Photo by Rishabh Agarwal on Unsplash
Finding the motivation to study for your exams can be very difficult. Here’s some advice that will hopefully help you to stay motivated and succeed in your exams.
1. Use a timetable.
Use our retrospective revision timetables to decide what you are going to study every day. Instead of saying I’m going to study two hours a day, assign yourself topics. This timetable divides your subjects into smaller topics.
This helps you when finding the motivation to study. Instead of looking at a whole subject and having no idea where to start, you can focus on smaller more manageable topics.
2. Avoid studying for long periods of time.
Use the Pomodoro method to help stay motivated while studying. This involves studying in blocks of twenty-five minutes and then taking a 5 minute break. After 4 rounds of this you take a 15-30 minute break. This helps keep you motivated as your brain studies for a relatively short amount of time and is then rewarded by a short break.
3. Take breaks.
It is very important to take breaks. This is a great method of motivation. It will encourage you to work hard as you know a break is coming up. To avoid taking an unnecessarily long break you should avoid going on your phone or watching tv. This will result in procrastination and you won’t be motivated to return to your study.
When taking a break set a timer, go outside for a few minutes, eat a snack, drink some water, do a quick meditation, play a piece of music or listen to your favourite song. The most important thing is that you do something you like and are able to discipline yourself to return to study when the timer is up.
4. Reward yourself.
It is very important to reward yourself for studying. Set small rewards for yourself every evening. For example, watching a YouTube video, going on a walk or going to football training. This will help you to keep focused as you know you have something to look forward to.
You can also set long term rewards, like you will go to the cinema or you will go on holidays when you’re exams are over.
5. Study with others.
Studying with others is great. If everyone around you is working hard this will encourage you to work hard too. However, it is important to only study with people who have the same work ethic as you. If you and you friends are just talking and getting nothing done, this won’t be beneficial.
6.Turn off your phone when studying.
If you have your phone on and you leave it on your desk it will only distract you. It is almost impossible to not check it when it beeps. This will distract you from your work.
The best thing to do is to turn your phone off and even leave it in another room. This will avoid the temptation and keep you focused on your studies.
7.Relax.
If you come home after a long day of school with absolutely no motivation, don’t worry. Unwind for a little while. You could do some exercise or have a shower. There is no point in studying if you are exhausted, you won’t be motivated to do anything, and you won’t remember most of what you do.
When you feel refreshed, you should make a list of the easiest and hardest things you have to do. Start with the hardest things while you feel the most awake and then move down to the easier things as you get tired.
Hopefully the above tips helped you to find the motivation to study. If you have any other ideas on how to find the motivation to study, we’d love to hear from you.
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-The Examable Team
