Staying motivated throughout the school year is an incredibly difficult process for many students all across the world. Despite the difficulties, today I'm going to be sharing eight tips on how to stay motivated throughout the entire school year. From setting attainable goals to creating a healthy workplace, these are the best secrets to staying motivated this school year!
1. Set Attainable Goals
Setting attainable goals is one of the most important when it comes to staying motivated. When it comes to goal-setting, there are a few points you want to put into perspective to ensure all your goals can be met.
Firstly, visualize your future; ideally, imagine where you would like to see yourself at the end of the school semester. Are you aiming to finish with all As? Do you want 90% or higher on every math exam?
Do you have to receive a 3.5 GPA or higher? These are all questions you must put into thought before not only determining what goals are, but also how you are going to achieve them.
After reflecting on what goals you would like to set, you need to make sure they meet 5 certain factors: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time Limited. When it comes to setting specific goals, it is essential you write down your goals in full detail. For example, rather than writing down "I'm going to study every day," write down "I'm going to study for two hours every day" or however long you would like to spend studying.
Next, make sure the goal is measurable. By making a goal measurable, you are making it more quantifiable, such as "I'm going to study for 2 hours every day so I get a 95% on my Biology Final." Regarding attainable and realistic, you must always reflect on whether you can realistically achieve your desired goal. And finally, build in specific deadlines for your goals!
2. Acknowledge your Accomplishments
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE acknowledge all your accomplishments! From my personal experience, self-care is an essential step in my daily routine, which also allows me to stay motivated throughout the entire school year. With that being said, it is essential to acknowledge your accomplishments as a form of self-care for your own mental well-being.
Whether you do it daily, weekly, or monthly, spend some time writing down everything you have done in the given time that you are proud of (in and outside of school). By practicing this form of gratitude, you are able to appreciate all you have accomplished, and allow yourself to form new goals so you can achieve even more!
3. Find Balance
Finding balance is by far the most important factor when it comes to staying motivated throughout the school year. When focusing solely on academics, rather than prioritizing a combination of school, hobbies, relationships, and more, you are bound to face a decline in performance.
As time goes on, not only are you going to get overwhelmed, but you are going to get burnt out, leading to absolutely no motivation when it comes to academics. With that being said, ensure you allow yourself breaks in between your studying and find days where you can spend anywhere from a few hours or the entire day focusing on things you love to give yourself some time away from your studies!
4. Create a Healthy Workspace
Personally, I believe creating a healthy workspace is the reason why all of my study sessions turn out to be effective. By studying in a clean and clutter-free environment, you are less likely to get distracted, allowing you to improve your productivity and focus. When working towards having a healthy study space, ensure you have good lighting, organizational tools, as well as a clean desk with little to no objects that may lead you to lose focus.
Studying outside your home is also a wonderful way to maintain a healthy workspace. If interested, I recommend switching up your study location here and there if you would like to study at a local coffee shop, library, park, etc.
5. Start a Calendar
Using a calendar or planner all year round is something that I recommend to absolutely everyone. By using one of two items, you are able to schedule your study dates and times around any upcoming quizzes or exams. By creating this schedule, you are also able to keep track of due dates as well as be able to find open time slots in your schedule for more study sessions or time to focus on self-care and extracurricular activities. Maintaining balance is vital.
6. Use Various Study Methods
When aiming to have productive study sessions, it is essential to stay as motivated as possible. This can be difficult as constant studying may get boring and overwhelming, which is why I highly recommend using various study methods. Whether you simply study by writing notes, making flashcards, watching educational videos, or doing additional courses through websites such as Khan Academy, finding balance in your study routine is so important!
By using different methods, you can have a little more fun with your studying and are less likely to get bored as frequently due to the repetitiveness of studying relatively similar materials with the same method over and over again.
7. Find a Study Group
As mentioned previously, unless the variation is found within your studies, it most likely is going to get quite boring and repetitive as you are studying the same content on a daily basis. This is why I recommend finding a study buddy or study group, to enhance your motivation and productivity. By having a study buddy, you are easily able to help and learn from one another when you are finding difficulty with a specific topic. Having a study companion is also a wonderful way for you to test where your weaknesses and strengths are, as you can quiz one another on the given content!
8. Remind yourself it's Okay to not Always Feel Motivated
My final piece of advice when it comes to staying motivated throughout the school year is to remind yourself: it's okay to not always feel motivated. Now you're probably wondering, "Why did I just read through 7 motivational tips to be told it's okay to not always feel motivated?" And the answer to that is, motivation isn't the thing that is going to get you through the school year; discipline is.
Though you may naturally feel motivated a majority of the time, there are going to be days where you simply have no motivation to go to school, take notes, study, and partake in any other tasks you may have for the day. And that is okay. At the end of the day, discipline is what is going to help you excel rather than motivation.
As you begin to discipline yourself over time, you are going to consistently stick by your study schedule whether you are feeling motivated or not. But as a reminder, on the days you are pushing yourself too hard: make sure to take breaks. Make sure you take care of yourself a little extra, allowing yourself to come back motivated the next day!
And just like that, we have officially recapped 8 of the best secrets to staying motivated this school year. As the current semester comes to an end, try incorporating these tips as much as possible into your study routine to benefit you throughout the semesters to come. I hope you find these tips useful as they allow you to reach the best academic version of yourself!
