I've kind of become a queen at procrastinating ; I love my field of study, but I always find reasons not to study... Moreover, I only have finals, so it's easy to "forget" I'll have exams...
Do you guys have any advice on how to find the motivation to do stuff (either it's studying or not) ? As years pass, I find my motivation constantly decreasing. I'm kind of tired of going to university and study, I'm eager to have a job I like and be able to do nothing at night (and not feel guilty about it !).
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@(you need an account to see links) I suppose it's just a lot of experience. I went to college after secondary school and so finished when I was nearly 18. I have just went back to University this year. I think I find it easier to just turn everything off and allocate a certain amount of time to doin JUST work. I have a one year old son so have to do most things when he is in bed. 3 days in University a week and 2 days in a hospital in placement :\
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I leave post-its on things I'll do/use instead of studying. I have a post-it on my xbox and laptop saying 'did you study yet?' just as a little reminder. Since I'm in high school and I take multiple tests a week, I'll leave my worst grades by my xbox or on my desk so that I'll see them and be more motivated to study and do better next time.
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If I try and do an essay whilst having personal tabs open, I browse and procrastinate. 6-8pm is my main time but I do bits at random times. Give yourself a 10-20 minute break every so often
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In my opinion, the 2 most motivating trains of thought to get me doing stuff are:
1. Failure builds on failure. (procrastination)
2. Success rides on success. (forward thinking)
I used to mostly rely on #1 and it got shit done, but it is a negative way of thinking in retrospect; bad for the task at hand, and bad for yourself. #1 can't even be a possibility if you don't let things get to that point and think of #2 instead.
Have you worked full-time in a job related to your degree or prospective career, or gained any experience of the sort? I just coasted through my 1st 3 years of Uni, believing I was good for $$$ as soon as I graduated; I took a year off between studies to take a break and dip into my career's job market. I realized in that time that unless you know someone with a good job hookup, getting a decent job with a degree (even Masters/PhDs) is a struggle. The only exception is if you graduate with honors with a lot of co-op/student work experience and professor references, these students already have a good base to network on.
I said the above ^, because it was when I switched from motivating factor #1 to #2; to study hard(er) and early so I would be more ready for tests/assignments to get better grades. Less stress for me, greater odds of success, and better for me in the long run. You can say my job experience really got me motivated to get back to school, seeing as the reality of the current job market is pretty dim, even dimmer if you sucked at school.
#1 was stressful and almost always pre-empted poorer grades than proper preparation (#2). Procrastination and the thinking of "absolute must-dos, or else...(failure)" is never better than Preparation and the thinking of "should do, so I can...(succeed)". Just take it easy and pace yourself ahead of time, because productivity and success rides on itself.
You only have a few years in your life to college/uni (without going back and wasting more time+money), then the next 20-40 will be working until retirement; might as well push hard while you still can in this limited window of time.
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