It’s not easy to remain motivated all the time. There are days when we don’t want to get out of bed. Days when we can’t bring ourselves to start writing that essay. There are days when we just can’t be bothered. Everyone has these days of feeling unmotivated. Even the most driven, hard-working, successful people have these days.
Now, while it would be ideal to just give ourselves the day off, which is definitely recommended, sometimes this isn’t the case. Sometimes you’ll have an assignment that you STILL haven’t done, due for the next day, and sometimes you’ll have a test tomorrow morning, that you urgently need to prepare for.
Motivation is especially scarce during exam season – the overwhelming feeling of studying and exams can be a bit too much.
With feeling tired and bored and just completely unmotivated, you really just want to go to sleep for a good 12 hours. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there! But sometimes you just have to get on with it.
You’ve probably arrived at this blog post because you’re looking for advice on how to get your life together when you just can’t be bothered. I’ve got you covered. Here are my top tips on how to get rid of procrastination and study when feeling unmotivated:
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1. Eliminate your distractions.
When unmotivated, we often turn to procrastination instead of doing our work. It’s super easy to pick up your phone to check your notifications for a split second, only to spend hours mindlessly scrolling through social media!
It’s VERY common to get distracted more than usual in an unmotivated mood. This is completely normal, but if you actually want to get things done, your best chance at this is by eliminating your distractions.
When you’re about to start studying, turn off your phone and remove it from your study area – next time you reach for your phone, you’ll realise that it’s not even there! You’ll find that hushing the online world and turning off that bright screen is a good reminder to get back to your studying and stay focused.
2. Write a SMALL to-do list.
Making a to-do list is essentially setting yourself mini-goals – it lays out everything you need to do and gives you a burst of motivation to get them done!
Take out your assignment planner and think about which of the tasks you must complete first. Then break these tasks down and prioritise them into a small list, with the most important one as number one.
Make sure that the to-do list is small and concise, because large lists with a ton of things on them can make you feel very overwhelmed and frustrated at the giant workload, which would not help your studying at all. Instead, stick to no more than five items, and focus on completing those first.
>> RELATED POST: 5 Easy Ways To Improve Your Study Habits
3. Change up your study environment.
Maybe a change of scenery will help you feel more motivated! Being glued to that mundane study space with nothing more than a wall and a small window in front of you can make you feel discouraged from your studies, so perhaps taking your books and pens someplace new, such as your kitchen table, or your living room, or even your local library, will help brighten up your mindset and encourage you to study.
4. Create a routine…
…and stick to it! Having a bit of structure to your day can go a long way!
Try creating a timetable of how you ‘intend’ the day to go – you don’t need to do everything at the exact time written down, but use it as a flexible backbone to your study sessions throughout the day. With a timetable, you can plan what you study and when, and leave the rest of the time for other activities!
5. Develop a fun way of learning.
It’s one thing to get your textbooks out and blanky copy the sentences out from them, one by one, and onto your paper; it’s another thing to actually have fun!
Let’s face it, reading your textbooks from cover to cover isn’t fun – no wonder you weren’t looking forward to studying. By developing fun learning methods and exercises to keep you engaged with your studies, you’ll actually start to feel motivated enough to keep going.
Fun ways of learning could include learning together with a friend, or trying out some online science experiments simulators (if you’re studying a science subject that is).
You could try some active recall learning methods instead of the dull passive ones, such as using flashcards, or you could teach what your learning to another family member. Anything to keep you back on track with what you’re studying!
The best way of learning anything is by doing. Share on X
6. Use the Pomodoro Technique.
The Pomodoro Technique is the best time-management technique to keep you focused and manage your studying, and I use it all the time!
It transforms time from being the enemy that you were racing against to complete your assignment on time, into an ally that can help you to achieve your goals.
I truly love using the Pomodoro Technique as it improves my motivation through the manageable periods of time to study, along with the breaks that can help to redirect my focus and turn my mindset into a fresher learning perspective. I highly recommend trying out the amazing Pomodoro Technique and start seeing results in the way you study!
>> RELATED POST: What Is The Pomodoro Technique?
7. Reward your hard work.
So you’ve managed to pull yourself out of bed and do some work – that must’ve been a lot of effort and it calls for a hard-earned reward!
It doesn’t have to anything extravagant, just something to keep you going and your motivation levels up. Your reward can be anything from your favourite snack to an evening with Netflix and a bucket of popcorn.
Little incentives like this can help you appreciate the hard work you did and motivate you to keep up the good work!
8. Take frequent breaks.
When you’re feeling unmotivated, working for long periods of time isn’t ideal – you’ll start to feel tired and frustrated easily, and you’ll approach your revision with a negative mindset.
This is why taking more breaks than usual is important, in order to rest your mind and process what you just learnt. It’s very easy to feel the need to give up, so by taking a few breaks, you can redirect your focus and return to your work with a fresh perspective!
>> RELATED POST: 13 Tips on How To Study Smarter, Not Harder
9. Stay hydrated.
Hydration is one of the best ways to stay healthy when studying. Long periods of dehydration can cause tiredness and exhaustion, which is detrimental to your health, let alone your study, and you won’t focus as well.
To make the most of your study sessions, even when unmotivated, keep a bottle of water or any other drink nearby, and drink it regularly to stay on top of your hydration A-game!
10. Remind yourself of your goals.
Don’t give up. We all feel unmotivated sometimes and while it would be ideal to just take the day off, you also need to remind yourself why you’re studying and what you want to achieve, for both the long-term and the short-term.
Is it a particular grade that you’re working towards, or is it a university that you’ve got your eye on? Or perhaps you just want to make yourself and your family proud.
Use these goals to motivate yourself to keep going – you may not want to study right now, but in the future, it will all be worth it!
Your Takeaway…
I get it. Like any other person, I have days when I just want to flop on my bed and sleep all day long. However, like any other person, I have responsibilities and things to get done.
Staying motivated 24/7 is not a possible task. But hopefully, these tips will help you lift your chin up for the day and get back on track with your tasks. To quickly recap:
- Eliminate your distractions.
- Write a SMALL to-do list.
- Change up your study environment.
- Create a routine and stick to it.
- Develop a fun way of learning.
- Use the Pomodoro Technique.
- Reward your hard work.
- Take frequent breaks.
- Stay hydrated.
- Remind yourself of your goals.
The key to success is to focus on the goals, not the obstacles.
Just in case you forgot, you’re a girl boss (or boy boss) and this small obstacle of you feeling unmotivated, is temporary – you can get through it.
If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy some of these posts too!:
- “Study Smarter, Not Harder”: 13 Tips On How To Study Effectively
- What Is The Pomodoro Technique?
- 5 Easy Ways To Improve Your Study Habits
If you have any comments, questions or contributions, please feel free to comment them down below! I’m always checking and responding to comments!
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