Motivation may be key to success, but it\u2019s also one of the most difficult keys to acquire!<\/p>\n
I\u2019m one of those people who feel really motivated after accomplishing just one thing, because it makes me want to accomplish everything else that I have to do. Then, once I\u2019m done with all my work, I get this weird feeling because I want more, but by the time I get it, the motivation has passed and it takes me forever to get started again.<\/p>\n
Below you\u2019ll find some problem-solving aids I\u2019ve implemented to help keep my motivation (or create it).<\/p>\n
Make lists.<\/strong><\/p>\n Something about having everything I need to get done in the next day or two written down makes me want to sit down and do it all. A lot of the time, we psych ourselves out by thinking we have such a huge workload that we get overwhelmed, but once it\u2019s all written down it doesn\u2019t seem that bad.<\/p>\n Knowing the work won\u2019t be as time consuming or difficult as I initially thought is a huge motivator! This is so important!<\/p>\n If you start with the most time consuming and difficult task, you\u2019re going to drain all of your energy, and the smaller things may not get done.<\/p>\n Go for the easiest, quickest of your tasks first so that the accomplishment will motivate you for the harder tasks to come. This way, you\u2019ll also ensure that you won\u2019t run out of time for everything else you have to do\u2013because it will already be done.<\/p>\n Get help from friends.<\/strong><\/p>\n My friends yell at me to do my work more than my parents used too.<\/p>\n Let your friends know when you have a lot of work to get done and what your deadlines are so they can remind you. Or, at the very least, they can not invite you to things that are more fun than sitting around doing homework so you don\u2019t feel the urge to skip it. If that won\u2019t work, use going out with your friends as the motivation to get your work done. Whatever works best for you.<\/p>\n Pat yourself on the back.<\/strong><\/p>\n Self-validation is key to success!<\/p>\n There is nothing wrong with being proud of a job well done. If you get all of your work done, or even some of it, consider it a win. Don\u2019t underestimate even the smallest victories like reading for class or writing a short paper.<\/p>\n Reward yourself in some small way\u2013a break, a snack, planning something fun with friends, a Netflix hour, etc.<\/p>\n Fill your time with what\u2019s important.<\/strong><\/p>\n I hate to say it, but if you have zero motivation to tackle your workload no matter what you do, you may just have the wrong workload.<\/p>\n I took a class I absolutely hated last semester and never wanted to do anything that involved the subject. Luckily for me, it was just an elective, so I never have to deal with it again. But if you\u2019re feeling this way about work that\u2019s in your major, it may be time to reconsider your chosen field.<\/p>\n I hope that\u2019s not the case, but if it is, know that that\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n Hopefully these tips will keep you motivated for a strong semester. Now go get that to-do list done!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Motivation may be key to success, but it\u2019s also one of the most difficult keys to acquire! I\u2019m one of those people who feel really motivated after accomplishing just one thing, because it makes me want to accomplish everything else that I have to do. Then, once I\u2019m done with all my work, I get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,14,9,10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-advice","8":"category-general-post","9":"category-life-of-a-grad-student","10":"category-tips"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/03\/HCmotivation.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":387,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions\/387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nTackle easy things first.<\/strong><\/p>\n