Staying Focused and Motivated

 

And that’s a wrap! Whether you’re graduating elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, or just upgrading from one grade to another, congratulations!

Treat it like the New Year, graduation is also the end and beginning of something. It’s a time to learn from our past school year, make resolutions to live up to, and revamp ourselves. So other than taking a break during the holidays, we should also get ourselves physically and mentally prepared for the new school year. Because let’s be honest, school is not easy. Sometimes it gets hard, boring, and even stressful. But there are ways to make school more fun and interesting, and to keep yourself focused and motivated the entire school year. Here are a few tips that can help you.

1. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today
   When you get an assignment, like homeworks or projects, do them as soon as possible. That way, you won’t be overwhelmed with any pile of unfinished work.

2. Keep track of your work
   Sometimes we can’t do our assignments the day it’s given. To make sure we remember to do them, make a to-do list for them along with their due dates. Mark assignments that are done and keep track of others that aren’t.

3. Stay away from distractions
   You will finish your work faster when you’re focused, so keep any kind of possible distractions away from you.

4. Give yourself a break
   We should only work 52 hours a week. Therefore, don’t be too hard on yourself and take a break when you need to. The first place people’s minds go to when they think of taking a break is just playing with their phones or watching a movie, but there are more productive ways to take a break. You can take a walk, meditate, exercise, eat, or maybe take a power nap.

5. Motivation from within
   To do something, anything, people must have motivation. You might think doing schoolwork is just your sense of responsibility coming through, but that actually comes from a deeper motivation within. Yes, within means it comes from ourselves. You can’t always rely on other people and you won’t always have them around, but you will always have yourself. So try searching for something or someone that motivates you, maybe even display it in your room. It can help remind you of what you’re working so hard for. 

Written by Gwen Kezia Timothy XSOS1