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How to Overcome Lack of Motivation in School

Motivation is an important part of day to day engagements for every class and group of people. Be it academics, business, religious, secular, political or otherwise, people thrive on motivation.  It’s like what fuel is to a vehicle, if it’s not there, motion and progress will be hampered, but when it’s there, it becomes easy to move on. There are different things that can induce motivation, even for a student, but maintaining and sustaining motivation even when there seem to be no reason for it is more important. The reason you need to be able to sustain motivation is because it won’t be automatic everyday but work, class, study and other day to day tasks have to continue whether you feel like it or not, so how do you manage your mind to get yourself motivated even when you are short of it? How can you still get yourself up from the bed to attend optimally and confidently to the day’s work – attend class, have a productive study time, interact actively with people and do everything as expected with good energy and enthusiasm. Below are some good methods you can apply to keep you motivated as a student.

Set Periodic Goals

Goals have a way of making us feel like we are pursuing something worthwhile. One thing that can sap motivation and make a person look lazy and weak is when there is no specific direction to concert effort. Once you are able to nail a particular target for the day, your mind begins to go in that direction, and you begin to precisely direct your efforts to get that goal achieved. Try to set SMART goals, goals that are specific, that is, not a vague goal but make it so precise to a particular thing; goals that are measurable, that is, a kind of goal you can monitor periodically to know how far you have gone in achieving it; goals that are attainable, that is your goal should be not be higher than what you can reach for and achieve with available resources and time, the very fact that you make your goal an attainable and realistic goal can motivate you to go after it, not just setting an elusive target; goals that are relevant, that is, set a goal that has a significant connection and value in regards to the important things in your life, especially your academics as a student, it will further make you to go after it because you know it will add value to you; goals that are time-based, this implies that your goal should have a deadline, having a dead line is another factor that can push you to have the motivation needed to go after your set target.

Feed Your Mind

Just like the physical body needs food to convert into energy for you to keep going, your mind also needs some kind of mind food to create motivational energy for you to attend optimally to your daily tasks. You should have a way of reading write ups or books that can keep you motivated about your academic and life goals, books that will stir your mind up and help you reset in areas where you are probably thinking of giving up. What you read can go a long way in structuring your frame of mind such that when you even face some challenges that should drown your motivation, you can easily pick yourself up and keep going again. Avoid write ups that can sap your motivation, don’t  read things that can make you feel more depressed, lazy and unmotivated, don’t focus on things that may encourage inaction, rather feed your mind with what can make it fly above the limitations around you.

Remind Yourself of Your ‘Why?’

Except you were forced into school, you should have your strong reason for being in school. Even if you didn’t have at the initial stage, at college level you should have found one for yourself. It is very important that you have a strong ‘why’ for being in school and taking the course you are studying. It is your strong why that can keep you going on days when you just feel like quitting. Simply ask yourself why you decided to start the university/college journey in the first place. If you have a strong reason, take advantage of that to motivate yourself to move on when you need to, regardless of how you feel at such times.

Consider the Result/Reward

When your motivation seems so down and you feel like relaxing your efforts or quitting, remind yourself of the reward of completing whatever it is that you are unmotivated about. Let the result be your motivation. Probably the honour involved, the prestige, the money, the awards and the likes, the kind of life you’ll be able to afford, consider those things in your mind until you feel motivated again.

Be Amidst Motivated Friends

Don’t be a lone ranger, being a lone ranger will mean that anytime you feel unmotivated and unwilling to study, attend class, work or attend to assignments, you likely won’t. It means there is no one to stir you up and motivate you at such times. As a student, endeavour to have as your acquaintances or friends’ students who are academically motivated, not those who don’t care about having A’s. Having such students as friends will be helpful to you in periods when your motivation tank is empty. Maybe a little word of encouragement or a frank discussion will set you up on your feet again.

Take Breaks

If you discover that you need to revamp and reignite your motivation, maybe you’re feeling too overwhelmed by the pressure of the workload and it seems so much and impossible to attend to, then you might considering taking a necessary break, maybe to go have fun, do things you love and enjoy or travel. Travelling home for a short while and returning could give you some time to refresh yourself and feel better, ready to work. Doing things you love and enjoy as a form of relaxation could also serve as a way of refreshing yourself.

Do Not Compare Yourself

Always comparing yourself with others who you consider far better can make you feel you are making little or no significant progress at all. To measure your success, measure it by how you have improved, how today you are a better student and person than you were yesterday. Putting your focus on your improvement can encourage you to keep making effort and when you notice you are not where you used to be, you are more motivated to put in more effort.

Use Good Quotes

Quotes can be a good way of conditioning your mind and motivating yourself for the day. You can search out for quotes that inspire, motivate or push you to move on. For example this is a quote from Regina Brett – ‘No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up’. Motivation goes just beyond an automatic feeling of readiness to do something, there will be times when you will have to be deliberate about motivating yourself.