Getting Stuff Done: How to Deal With Lack of Motivation
“How can I stay disciplined?”
“How can I get things done if I don’t feel like doing them?”
“How can I overcome my lack of motivation?”
As a college student who has had their fair share of being absolutely unmotivated to do anything, I know it can be hard to get things done if you don’t feel like doing them. Luckily, there are some things you can do to become more motivated to finish your homework, write your paper, study for your exam, or whatever tasks you have on your plate.
Part 1: Increasing motivation
Break up your tasks
Just thinking about one huge task is going to intimidate you so much that you’d rather leave it till later, when the urgency of time pushes you to complete it, than start now.
Breaking up your big tasks into smaller ones will make your tasks seem less daunting. Since you won’t be as intimidated by the amount of effort it might take to complete these tasks, you’ll be more likely to start doing them.
For studying, this can be something like ‘make flashcards for units 1-3’ or ‘practice past exam papers: 2015 + 2016’. For writing papers, this could be writing an outline, doing research for each point of your outline, writing the first 3 paragraphs, etc.
Working on small tasks at a time will also make you less prone to distractions since you only need to focus for a short length of time.
Make small goals and reward yourself
These goals could be accomplishing one of the smaller subtasks above, or achieving a certain grade on a practice test, or finishing a section of your study plan - as long as you’re working towards something.
The rewards? Maybe going out to eat, watching something, or even just time off. Hopefully these rewards will motivate you to complete your task.
I know some people are more inclined to do their work if they’re punished for not doing it, rather than rewarded for doing it, so if you wanna take the ‘punishment’ approach, you could do something like not allowing yourself to use social media until you finish a set of tasks - this is essentially the same thing, just thought about in a different manner. However, you should always be careful with these punishments/restrictions, because sometimes they can end up harming your health and productivity (e.g. ‘I can’t take a break until I finish all of my homework’).
Part 2: Not relying on motivation
Of course, you can’t always expect yourself to be motivated all the time. In fact, it’s very ineffective to rely on motivation to get things done; motivation is fleeting. Here’s an alternative: self-discipline. But how does it work?
Establish a study routine
Humans are creatures of habit. Even if you’re a P-type (like me), habits are hard to break. So making a habit of accomplishing your tasks/studying at a set time every day will help you, well, accomplish them. For example, it’s a lot easier to get your homework done every day if you do it at the same time - e.g. once you come home from school - rather than doing it ‘whenever you have time’.
Having a study routine will also make you less likely to be distracted since you know that that period of time had a purpose. If you’re trying this out for the first time, you might wanna completely get rid of distractions so that you can focus (e.g. putting your phone in your bag, on silent). However, with practice, I found that my phone or any other sources of distraction don’t really bother me anymore since I’ve had tons of practice resisting the urge to pick up my phone whenever there’s a notification, for example.
Schedule in time for breaks
This ties in well with the point about rewards: the break might be the reward for your studying. However, this doesn’t always have to be the case. You shouldn’t always think of relaxing as merely a reward for studying or accomplishing your tasks, but rather a necessity for the well-being of your mind. This sort of approach to breaks ensures that you actually let your brain rest once in a while.
After taking a break, your mind will be refreshed and revitalized, and you should have more than enough energy to continue with your other tasks.
Some of you asked - with regards to my previous post on The Mandatory Midday Break - how I can limit myself to exactly an hour, and to be honest, the answer is habit. It’s like having a habit of showering at the same time every day and not extend the length of time you spend in the bathroom (except in certain circumstances, like during a day off, I guess).
This is why it’s important to schedule your breaks and establish a study routine or habit - not only does it ensure you get enough rest, but it also prevents you from extending your break so that you don’t become unproductive and leave a ton of tasks unfinished.
It can be hard to motivate yourself to accomplish all your tasks, but there are things you can do to increase your motivation. However, you can’t expect to be motivated all the time, and you shouldn’t rely on motivation to get things done. Discipline and habit are the most important tools you can use to be efficient and productive without having to be motivated.
Hope this post has been helpful, and, as always, feel free to drop me an ask if you have an ask. Have an awesome week :)
