By Mike Vlaanderen
If you’re like me at all, your “to-do” list is probably chockful of everything life feels like throwing at you. Trying to juggle schoolwork on top of actual work on top of social life on top of your hobbies on top of family matters on top of literally everything else on God’s green earth. It’s endless. Finally, you manage to finish one task before five new ones are immediately piled on. Now, you’re struggling even to find the motivation to get stuff done, and god-forbid it’s something that takes a while because now you’re constantly juggling all sorts of things at the exact same time. Before long, you just shut down. Suddenly, your grades drop, you ignore all your friends, and that person you were “talking” to just a little bit ago is now posting Valentine’s Day stories with someone that’s not you. Bummer!
Well, the good news is, it’s not just you. Almost all of us deal with these feelings of being overwhelmed as we are forced into the wringer of academia day after day. It’s not easy to keep up with everything on your plate and some days all you want to do is just curl up in bed all day and watch Family Guy TikToks until your eyes sting. Fret not, however, as here are some tips that might help you get some stuff done and feel just a bit less whelmed than you do currently.
1. Don’t feel guilty about getting rest or being unproductive.
There is no greater way to kill your motivation than with negative reinforcement. How many times have you called yourself “lazy” or something similar for not keeping up with everything all of the time? How did it make you feel? Probably worse, I know I do. Many of us have a bad habit of just being mean to ourselves. We become our own punching bags, constantly insulting and belittling our brains because we can. Usually, it’s out of a place of guilt where we feel we could be doing more and punish ourselves for not. That’s not helpful at all, in fact, nothing kills motivation more than putting yourself down. Try to be kinder to your brain and treat yourself the way you want to be treated. It can be hard to change the way you think, but little by little you can make progress. Rest is important and not all of your time and energy should be spent on work. Feel good about doing fun things for yourself, you deserve it!
2. Track your progress.
When we talk about “to-do” lists, it’s often in a metaphorical sense. Actually, having a real, physical list where you can cross off what you have done can be extremely helpful and satisfying. Nothing gives you more motivation than seeing the finish line. Having some sort of guide to your goal can help keep you on track and help you work through whatever you need to get done. Even if you’re just writing small individual steps down like “Get out of bed” or “Open up your laptop” can help you stay oriented to your task and makes completing them much easier.
3. Set up specific times for doing independent work.
Everything we do is on a schedule. We go to classes on the same day at the same
time each week, we go to work for the same hours on the same days, and we get up and go to sleep at around the same time each day, it’s just in our nature. So why should homework be any different? Most of the time, you’ll just do whatever assignments are due whenever you have the time and/or motivation to do them.
While this works for many, it’s not as effective as somedays it’s just hard to fit it in. That is why I recommend scheduling times in the week for you to sit down and do your work. Saying “I’m going to do my homework this week” isn’t as motivating as saying “On Thursday and Saturday from 3:00-6:00 I’m going to work on my homework.” Sometimes, all we need is a goal and a timeframe in which to do it to help keep us grounded and engaged. Try it out for yourself and see how much more focused you’ll feel!
That’s it for the tips! Give some of these a trial one for a week or two and see how you feel. If they work, awesome! If they don’t, try to find other things that do work for you. Everyone is different and everyone learns and works in different ways. You’ll find what suits you best sooner or later. Thank you for reading and remember to treat yourself with kindness!
Comments