i’ve gotten so many asks about how i stay motivated enough to work hard even when i don’t feel like it. the reality is that motivation can make you feel like wanting to work, but discipline is what will actually force you to get up and work.
the rest is under the cut!
1.gtfo of tumblr. ik!!! it’s hard!! all that studyspo,,,and those notes,,,and white topped desks,,, i know. but get off. it’s not motivating you, it’s really just distracting you (we’ve all gotten lost in our dashboards before ok).
1.a. gtfo of any social media, period. turn off snapchat notifications. mute instagram. hell, uninstall them temporarily if you need to, but stop!! getting!! distracted!!
2. have all your materials that you know/think you will need with you. you keep getting up to get a pencil or a snack or an eraser and as a result you’re not getting anything done!! not having all your supplies gives you an excuse to wander around your room/house until you forget about your work completely. no. don’t do it.
3. plan your time. lots of times you end up procrastinating because you don’t have a specific plan. honestly, organizing your time into some kind of schedule has a placebo effect: that timetable on your phone or in your notebook will make you feel more organized and in control, and as a result you will act upon that feeling and actually get stuff done!!
4. break up tasks. it’s really intimidating and overwhelming to look at a huge task such as “read and annotate all of wuthering heights by friday”. split it up into tiny, more accomplishable tasks such as “read chapters 1-3 and annotate as you go along” and so on and so forth.
4.a. set realistic/achievable goals. if you’re writing things in your bullet journal like “read more” you’re going to look at it later and go “??”. rather, say something like “read 10% of a book every day.” that’s much more logical and your brain won’t want to neglect that goal because it’s more realistic.
5. stop relying on motivation. like i’ve said many times before, motivation isn’t what forces you to do work that you don’t want to do!! discipline does!! many of us make the mistake of searching for “motivation” when we should really be looking to get better at self discipline. this isn’t to say that the #motivation tag isn’t nice to scroll through sometimes. just don’t let this be your only source of hard work.
an ask i answered on this, including some other helpful resources
