Motivation

Let's talk about motivation :)! I think all students sometimes have problems to force themselves to study, to prepare presentations or to do their homework. You are not allone! 

Like everyone else I often feel like doing nothing, am just tired and can't motivate myself to start doing something productive. Unfortunately I didn't pass the last semestre's course, but it enabled me to learn a lot about my behavior when it comes to studying, I discovered most of my weaknesses and even developed some tricks to keep myself motivated even when having a lot of work to do. So I thought why not sharing my experiences, maybe there might be something useful for you too.

The worst thing you can do when it comes to studying is expecting too much. For example, you won't be able to write a whole presentation in one single evening. Take yourself time and do your work decent and properly. If you are preparing for an exam, try to set up some kind of learning schedule and divide the whole amount of work into managable, daily sections, leaving free the last day for revising what you have learnt. Some people recommend not to study the last day before the exam, but for me revising everything the day before the exam is quite important because the information I read shortly before the exam tends to remain in short term memory.

It is also important to calculate enough time for everything. Sometimes it is hard to believe how much time you actually need for completing something. At the beginning of my time at university I often thought I could finish homework in less than an hour while in reality I spent several hours on it.

Another advise I can give you is that you should include breaks regularly in order to keep yourself motivated and to give your brain time to relax as well.

You could:

- do some sport (my favourite option)

- go for a walk

- take a shower

- meet friends

- listen to some music

- eat something

.... choose something that you enjoy, that makes you feel relaxed and ,of course, that fits your time frame.

Something I like is having a special ritual before starting to work. In my case, I get myself a huge cup of tea and listen to my favourite song before sitting down at my desk.

What distracts me most is if my room is messy. Keeping your room tidy is also important to make yourself feel comfortable in the environment you are studying at. Fresh air is also very beneficial when demanding a lot of effort from you brain.

And last but not least, don't be disappointed if you didn't manage to do much. Disappointment will only demotivate you even more. I believe it is natural that some days you just feel tired and do nothing productive. Relax, recharge you batteries and start off the next day.