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may 3, 2020 i’ve had this in my drafts for over a year. that is ridiculous. anyways, please enjoy some new content.

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Getting Stuff Done: How to Deal With Lack of Motivation

“How can I stay disciplined?”

“How can I get things done if I don’t feel like doing them?”

“How can I overcome my lack of motivation?”

As a college student who has had their fair share of being absolutely unmotivated to do anything, I know it can be hard to get things done if you don’t feel like doing them. Luckily, there are some things you can do to become more motivated to finish your homework, write your paper, study for your exam, or whatever tasks you have on your plate.

Part 1: Increasing motivation

Break up your tasks

Just thinking about one huge task is going to intimidate you so much that you’d rather leave it till later, when the urgency of time pushes you to complete it, than start now.

Breaking up your big tasks into smaller ones will make your tasks seem less daunting. Since you won’t be as intimidated by the amount of effort it might take to complete these tasks, you’ll be more likely to start doing them.

For studying, this can be something like ‘make flashcards for units 1-3’ or ‘practice past exam papers: 2015 + 2016’. For writing papers, this could be writing an outline, doing research for each point of your outline, writing the first 3 paragraphs, etc.

Working on small tasks at a time will also make you less prone to distractions since you only need to focus for a short length of time.

Make small goals and reward yourself

These goals could be accomplishing one of the smaller subtasks above, or achieving a certain grade on a practice test, or finishing a section of your study plan - as long as you’re working towards something.

The rewards? Maybe going out to eat, watching something, or even just time off. Hopefully these rewards will motivate you to complete your task.

I know some people are more inclined to do their work if they’re punished for not doing it, rather than rewarded for doing it, so if you wanna take the ‘punishment’ approach, you could do something like not allowing yourself to use social media until you finish a set of tasks - this is essentially the same thing, just thought about in a different manner. However, you should always be careful with these punishments/restrictions, because sometimes they can end up harming your health and productivity (e.g. ‘I can’t take a break until I finish all of my homework’).

Part 2: Not relying on motivation

Of course, you can’t always expect yourself to be motivated all the time. In fact, it’s very ineffective to rely on motivation to get things done; motivation is fleeting. Here’s an alternative: self-discipline. But how does it work?

Establish a study routine

Humans are creatures of habit. Even if you’re a P-type (like me), habits are hard to break. So making a habit of accomplishing your tasks/studying at a set time every day will help you, well, accomplish them. For example, it’s a lot easier to get your homework done every day if you do it at the same time - e.g. once you come home from school - rather than doing it ‘whenever you have time’.

Having a study routine will also make you less likely to be distracted since you know that that period of time had a purpose. If you’re trying this out for the first time, you might wanna completely get rid of distractions so that you can focus (e.g. putting your phone in your bag, on silent). However, with practice, I found that my phone or any other sources of distraction don’t really bother me anymore since I’ve had tons of practice resisting the urge to pick up my phone whenever there’s a notification, for example.

Schedule in time for breaks

This ties in well with the point about rewards: the break might be the reward for your studying. However, this doesn’t always have to be the case. You shouldn’t always think of relaxing as merely a reward for studying or accomplishing your tasks, but rather a necessity for the well-being of your mind. This sort of approach to breaks ensures that you actually let your brain rest once in a while.

After taking a break, your mind will be refreshed and revitalized, and you should have more than enough energy to continue with your other tasks.

Some of you asked - with regards to my previous post on The Mandatory Midday Break - how I can limit myself to exactly an hour, and to be honest, the answer is habit. It’s like having a habit of showering at the same time every day and not extend the length of time you spend in the bathroom (except in certain circumstances, like during a day off, I guess).

This is why it’s important to schedule your breaks and establish a study routine or habit - not only does it ensure you get enough rest, but it also prevents you from extending your break so that you don’t become unproductive and leave a ton of tasks unfinished.

It can be hard to motivate yourself to accomplish all your tasks, but there are things you can do to increase your motivation. However, you can’t expect to be motivated all the time, and you shouldn’t rely on motivation to get things done. Discipline and habit are the most important tools you can use to be efficient and productive without having to be motivated.

Hope this post has been helpful, and, as always, feel free to drop me an ask if you have an ask. Have an awesome week :)

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𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐬 & 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 - 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬;

i haven't had my journal in my hands for several days, feels good to be back. i know it's a difficult time for everyone right now, i genuinely hope you're all okay. feel free to come talk to me anytime. make sure to think of things that make you happy. be thankful.

