Your college years can be fun and exciting, but when it is time to work on and complete schoolwork, most students do not really jump at the opportunity. Doing homework can be boring after a while, and most students tend to get on their phones and use social media or watch Netflix instead. While tempting, it is not the best idea when you need to finish something. Here are some tips to get you motivated to do your homework and study for those big tests.
1. Listen to music while you work.
Listening to music is a great way to get you focused and help you complete tasks. Everyone listens to different genres of music when they have to study or do homework, and some prefer to just sit in a work space with no music playing. When you can't find good music to listen to while you work, or if you want to listen to something different, try looking at study/focus playlists on music platforms such as Spotify, AppleMusic and Pandora Internet Radio.
2. Establish a homework schedule.
Even if you are not a super-organized person, planning out what you are going to work on at what time actually helps you get your homework done. It also helps you keep track of when each assignment is due and prevents you from forgetting about an assignment or remembering it at the very last minute. You can write your schedule out in a planner, on post-it notes, a whiteboard, your phone's calendar or a scheduling app. It is super easy and extremely helpful!
3. Set goals.
Tell yourself you are going to complete a certain number of assignments or make flashcards in a specific amount of time. You could even make a checklist of the goals you want to accomplish to make it even more satisfactory when you finish each goal.
4. Establish rewards.
Another way to get motivated to finish tasks is to find and create a reward system that will make you want to do schoolwork. Tell yourself that if you read two chapters, you are allowed to spend the following 20 minutes on social media or watching TV. A tasty tactic could be putting your favorite candy across your textbook pages and telling yourself that when you read past each candy, you can eat it. There are countless reward systems you can use when doing homework, you just have to find the most effective one that will cause you to want to do your schoolwork.
5. Get support from friends or family.
Sometimes the best motivator is getting positive support from loved ones. Call or text them and tell them how you want to get motivated to work on your schoolwork, but need a pep talk or positive feedback from them. I am sure they would be more than happy to do so if it will actually get you driven to do your work.
6. Form a study group.
Do you ever get confused by something your professor said in class or on a topic that will be on an upcoming test, and do not want to ask your professor about it? See if anyone in the class would like to get a study group going; sometimes having classmates around you studying will encourage you to stay focused as well.
7. Do not procrastinate.
Kind of self-explanatory. Just try to avoid it at all costs.
8. If you end up thinking about ways to procrastinate, think about why you are attending college.
You are on the verge of procrastinating -- you just do not feel like working on your assignments. It happens, I get it (and for some it happens way too often). When you are at this stage, try and think about why you are at college. Why is it important for you to go to and graduate from college? Thinking about that kind of stuff will get you motivated to complete your tasks because you are in college for a reason, and that reason is probably fairly unique. But remember that you're not at college to just have fun.
9. Put inspirational quotes or notes up around the area where you do homework.
Having constant motivational quotes visible around the areas you walk by every day will help put a smile on your face, as well as get you in the mood to do well in your classes.
10. Learn to say no to distractions that will disturb you from getting your work done.
Let's say your roommates want to go get food or go shopping and ask you to come along while you are sitting down to work on an assignment. While it may seem very tempting to just leave your work behind, sometimes the shopping can wait until you get your work done.
11. Put your cell phone away.
Put away anything you are prone to use that distracts you from your responsibilities. Putting your cell phone (or something of that sort) in another room or far away from you will force you to get your work done.
12. Stay positive.
I know there are several times throughout the semester where we all get really stressed and think about dropping out (midterms and finals week), but please try to have a good attitude when it comes to school. Instead of saying you want to drop out, tell yourself you are going to try your hardest to study and prepare for your tests and do the best you can.
13. Take care of yourself.
The most important thing that you need to make your top priority is you. Make sure you are getting enough sleep, eating throughout the day and simply living a happy, healthy life. If you can't remember the last time you got any sleep or ate, you need to make sure that is done or you won't feel like yourself.
