If you’re on a quarter system, it's easy to lose motivation as months and midterms pass. We are now in our 8th or 9th week of school, and it is sometimes hard to still be motivated to study for finals, especially after thanksgiving break. Here are some tips to get motivated before finals week starts!
1. Plan Future Events
Although finals week is pretty short, it can feel like an eternity. It's hard to know where to start with studying, especially if finals are all clumped within a day or two. That being said, planning future events can help motivate you to get down to work towards the date of your event! Plan something that is fun; something that is exciting and worth working hard for! For me, that is spending a day in San Francisco with my friends, getting hot cocoa or going ice skating.
2. Having a Stress Free Holiday Season
Wouldn't you like to spend the holidays not feeling stressed out? The holiday season is about getting together with your loved ones, finding time to relax and have fun...not to stress about school! Something that can prevent that could be trying your best during finals week. This will ensure that you worked hard, hopefully get the grade you want and will lessen the anxiety that might come about if you hadn't studied or worked hard as much.
3. Think About the Future You
What do you see yourself doing in 5 years? 10 years? Now ask yourself; do you need decent grades to get to that point? I'm a firm believer that you are not your grades, and that one test grade doesn't determine your future. However, doing well in classes can make it a whole lot easier to reach your future goals compared to performing poorly. Write out a map of what you see yourself doing in the next 3 or 5 years, and use that as motivation to do well in the now.
4. Satisfaction of Hard Work
Hard work can be really satisfying. Have you ever procrastinated and felt really bad or guilty afterwards? On the other hand, have you ever put in a lot of work on an assignment and felt really accomplished? Working hard on something, following by hopefully a successful outcome, is a pretty great feeling. To avoid feeling sad or having feelings of regret during your Christmas break, try to mitigate that negativity by working hard.
5. Helping Others
By working hard during finals week, it can really motivate others around you to do the same. Not only work hard, but try to keep a positive attitude. This can be hard because finals can increase anxiety, stress, anger and sadness, but being that one person with positivity can really effect those around you. By helping others in that way, it can also effect your own happiness, making you genuinely happy as well. You can also offer help or support during finals week with those having troubles focusing or staying calm. In the end, not only will you most likely do better on your tests, but you will be happy that you were able to help others, too.
So have a great Thanksgiving break and come back motivated, positive and ready to conquer finals week!