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Quarantine has got me feeling a little more in touch with myself, reviving old hobbies and interests, even if it was forced upon me. I can now play and sing Andar Conmigo by Julieta Venegas on my uke, which is neat, I’ve baked some real good banana bread and have been revisiting music, series, and movies I used to like a lot when I was a teenager, which is always fun. 

I had to white out a bunch of dates on my planner bc its uncertain when I’ll be going back to college, and so there seems to be no point on keeping up with the planning in such a structured way, instead, I’ve been using a notebook to write to-dos when I need to. I miss the structure tho. I felt so in control of what I was doing for a couple of months and then this whole situation hit. oof. 

I hope everyone’s safe out there. 

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facts, ladies & gentlemen

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i really went on a hiatus for 2 years :’) i’ve missed the studyblr communities so much even tho i’m still pretty much on instagram. i even forgot how there are so many resources from productivity tips to self-care tips wow

on another note, i made this studyblr when i was in high school and now i’ve graduated from university!!! how the time flies

hope everyone’s staying safe and taking care of yourself during this time <3

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The more you procrastinate the longer it will take you to get fluent in your target language.

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Energy Management

A human-based organization method

click on images for better resolution; images also available here (link to google drive)

Other posts that may be of interest:

Getting stuff done: How to deal with a lack of motivation

Flexible time-blocking: A more breathable way to get things done

The ABCDE Method

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I know there are a million posts about this but like… comparison and not setting limits for the sake of your self-preservation really, truly will not get you anywhere good. I mean this particularly in the realm of academia since that is a notoriously pressure-filled field and that’s what I’m struggling with right now, but honestly, it applies anywhere. If someone has completed more things than you, that doesn’t take away the things you have completed and it doesn’t take away from the time and energy you put into completing them. Everyone has a different set of parameters they are dealing with and yours might just make it harder to complete things! That is a really shitty realization to come to but it is so necessary because if you keep pushing and pushing and pushing to “catch up,” you’re going to exhaust yourself in every sense of the word and never feel good enough. Take breaks. The world will still be here when you get back, and you’ll be better off because you haven’t let self-destruction win. So yes, celebrate the little accomplishments, and no, nothing is being “thrown away” or “erased” because you chose yourself and your mental health over getting caught up in a toxic cycle. 

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Thank you for all the love you've been giving me! I finished my French final and now it's time to study for Chem. I love chemistry more than I used to now that I've taken time to do notes. I found a cute little coffee shop near my house and I think I might go more often.

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Stop being so afraid to be confident. There’s actually a lot of great things about you. Don’t deny those things, embrace them. You’re beautiful and smart and kind and you need to stop punishing yourself for acknowledging it and trying to believe it.

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something I’ve been employing for years is having monthly goals instead of new year goals. I think it’s incredibly important to be mindful of whether new years resolutions actually work for you because personally, they’ve never worked for me. Setting such large goals over such a big time frame usually fail because of distractions or generally not know how to attack the massive goals! When setting goals I go by the acronym SMART

S -specific, eg. not I will do more pushups but I will be able to do 10 push ups in a row M- measurable, eg. not I will eat more plants but I will be weekday vegan for the next 10 weeks A- achievable, eg. not I will attempt the iron man marathon (when you haven’t done any training prior this year) but, I will attempt a 5k after running every morning for 15 weeks R- relevant, eg. not having 10 goals each be something different but having three goals that all relate in some way T- time bound, eg. not “I want to be able to run a 5k” but “in 10 weeks I want to be able to run a 5k”

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190704; my july spread 😊😊 things got busier at uni and my stress level is overflowing but somehow i managed to vent it all out through journaling which is really a good thing + playing Kyungsoo’s song on the background makes the atmosphere a lot better. also i’ve been into candles lately but im still thinking if i should get a scented one - because scents used to trigger my migraine a lot so idk 🤔😅 but i love vanilla or lavender yeah still idk 😅anyway, have a lovely july everyone 💛✨

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hi guys!! im mandy and im new to the studyblr community!! im from aus melb and ive got heaps of tips and notes to share! these r my bujo spread from this week and my accountin notes :’) feel free to msg me bcs id love to make some new friends

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inspired by study.mint on instagram :D 

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my current work space 🌟

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