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I got a request to make a masterpost on motivation, but I decided to focus on the bigger issue that makes us constantly need motivation: burnout. Doing work when you’re motivated is great - you’re focused on determined. Waiting for the motivation to hit you is a different story all together. What if instead of waiting for motivation to hit you, you learn to find it within yourself?

Avoiding Burnout

you know that feeling you get when you have the flu and you just can’t get your ass out of bed no matter how hard you try? that’s how your brain feels when you’re burned out. You’ve got so much to do but you just can’t get yourself to do it and you just don’t care about school/work/grades anymore. Burnout is linked to depression, so if you are feeling any other symptoms of depression, please talk to a counselor or therapist.

some tips I’ve picked up along the way:

stay on top of your shit. If you know what to do and what you have coming up, you can afford to take time off for yourself if you need it. A little turbulence is better than crashing and burning. (I made a post on time management a few days back if you want to check it out)

your needs come before anything else. If you’ve been working hard for the past few days, take a few days off and relax. Even if you haven’t been working hard for the past few days, take a day off if you need it.

break up daunting tasks into multiple not-so-bad small ones. Have a giant research paper due at the end of the semester? plan out your work so you don’t end up spending 15 hours working on it in one day.

find a hobby and make time for it at least once a week. One of the biggest stress relievers for me is painting. It keeps my brain occupied so I’m not overwhelmed by my thoughts, but it also frees up some space for me to think about what’s going on my life. It’s like the brainstorming you get done in the shower.

brain dump before you start working. Getting everything that’s in my mind out of it makes it so much easier for me to focus on the work I have to do. Instead of worrying about 10 different things, I tell myself that I can deal with them later because this way I make sure I don’t forget about it.

create a support system. Have that one person you can rant to if you’re overwhelmed (If you need one, I am here). You will feel 10x better after you bitch about all the things that are on your mind (no matter how stupid they are).

Find motivation that doesn’t really on that “spark” you get every once in a while. Riding that wave will only take you so far. Finding intrinsic motivation will help you learn better and consequently, do better.

Check out this gr8 pdf to learn more burnout and strategies to avoid it

Finding Intrinsic Motivation

There’s a great TED talk called the Puzzle of Motivation by Dan Pink that completely change my perception of motivation. He talks about extrinsic motivation (reward systems) and how they actual prevent us from thinking critically. Instead of focusing on our overall goal (getting a good grade in the class) we focus on getting the reward (finishing the assignment so we can get whatever we promised ourselves). Studies actually showed that intrinsic motivation increased the amount of critical thinking involved. Interesting stuff. There’s a whole field of psychology dedicated to this, but I’m going to try my best to condense the research into a few bullet points.

Remember why you are here. Your education is a choice, not a requirement. If you’re reading this, you obviously what to do well. Why do you want to do well in school? To get into college? To get a good job? Money? Whatever the purpose is, you are here for a reason. Don’t forget it.

Negative reinforcement is your friend. If your goals can’t keep you motivated, think about what will happen if you don’t get your work done.

The biggest key to getting your work done even if you’re not motivated is discipline. Here’s a great post about developing discipline (sorry for linking it on my blog, it seems the original post has been deleted)

Other helpful links

motivation masterpost by @areistotle

avoiding burnout by @acdemic

study music to give you motivation

dopamine-rich foods (to help keep you attentive)

managing studying with mental illness by @kawaii-geekgirl-studyblr

how to study with a mental illness by @haleystudies

how to get motivated when you’re feeling depressed

my tag for motivation

my tag for some gr8 study playlists

my tag for some words of inspiration

if all else fails, please go talk to your teachers/professors/counselors. they are here to help you and they want you to do well.

thisiseverydayracism

Teen Vogue showing what real journalism looks like

America has been reticent to label white male mass shooters as domestic terrorists, and there’s a hesitation from politicians, law enforcement agencies, and society as a whole, to investigate what animates the brutal actions of these attackers, who are mostly white and male, and whose actions are often rationalized.

In America, where antiterrorist thought has ruled the century, a citizen’s safety faces far greater risk due to texting while driving or tripping down the stairs than being killed by a foreign-born refugee jihadist. Women in America face more danger from their husbands than they do a Muslim terrorist. In America, where predominantly white and predominantly male antigovernment militias rank as law enforcement’s most prevalent threat, according to a 2015 report, law enforcement agents face more significant danger from armed white men than Jihadists. Yet here we are, willfully aiming to dismantle any semblance of growing extremist thought, while ignoring the many different forms of radicalization that are resulting in a large swath of vicious behavior.

In America, citizens must grapple with reality. Not only is white male terrorism as dangerous as Islamic extremism, but our collective safety rests in rooting out the source of their radicalization.

Read the full article at http://www.teenvogue.com/story/white-male-terrorists-are-an-issue-we-should-discuss