. Another good reason to set goals is that it makes everything you have to do seem less intimidating, especially if you write it down. Nothing feels better that crossing those things off your list once you start accomplishing them!
Make it fun
Motivation is easy to find when something is fun. Obviously there’s nothing fun about writing a 10 page paper to analyze Shakespeare (unless that’s your thing), but there are several things you can do to make it fun. Give yourself a reward for every page that you finish or for every 30 minutes you spend studying (having your book open while you scroll through Facebook doesn’t count). You can also have a competition with your friends to see who lasts the longest without skipping class. If you win, your friends have to buy you dinner or you get to pick the next movie on movie night. There’s nothing more motivating than a little friendly competition. Get creative!
Get support
No matter how hard you try, sometimes you can’t find the power to motivate yourself. That’s where your support group comes in. Talk to your family, they can put things in perspective quickly because they can give you advice on how to get yourself motivated. You can talk to your friends because they know what you’re going through, and they are probably in a funk too. You can be each other’s support and you can find motivation in the fact that you are not alone. A professor or someone in a higher position than you at your job is good to turn to because they are professionals, and they can be very understanding. You can talk to them about what they did to get to where they are currently and what challenges they had to overcome to get there. This can be motivating just because you can see that accomplished people have had struggles like you that they have overcome.
Recognize progress
It’s easy to get discouraged when you have a never-ending to-do list. You just have to think about how fast the semester is going and how all the homework you have is eventually going to end. Think about how in the beginning of the semester you were complaining about how long the semester is going to be and now it’s going by faster and faster. Think about how much closer you are to graduation with each passing semester. Think about how much you’ve matured (hopefully), learned, and changed since you were a freshman (or if you are a freshman, how different you are than your high school self).
Look at the bigger picture
Often we get so wrapped up in how pointless assignments or certain classes are that we forget to look at the bigger picture. What are you getting your degree for? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Looking at what you want to accomplish in the future can help motivate you to keep on top of things now. If you’re struggling to picture it, make a dream board. Put pictures of places you want to travel to or cities you want to live in. Put your favorite inspirational quote and a picture of your role model. Hang it up on the wall or next to your mirror, somewhere you can see it every day so that you can ignite that motivation just by picturing yourself there.
All these tips can be applied to anything in your life, not just with school. If you’re training for a marathon, practicing for a performance, or working on a big project at work, there will always be a point when you are lacking motivation. Make sure you think back to these tips and don’t give up. You got this!