How To Get And Stay Motivated To Study: Key To Success

The question of how to get motivated to study for long hours overwhelms and haunts students.

This blog will help if you are looking for ways to stay motivated and learn for a very long time! Here are the tips to motivate you to study at home before exams without getting demotivated.

1. Have A Study Schedule

Random and chaotic study materials, test schedules, assignments, deadlines, homework, etc., must be clarified. Unorganised students start believing they can never sort out the academic clutter in their heads. 

This perceived difficulty regarding the organisation and the impossibility of success leads to a lack of Motivation to study. Not knowing when and where to start, the student gives up learning entirely.

Students must overcome the hurdle that hinders their Motivation with proper organisation. They must maintain a structured and formal journal that contains an academic schedule. In this journal, they can jot down their daily, weekly, and monthly goals. 

They will also have to pen down their tasks to achieve this goal. If done systematically, a study schedule comes in handy when assignments and tests start piling up, and students need help knowing where to start.

2. Think ‘Why’ You Want To Study

All tips and tactics to stay motivated will be useless if you do not have a strong reason you would want to study, Vis-à-vis your goal. Understanding why you want to learn is one of the best ways to stay motivated. 

You can try to foresee what benefits studying can get you in the future, or you can remind yourself of experiences from the past where studying has helped you. In this way, you will be motivated to study in the present.

Come back to your journal and write down the three primary reasons you want to study this course. Remind yourself that studying that particular course was always a choice. For example, if you have decided to take up a Psychology course, three reasons you would want to learn it could be:

• You find it interesting.

• You want to become a psychologist in the future.

• It will help you understand the people around you better.

Then list down some integral values that make you who you are and regularly glance at them to never forget your core beliefs. For example, your value could be that you are a hard-working student. When you aren’t studying or lazy, this value directly conflicts with your actions and motivates you further.

Picture your ideal future life and then think about what you would be required to do in the present to achieve it. For example, you could aspire to be a doctor, live in a well-equipped house, and be satisfied with life while serving humanity through your skills. 

To fulfil this aspiration, you must earn a medical degree for which you must study for university examinations.

3. Be Informed About Motivation

To keep yourself motivated and make motivation work for you, you need to know the different types of Motivation and understand their mechanisms.

There are two different types of Motivation:

• Positive Motivation – Positive Motivation refers to the kind of Motivation that focuses on the positive consequences of doing something. For example, “I will learn something new if I study today.”

• Negative Motivation – Negative Motivation refers to the kind of Motivation that focuses on the negative outcome of not doing the studying. “I will score low and disappoint my teachers if I do not study.”

People use different types of motivation methods at various intensities. Motivating yourself is always better since it gives you a sense of control and hope. It also excites you about the positive future; hence, you are more likely to study when you have used a positive motivator.

On the other hand, negative Motivation can make you feel insecure and helpless. You would then be studying to avoid something negative and not for the true essence of learning that could otherwise intrigue you.

4. Remember To Take Frequent Breaks

Studying for long hours can be tiring both physically and mentally. While staying motivated to study for a long time helps keep you consistent and focused, taking breaks is equally important. You must have noticed there is always a 10-minute break between your respective classes and lectures. 

Here are some of the benefits of taking a break:

• It allows your brain to sink in all the various kinds of information.

• It puts a gap between consuming different topics and chapters so that you remember the old chapters easily.

• Sitting for long hours can be painful for the body. Taking a break helps you to stretch your arms and legs.

• It will give a break to your eyes as well. Looking at and concentrating on books or your laptops can be very stressful for your eyes. Give your eyes a break sometimes.

You can take a walk or go outside to get some fresh air. If you do not feel like going out, you can lie down and close your eyes. Power naps can be beneficial when you are completing your syllabus. Students who take breaks between studying retain the information better than those who refuse to.

5. Do One Thing At A Time

It might feel overwhelming when there is much to study and chapters to cover. You may feel like studying more than one chapter at a time to finish them faster. But, this method needs to be revised.

When you try to do two things simultaneously, your concentration will be all over the floor. You need to bring your attention to one particular thing. So, when you have a lot of chapters to cover, start with the one you feel is the most complex and prolonged. 

Take one step at a time. Complete one chapter and then move on to the other one. This will help you stay motivated to move towards the next chapter and finish properly.

The best way to do this is to write down the chapters you want to complete in one place. Draw small boxes next to the chapters. When you finish the respective chapters, put a tick mark next to them. This method is highly effective for staying motivated to study for a long time.

6. Keep Your Study Area Clean

This method may seem vague and unnecessary, but it is one of the most influential and essential ways to stay motivated. When you keep your surroundings clean, your mind does not get distracted and will remain focused for a long time. Do not keep anything near you that is not required to study.

Keep a dustbin nearby. You may need to throw pieces of paper or pencil sharpenings while you study. Instead of throwing it on the floor or anywhere else, keep a dustbin near you so you can throw it there.

If you need other things to increase your concentration, you may place them nearby. Things like incense sticks, candles, and mood lighting help a lot.

If you are studying on your laptop, do not keep any other tabs open that you might not need. Keep only those tabs open that will be relevant to your subject. Turn on the focus mode on your laptop and mobile phone. This way, you will not be distracted by any messages or notifications from the various applications.

7. Try The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique is a very famous and old technique for staying motivated to study. When the exams approach, students start to get anxious and look for ways to stay motivated to study at home.

The Pomodoro technique is widespread to keep motivated and focused for a long time. This is how it works:

• Twenty-five minutes of continuous study.

• Break time of a maximum of 10 minutes.

• Continue this process for an hour.

• Increase the break time by 5 minutes. 

You are not obliged to study according to this particular time frame. You can do moderation to this time frame. For example, you might sometimes need a longer break or feel the urge to study for one hour straight. Modify your break time and study time according to your preference.

Do not watch videos or movies while you take a break. You may never know when that five-minute break will turn into a two hours break!

Even if you get reminded that you need to study, it becomes tough to bounce back to study and leave the entertainment behind. It is better to shut your eyes than take a 10-minute walk in your backyard or room.

8. Reward Yourself

Who does not like the reward of hard work? More than taking frequent breaks is required. Come up with a way in which you can reward yourself. For instance, you can eat one candy after you have completed a long chapter.

Or you can finish one small episode of your favourite series once you have completed all the chapters on your checklist.

If you want to enjoy the fruit of your hard work, choose a reward you can look forward to. If your reward is a phone call with your best friend, ask your parents to keep your phone as long as you complete your chapter.

After this, ask your parents to hand over the phone to you. That way, you can look forward to it and stay focused to complete your chapter faster.

9. On A Concluding Note

The current pandemic has changed a lot of things, and the entire education system has been affected the most. Transitioning from offline to online classes has taken a toll on teachers and students. Keeping your eyes glued to the screen for a long time is challenging.

The above points will help you stay motivated to study for a long time! All the best!

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