Throughout every college student’s life, there reaches multiple points of saturation. College becomes a task and the novelty of writing assignments has long since passed. Difficult as these points may be and as much as you may want to defer for a year, take a breath and see what you can do to re-motivate yourself.
Semester 2 is a natural and understandable and you are definitely not alone in this so I will share some of the things I use during the year to keep myself focussed all year round….
Keep Notes Short and Sweet
While it can be difficult to focus, making notes short and sweet at the time lectures are occurring makes revision after so much easier. Instead of trailing through endless slides which would fry any persons brain, short notes remind and refresh theories that you already have the foundations for. For myself, I personally find that highlighting key words only really sparks my memory on topics which means I don’t have to consistently keep reading the same 200 slides on Brightspace over and over.
Use Colourful Equipment
It may sound funny, but I always find that if I have aesthetic and colourful equipment makes me motivated to study and maintain notes! As weird as this may sound, if you’re un-motivated I’d encourage you to give it a go. This trick also making headings, subheadings more defined. For all you visual learners out there, this technique should be marked in the books and definitely used this semester.
Gratitude Lists
I recommend gratitude lists because usually when we become unmotivated, we feel unhappy in a situation which causes us to no longer want to push ourselves. Gratitude lists are a daily reminder of everything that you have good in your life and everything good you have going for yourself. On a bad day they highlight everything that you have to be thankful for in your life. This can help when you’re feeling a bit blue to see that things always as bad as they may first seem on the surface.
Plus remember if you can’t be motivated to do something for yourself, I can almost guarantee that you will find someone on your gratitude list to be motivated for instead!
I love these lists as they really push me back on track when I’m falling of the mark!
Start a Sport
Feeling good in yourself is a very motivating and empowering sensation! Often times a sluggish, inactive lifestyle leads to unmotivated students and also a complete inability to focus. I don’t knw if you’ve ever been told before but ‘humans were made to move! We are not meant to be stationary’. As a race we were made to move so do NOT deny the body what it needs. Start walking or join a gym or club. The social aspect of sport and activity is another plus side!
(I promise that even if you ‘hate’ exercise, there is something out there for you! All you have to do is search for it.)
Stop Using the Phone
After a day of college, the majority of us head home and sit using technology for the evening. While the feeling of tiredness and longing to curl up in ball on the sofa with your phone is strong, don’t do it! Remember that annoying line that lecturers give every year ‘the same study hours should be done at home as in college’, well maybe it’s true…
Instead of turning on phones and laptops for social media, stop wasting time and power your way through an hour of study. This time will stand to you when it comes to last minute studying. After this you can reward yourself with your social media time and catch up with friends and the newest episodes of Love Island.
Remember that the world will NOT stop turning if you decide to turn your phones off for an hour or two after college! I know for sure though the exam results that will show in the end will be sure to keep you motivated and driven.
