Staying motivated at the start of the term.

Staying motivated at the start of the term is very important. Students coming out of the school holidays may be reluctant to start a new term with new kids, experiences and more challenging work. Students can start off small. Instead of trying to stay on top of a busy work load all at once, students should try and break it up into smaller parts. This will help with making work seem less confronting and allow students to visualise their tasks in a less scary way. Reaching out to fellow students and friends is also a significant factor to feel motivated. This helps remind students that they are not alone in feeling unmotivated and potentially offers them an opportunity to work collaboratively and get on a steady routine. Once a proper routine is established, this helps students feel more engaged and ready to tackle the work. Instead of waiting for inspiration to strike, creating real and genuine goals helps students feel like they can do the work given to them.

Something that goes hand in hand with setting clear goals and intentionally breaking down tasks is rewarding small goals. Most students feel that ticking one thing off a long to do list is not big deal, but ticking one thing off is much better than ticking nothing off. Rewarding small goals through taking a break to hang out with friends, spend time with family, chocolates or simply doing a hobby you enjoy can make tasks feel much better to achieve. Above all else, students should also not sacrifice their mental, physical and emotional health simply for an exam. When students do this, this makes staying motivated even harder because you are trying to complete work tired, hungry and emotionally drained. Students should not lose sleep over an exam, but instead reach out to friends, seek support systems and break work into smaller chunks to make it more manageable.