“It always seems impossible until it is done” – Nelson Mandela.
During lockdowns and study breaks, it’s easy to lose motivation and procrastinate. I tend to slack off during lockdowns because of online open book exams and the absence of my peers to motivate me. However, unlike many of my friends, I always stay on top of lectures and assignments. You don’t often see me up at 3am watching lectures or writing that essay due at 10am the next day. Part of this is my fear of falling behind, but it’s more so feeling unfulfilled if I procrastinate for too long. So, how do I push through and go through those often tedious lectures and assessments?
Below are my top five tips to stay motivated during lockdowns and study breaks. These tips might not work for you, but they might inspire you to find your own methods to keep motivated.
Make a to-do list
My first tip is to make a to-do list. I find this extremely helpful in planning my day ahead and knowing what to do, especially when things can be overwhelming. I do this the night before, so I know what needs to be done when I wake up. This saves me from procrastinating since I have tasks ahead of me. In high school, I wrote the tasks I needed to do on a piece of paper or notebook. Now, I use the (free) app Todoist to keep track, ticking things off as I complete them. Upon completion, I am free to do whatever I wish, guilt-free.
Make achievable, realistic goals for each day
When making your to-do list, it’s easy to overestimate your abilities and put down big tasks. This often leads to an incomplete list at the end of the day and feeling discouraged. I made this mistake early this year where I put down unrealistic tasks such as finishing 2 assignments and watching 3 lectures in one day. I suggest breaking down large tasks into smaller, more manageable tasks. An example of this is “Lecture 15 revision”, “Revise … of lecture 16”, and so on. Smaller tasks are easier to complete, helping you to stay motivated. Instead of finishing a whole essay, I would often finish a quarter or half then come back to it some other time.
Finish the tasks, not the timer
You have probably seen the study/revision technique where you study for x amount of minutes before having a break. Many of my friends use this technique for study. However, for me, this does not work. I find that the timer actually disrupts my flow when studying. I would wait and anticipate when the timer would go off to have my break. I would often stop early for breaks and go over time. What I do instead is to finish one (or a few tasks) before having a small break. It makes me feel accomplished to tick a task off the list, so I focus on completing it. I know you might be wondering, what if you are just rushing to get the task done and not actually learning anything? Well, this is why you must be specific with your tasks, so you know that you have completed them before ticking them off.
Find when you are most efficient
I’m sure we’ve all had times where we studied, but it was too hard to concentrate, and nothing seemed to stay in your head. This can be a very agonizing experience, so I actively avoid it. How? By only studying when I can concentrate. For me, the times where I can focus best are right before I wake up, after lunch and before bed. I take advantage of this and do the bulk of my revision in the morning after waking up. I would check off the majority of study items early on, motivating me to do even more. I have a break before resuming after lunch. By then, most of my study tasks should be nearly done. Then I take a very long break (or nap), and if there are any more tasks to do, I finish them at night. I try to wake up early so I can have more time to study. This method can help you be very efficient with your time, resting when you can’t concentrate and study when you can.
Add in exercises and other easy tasks between studies
Adding simple exercise and easy tasks helps to keep up your energy levels. I often complete small tasks when I want a break from studying. Need to do the dishes? Put that on the list. Doing these tasks are helpful to reset your mental and help prevent burnout from all the learning you’ve been doing. I add multiple small exercises throughout the day, such as pushups, sit-ups, walks etc., in between study sessions. Although this makes my list very long, it makes me very satisfied when it is complete at the end of the day. This has a feedback effect motivating me for the next day and lets you do something meaningful during your breaks!
So that’s it, the five things I do to keep me motivated. I admit that it’s not every day I can keep to the list and complete everything, but it is still beneficial. But of course, my method won’t work for everyone. One thing to note is not to cram all your study tasks in a few days. I did this, and it made me burn out very quickly. I felt that I did all the study I needed to, and there was not much else to do. I suggest taking it slow day by day, slowly increasing your workload as you go. I also recommend you develop healthy sleeping habits and wake up early to complete your tasks. Yes, it’s very hard, but I promise it’s worth it.
