Summer break offered students plenty of free time. Days were spent relaxing by the pool, watching movies, and hanging around friends and family. Now, as you head into a new school year, you inevitably find yourself lacking motivation.
If you find yourself struggling with your workload and school routine, especially in the first few weeks of school, you are not alone. While overcoming a lack of motivation and gaining back momentum is difficult, you'll naturally fall back into your routine. In the meantime, these tips are here to help!
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With returning to school comes reestablishing a routine. You'll find that planning your days for the week ahead of you provides you with a sense of control, and, in turn, motivation. Of course, you may find that picking up your school routine is harder than it may seem.
By easing gently into your new schedule and taking every day as it comes, getting back into your routine can be much easier. There is no shame in taking things slowly.
The routine you establish for yourself does not have to be too complicated. For example, it may consist of going to school, attending a sports practice, coming home, eating dinner, and then completing your homework. Although a simple task, planning the classes you have, the activities you have after school, the homework you need to complete, and any upcoming tests and quizzes can help you manage your time well.
2. Fight Procrastination
It is common to fall into bad habits at the beginning of the school year. Coming back from summer where you had weeks of not having to worry about assignments and tests, finding the motivation to stay on top of important tasks can be a struggle. Although you may feel inclined to procrastinate, it is important to understand that putting tasks off will get you nowhere.
Remind yourself that you will have to get the task done at hand at some point. By completing it now, you will be able to move on and lighten your workload.
3. Organization is Key
With a time-consuming and rigorous workload, the last thing you need to worry about is staying organized. Keeping papers and assignments organized in folders and binders will prevent you from wasting time. Even though ensuring you stay organized is a simple step, it is one that will encourage you to get your work done. You will find that you are more motivated to complete your work if you know where everything is.
4. Know That You Are Not Alone
Find comfort in the fact that feeling unmotivated at this time is normal and not unique to you. Countless students are experiencing the same feelings. Finding support from students in similar situations will make it so you are not forced to confront a lack of motivation alone. Study with friends or classmates and encourage each other to stay on top of your studies.
5. Prioritize Your Sleep
While getting back into your routine for the school year can be stressful, it is still important to get adequate sleep. You are most productive when you get a proper amount of sleep the night before. Sacrificing sleep to continue working on assignments will not help you in the long run. By fighting the urge to procrastinate and keeping up with assignments, sticking to a sleep schedule should not be difficult.
6. Remember the Big Picture
Summer break was fun, but the school year can also be rewarding. Remind yourself of your 'why.' In other words, remember why school is important to you and what you are excited about this year. For instance, returning to school brings you a big step closer to graduation.
Returning to school allows you to participate in courses and classes that interest and challenge you. Regardless of what keeps you going, find what motivates you and stick with it. Maybe weekly hangouts with your friends motivate you during the week. Or maybe a weekly family dinner is just what you need to look forward to!
7. Continue to Treat Yourself
Just because summer is over doesn't mean that you have to stop treating yourself. Although you have less leisure time on your hands, make time for yourself to relax and do the things you love. As you begin this new school year, keep in mind the importance of balance.
There is no need to sacrifice time for yourself and your mental well-being for your academics. A strong student is one that doesn't choose an assignment or test over themself.
Gaining back motivation for the school year is not an easy task. But, by maintaining balance and taking a step back when you need to, getting into your school routine doesn't have to be too difficult.
