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Pretending to like candles.

You’ve been a lot to ask me about how to stay motivated, especially in exam period. I know it can be quite hard to focus (even for me it’s challenging!) but I’ll give you some tips I personally use when I’m super un-motivated.

Build a routine. Really try to stick to a routine when you come back home from school, do what works best for you! I personally know that when I have a routine all becomes kind of « automatic » and it gets actually easier for me to study since it became part of my routine! Start slow ! For example, fix yourself a 1-hour study session every evening, then add another hour, etc. Don’t forget to also add some activities in your routine that isn’t study related like working out, reading, etc.

Find a good playlist. You can find tons of them on Youtube. I think it’s better to listen to an instrumental-only playlist so you can get more focused. I know that when I listen to certain playlists, I really get in the mood to study!

Upgrade your workspace! I already wrote a whole post about it here :) With a new and organized workspace, it will be more welcoming and you’ll actually want to spend more time there and therefore study more!

Find your WHY. And I know you’ve heard this one over 10000 times, and that’s because it is SO important. You hate math at school? Think about how amazing it is to use math as an instrument to think and to develop our way to resolve problems! Take every lesson as if it was an occasion to learn something new or at least an occasion that will get you closer towards your dream job/ university

Know when you’re effective. For example, I know that I work better under pressure, so I tend to procrastinate more and then study 10 hours a day the 2 weeks before an exam. So yes, sometimes my pre-exam anxiety is my main motivation to get through everything. Of course, this one doesn’t work if your exam is in two days!

Test yourself. This one works wonders for me. And you know why? Because when I test myself and I actually see all the mistakes I make and it reminds me that I need to study more and I get so stressed that after taking a fake test I’m able to study for 5 hours straight in order to answer all the questions I did wrong aha

Take breaks. It’s totally OBVIOUS and NORMAL that if you’ve been studying for hours without taking a proper break you’ll lose motivation. You’re not a robot. If you just feel you’ve been re-reading the same page of your textbook over and over it’s just time for you to do something else! If you’re short on time, here are some « break taking » ideas. If after a 10-minute break you’re still not effective, I would recommend taking a longer break, like an hour, before starting to study again!

Discipline. Yeah, I know everyone talks about that so-called motivation and blah blah blah but the truth is : no one really wants to stay all day at home or in a library to study. No one really likes getting up at 6 am for a morning workout (or at least for me), but what keeps us going is self-discipline. Sometimes you gotta force yourself, one step at a time, and you’ll see that you’ll trigger your inner « study machine » without even noticing it. Note that this point can be linked to the first one!

Find yourself a study buddy. It isn’t really my thing since I prefer studying alone, but I know that for some people it really makes a difference. Of course, it has to be a study partner and not a gossip partner!

Study in a library or in a coffee shop. I personally prefer coffee shops. I don’t know why but actually having people around me kinds of pressures me to study and to focus and I feel guilty when I check my phone as if people were looking at me because I wasn’t studying. I don’t know if you sometimes feel the same way, but, try it anyway.

If you found these tips useful, please let me know by reblogging and/or liking this post :) 

For more similar posts, you can visit my blog : anatomyandcappuccini.tumblr.com 

‘Only light will overcome Darkness’ - Brussels’ Place de la Bourse, 2016.

Jake Varley / Mars Station

Jake Varley / Mars Station - 2016