DALLE 2 Image of an overwhelmed student
By: Aisha Turdieva
Everyone has been through the feeling of not wanting to do anything. Motivating has always been difficult, however, if done the way that works for you, it can be a feasible feat. The tools and techniques which help people be motivated depend on the person and include factors such as what they are comfortable with, and what they feel like on day to day basis. Some methods that are broken down in this article explore some ways to improve and increase your motivation, but remember that there could be other methods outside this article that might work for you. Do not feel obligated to utilize them all. Explore this article to learn more about giving yourself rewards, setting goals, taking breaks, and learning how to acknowledge your effort.
Learning to motivate yourself:
Giving yourself rewards:
One of the reasons it is hard to be motivated sometimes comes from the inability to understand why and how can the said task help you, and what benefits can it have for you. This is why it is important to create a system of rewards, where you have a clear and visible benefit from doing the said work. The method works for any student with short or long-term goals. Though I would say depending on the timeframe that goal needs to be achieved, the value of the reward would be different. For instance, if you want to score better on your upcoming formative, which will give you extra points for your final grade, you would have to choose a more rewarding benefit – as the formative has a higher stake and importance and is much closer to now. Though remember not to go overboard with anything expensive or difficult to get, but allow it to be something that makes you happy. It could be anything. It just depends on if it will be keeping you motivated to want to obtain the reward.
Breaking down your goals:
You might be able to motivate yourself by setting up goals that are achievable and realistic. Some ways to set a good goal are: knowing exactly what you want by being specific, making it realistic to achieve, measurable, and time-limited. For example, if you have bad grades in Math, and you want to improve them, your goal could be scoring 80% or more percent on your next test. The reason it is considered to be realistic is it is not a scary number like 90% or 100%, and allows you to study. This goal also has a time limit, limiting any possible chances of procrastinating – as you are aware of this time to which it has to be achieved. Such a structure of achievable and time-framed goals will help you make it easier to take to step at a time and also ensure you are doing wok.
Taking breaks:
Additionally, you should take breaks from your studying, because it is not healthy to sit in front of a computer screen for hours on end. It is good to study, of course, but it is not healthy to neglect your breaks. Being exhausted from constant studying can be a factor in your loss of motivation, and the unhealthy obsession with education leads to burnout. Being burnt out limits your ability to be motivated, and collapses your education. Take breaks.
Acknowledging your efforts:
On top of everything discussed, it is important to acknowledge the effort you put in. Being able to see your progress and abilities could be hard, as the feeling you could do better always looms over you but thrive to see some positive light at the end of any study session, or activity. Look at how far you have come along, how much you have grown. Even if it is hard to notice, sometimes, any progress, understand that your current abilities and level are your level for now, for that day and moment. You are always growing, and you will have grown the next time you experience the said task. So take a moment to acknowledge your work, the hours you put in, the blood, sweat, and tears.
In conclusion, we are capable of losing motivation pretty fast. Though if you want, you can go back to being motivated This just really depends on what kind of motivation works best for you, may it be the acknowledgement of your work, rewarding yourself, rest, or setting goals. There is most definitely a way to motivate a person, it might just be that they need another way of motivating themselves.