6 Ways to Stay Motivated and Go Through College Like a Boss

Lack of motivation is one of the worst problems that can happen to a college student. Life is already though as it is – throw into the equation stress, too little sleep, group projects, extracurricular activities, complicated social relationships, and all other inevitable aspects of the student life and you quickly come to a point where it’s too easy to simply give up on everything and go with the flow.

Once you lose your grit it’s very hard to summon it back. Don’t let all these things bring you down. You have an entire life of opportunities and accomplishments waiting ahead of you and the only thing you need to get there is to find the North Star to light your path. Let’s see if we can help you along the way.

Change your attitudes instead of the outcomes

For instance, imagine you are late with the projects and try getting out of bed at 5 AM to finish it up. The process of waking up so early, though, means very little to you out of context and you will quickly burn through all the willpower that keeps you from hitting that snooze button. Instead, try focusing on the big picture and core values that brought you to college in the first place. Remind yourself of all the benefits you are getting and make your future profession a part of your identity. When you build these attitudes right into the core of your personality the steps to get to the finish line will come naturally.

Build a healthy routine

Brushing your teeth and paying attention to the traffic don’t require an extra effort to pull them off, right? Through endless repetition, they simply became habits you no longer pay attention to. Your goal should be to turn your studies into such a routine. So, do your best to stay on schedule, repeat the study sessions at the same time every day and anchor the new routine to an existing habit. Delaying gratification can prove to be of tremendous help. If you make math something you need to get over to play your favorite game, you will be more inclined to move it off the table as soon as possible.

Set SMART goals

If you are not familiar with the term, SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-constrained. The goal of these modifiers is to make your learning sessions focused and productive. Planning makes half a success so whenever you sit down to learn you need to be aware of what you want to accomplish, how, and at what time. Otherwise, you are running the danger of wasting time simply staring at a paper. The measurable and achievable nature of these SMART goals also gives you a great sense of progress and accomplishment which serves as an excellent motivation booster in its own right.

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Use made-ready student notes

The main goal here is to make your new routine as streamlined as possible so you can develop a habit out of it with the least possible amount of effort. Fortunately, we are living in a digital age so you can easily get access to thousands of past WSU notes and similar resources. The fact you don’t need to prepare this study material on your own and waste time and effort on it makes learning simpler and more fun. Also, made-ready notes make the material far more approachable and attainable since someone has already gone through it and done it successfully. There’s no reason why you wouldn’t as well.

Stay focused and eliminate distractions

First and foremost, make sure you eat healthy food, get enough rest, and preferably engage in some sort of workout. All these help your brain perform at optimal efficiency. When you finally get down to business, turn off the notifications, put your cellphone in the drawer, split the material into smaller chunks, and cut distractions until you finish one of these tasks. This strategy will create an almost game-like experience that will keep you going even when the subject matter is not the most engaging. Of course, the room where you are going to study needs to be bright, clean, clutter-free, and quiet.

Find a way to reward yourself for hard work

Last but not least, the carrot and the stick don’t really work without a carrot. If you want to stay highly motivated throughout your studies, you need to find a way to enjoy small pleasures amongst the numerous hardships you will have to endure. So, find a way to reward yourself for every accomplishment along the way. Every successful lesion should go hand in hand with an episode of your favorite TV show. Throw a party whenever you pass an exam. Go on travel when you clear the semester. As long as these perks are saved for when the job is done, you will have a great reward system that will keep you coming for more.

Wrapping up

We hope these few tips give you some general directions about the ways you can keep your studies on track and eventually achieve your long-term career goals. Staying motivated is incredibly hard. But, this extra ounce of grit, this will to go outside for a run even when it rains is what sets the foundations for success. We gave you a couple of methods for finding that inner drive. Now, it’s time to take matters into your own hands.