Staying Motivated

This week I also learned some tips on staying motivated from the textbook, Orientation to College Learning by Dianna L. Van Blerkom.

From: http://kumardeepak.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/why-motivation-works-and-when/

Generally, most of the time, I'd like to think of myself as a fairly self-motivated person. However, I've noticed since high school that I usually start with high motivation at the beginning of school or start of a class, then I seem to suffer from a mid-point slump halfway, and become motivated again right before the final exam. I would really like to improve on this. Reading through the textbook, here are some things that I think would help me:

1. During my long morning study block, I should switch subjects about every hour. Sometimes focusing on one subject for a long time can feel overwhelming. Feeling like I'm gradually making progress on both subjects would probably help me stay upbeat.
2. Since I honestly know that I suffer from mid-point slump, I should schedule small, reasonable rewards for myself to stay motivated. Maybe having a small piece of chocolate after I complete my assignments or an hour to play a video game.
3. I should learn to set better priorities. I want to do well on everything, but sweating the small stuff, or the smaller assignments, when I also have bigger, important exams and papers to work on, can lead to burn-out.

Better Time Management Skills

Back to Time Management Skills, one thing I honestly admit that I need to work more on.

From http://thorntoncenter.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/time1.jpg

This week I learned a lot about myself from the My Daily Schedule Link. Breaking down my typical weekday helped me to revaluate how I'm spending my time. Right now, I think I'm doing pretty good. I figured that I spend about seven hours doing assignments, reading, and studying for my classes. I credit this to turning over a new leaf and starting my work early in the morning instead of at night. I am naturally a night owl, but with assignments being due around 11pm on Wednesday, it isn't practically to start working after dinner. It's better for me to start work in the morning and have the night free for time with my husband and hobbies.

I have been an assignment calendar creator gal since high school. I don't use a day planner anymore, but I do write my and my husband's assignments on our livingroom calendar. Since beginning this class, I have also discovered the iCal(endar) on my Mac. This has been helpful because I do most of my work on the computer now.

I have also been a "To Do" list gal for a long time. However, I would benefit from making my lists more like the daily Figure 3.4 example in the textbook. In the past, my "To Do" lists have been a little unrealistic, asking too much of myself in one day. Breaking the tasks into study goals and personal goals is a really good idea.

So far, I haven't had a problem staying motivated on a typical weekday. It's on untypical weekends when we visit friends and family three hours away that I fall into trouble. I seem to run into the thinking, "I have to go visit, etc., with so-in-so because I so rarely see them. We can't hang out any other time this month because I live too far away." Which is fine in theory, if I scheduled time to study afterwards on those nights, but I find myself wanting to do other things instead of study. Another problem I have, since I'm still more or less a newlywed, is still feeling like a guest in my in-laws' home. The only rooms I have to study in, while there, are my husband's old room and the livingroom. If my husband is watching tv in his room and my in-laws are watching tv in the livingroom, I feel rude asking them to stop because it is their home. And, unfortunately, there isn't a library nearby that is open at night.

So, right now my strategy is to work ahead as much as I can when I know we are going to visit. I also plan to ask if it would be okay if I bought a desk and set it up in their basement. Having my own desk, in a part of the house that is off to itself would be a quiet area to help motivate me to get work done while visiting.