Top tips for staying motivated this study period
How do you stay motivated when you’re studying online? What motivates us changes from person to person. Some people are motivated by the joy they find in doing particular tasks. Others are motivated by external rewards and reaching goals. We’ve put together some hints and tips of different things you can try if you feel you need to raise your motivation levels so you can explore what works for you.
Understand your study habits
What study habits are working for you? Now is a great time to reflect on how you approach your studies and really think about what’s working and what might need to be changed.
Think back over the last two weeks and see if you can remember your most productive study sessions. What made those sessions so effective? Was it early morning? Had you just had a healthy meal? Was the house a little quieter than usual? Was there a particular time management technique you were using?
For your next study session, try and repeat these different factors and see if you have another productive session.
Update your goals
What are your goals for this trimester? How close are you to reaching them? For some of us, setting goals and milestones is a great way to find motivation. By reflecting on the progress of our goals we can learn a lot about setting milestones in the future.
Think about the goals you’ve been working towards so far this year. What obstacles have you faced? How did you deal with those obstacles? By examining how we overcame obstacles you can plan for problems that might trip you up down the track.
If you’ve accomplished all your goals this trimester, it’s time to come up with some new ones. If you feel like you might not reach your goal, it’s time to readjust your plan think up some new milestones.
Manage your time
Having an effective time management plan can help you stay motivated. You can use our study workload planner to balance your studies with your other life commitments and you can try some of our favourite time management techniques.
Reach out
Sharing your experiences with other students can be a great way to keep motivated. You might even get some guidance from students who have overcome similar challenges. The [email protected] Facebook group offers a casual space to meet and stay connected with your university peers while we’re all studying from home.
If you’ve always been a Cloud Campus student, think about joining the Cloud Campus Facebook group and introducing yourself to a great community of online learners. You can also join Deakin Buddies, a web tool you can use to search for other Deakin students who are also interested in making a connection. You can search for students who live in your area, study the same units or who are enrolled in the same course.
Do something for you
Remember, it’s also important to take some time for yourself. Stream an episode of TV, go for a short walk, have a cup of tea and some chocolate. Try and do at least one thing a day that puts a big smile on your face.