MOTIVATION VS SELF-DISCIPLINE
When studying, most people try to find motivation thinking that this will get them through their study session, or they will see their failure as a result of a lack of motivation. But motivation isnât always what we need - what do you do on the days you have no motivation? This is why we need self-discipline.
MOTIVATION VS SELF DISCIPLINE
Motivation - a willingness to do something. It is the set of psychological forces that compel you to take action. A goal or reward that you look forward to that will encourage you to study - while this is useful, what happens on a day when you just donât feel like studying?
Self-Discipline - making yourself do things you know you should do when you donât want to. Being trained to routinely study regardless of how unmotivated you are - this is what will get you out of bed on a day you donât feel like studying.
So if motivation is âwhy we should do somethingâ - self-discipline is more âwhat to do nextâ.
HOW TO BE SELF-DISCIPLINED
Make a commitment with yourself that you will make studying as your habit. This is super important. Commit yourself to make this as your new habit. Donât half-ass any of these suggestions or any other suggestions that other people give. Donât give yourself silly, illegitimate excuses in the process. For this, you can do it by remind yourself on what your long-term goals in life are. Or if they donât sound rewarding enough, remind yourself what failure feels like/ could feel like.
Set yourself a routine and stick to it
Never have a zero day - 10 minutes is better than nothing!! Do flashcards from your bed or watch youtube ted talks if you canât physically study. This will help help develop a routine and make it easier for you to cope. Also, by studying everyday your brain will know that the content you are learning should be stored as long-term information so this will benefit you in the long run! However I do want to stress not to force yourself if you donât have the capacity / energy for it. Take care of yourself too.
Avoid long breaks. Unless you know that taking an hour long break means only an hour, then you can ignore this. But fo the majority of us, once weâve taken a while out of studying it can be hard to get back into it again. One minute youâre taking a 20 minute break for a snack and some phone time and the next thing you know youâre on Youtube and four hours have passed! To avoid this, try stick to shorter breaks - five or ten minutes for a snack break, toilet break and to check any phone messages. A good method to try for this is the Pomodoro Method!
Build on your productivity, not your failures.
If you come from a past of procrastinating and now feel motivated to change and discipline yourself, do NOT try to do everything at once. Start things slow and in steps.
Set yourself smaller deadlines for your goals like monthly and weekly deadlines - e.g. if you are doing a project, due 27th June, set personal deadlines, like have the introduction written by the 8th, have your literature review written by the 15th, have project complete by the 25th.Â
Break down the things that you must do into smaller, concrete activities and put those smaller activities in that to-do list; allocate specific time periods to do each smaller activities and put it the to-do list as well; set an alarm reminder for each smaller activities. Say you have to study for English on Tuesday, because for whatever reasons you just decided to dedicate your time this Tuesday to study English. However, Iâd suggest that you break down that specific activity (or âdaily goalâ) before putting it in your to-do list. So, instead of just putting âstudy for Physicsâ, try putting âread and highlight Chapter 9âł, because putting very general/broad activity like âstudy Englishâ can actually make you too confused on where and how to start doing it, and make you very prone to distractions in the process.Â
Know your limits. Self-discipline isnât doing as much as you can until you break - itâs about having control, knowing what you can realistically manage and getting that done.
Give yourself rewards! I love to have something to look forward to as I get work done! This means mixing motivation and self-discipline. I tell myself after this lecture I can have an animal crossing break or check some messages etc.Â
Track your progress â donât forget to put a checklist on your to-do list after accomplishing a task. It would relieve your stress a bit and motivate you to continue doing the remaining activities on your to-do list.Â
Remove distractions from your study space! Personally, if my phone is out and I notice a notificationâŠIâm gonna check it. Itâs human nature! So to combat this, I use apps like Forest that force me to stay within the app while I study. If I know I might get hungry during a study session Iâll keep a little snack by my desk so I donât have to get up and somehow find something else to distract me.
Just do it isnât that easy. I find to get myself in a âwork bossâ mood I need to feel good about myself so I put on a nice outfit and maybe some eyeliner and hype myself up so I know I can do my tasks and get stuff done! It feels so much better than lazing in my pyjamas trying to study.
Be patient. Itâs going to be a rough journey, itâs going to be hard but youâve got this! Take it one step at a time. Start off by completing one task a day, then move to two, then three, and the next thing you know, youâll have a regular routine where you will constantly be ticking off your to-do list everyday! But remember to be kind to yourself, know when your body is not in the right state of health to study and donât force it. Only force yourself to a limit, youâll know when to stop and thatâs okay. Just try again when you feel better! Your health is much more important!
