muji-princess:

Hey guys! So I was requested by the lovely @lexholleran to make a post on how I stay focused and motivated. So keep reading! 

F O C U S

• Turn off all unnecessary electronics. This is non-negotiable. If it’s off, you won’t be tempted to use it. Even better, put your phone in a room far away or give it to a friend/roommate/parent for them to hold. 
• Schedule in breaks. If you know when your breaks are going to be, you’ll be less likely to go on Facebook or Tumblr when you’re supposed to be studying. 
• Find your study zone. What kind of music and environment makes you the most productive? How many breaks should you schedule in? Get to know how you work best so you can replicate that scenario in order to maximize your focus. 

Here are some websites/apps to help you: 

• Forest: App or Chrome extension that grows a tree for every 30 minutes you go without touching your phone or checking a “blocked site” like Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. (Costs $0.99 on the App Store but is free for Chrome) 
  
• UNICEF TAP Project: For every 15 minutes you go without using your phone, UNICEF and TAP Project sponsers gives a day of clean water to a child in need. 
• Rainy Cafe: provides ambient noise for those who like to study in those kinds of environments 
• Tomato Timer: Website that is just a simple Pomodoro timer. 

M O T I V A T I O N

The biggest piece of advice I have for you regarding staying motivated for long periods of time is to find a goal within yourself that you’re working toward. I’m not talking about just getting an A on that one test or even getting into a certain college. Of course, these are good goals to have, but in the long run these kinds of goals are too narrow and too much of it lies outside of your control. Maybe you weren’t feeling your best on exam day or it just so happened that the one section you weren’t that sure about was the main thing tested. The same thing holds true for college acceptances; so much of it is based on luck because there are too many qualified people and too little spots. Literally anything could have contributed to your acceptance or rejection: your race, the classes you took, your personal statement, the admission officer’s mood, etc. And working only for a grade or a college acceptance letter places you in a vulnerable position where the validation for your efforts is external. This kind of mindset can easily lead to depression or anxiety over school and will leave you feeling discouraged and unmotivated if you don’t get that perfect score you were hoping for. 

In my experience, it is only when you stop working for arbitrary factors and start working for yourself that you truly become motivated. You study because you want to work hard, you want to be more educated, you want to know more about the world. By looking at it this way, your goal becomes one of self-improvement. This mindset doesn’t beget feelings of inadequacy or depression because your validation for your efforts comes from yourself, not an external source. This will make you more motivated because you are the one telling yourself you’re good enough. That internal feeling of warm happiness you get when you’re productive will make you want to keep working. And even if you get a bad grade or don’t get into your dream school, you will know that you tried your best and came out the other side better for it. So work for yourself and no one else. 

(Source: katsdesk, via studiants)