The days are shorter and it is getting colder, it seems you want to do anything but that essay due tomorrow when you get home, the majority of us are on the same page, believe me.
Hatch End High School recently held their Year 12 mocks and many Year 12 students across the country will be having mocks currently or in the next few weeks. It seems there is a universal problem where students are struggling to get motivated. People seem to get the lines blurred between being unmotivated and not caring, if you did not care; you would not be thinking about being unmotivated or even have begun reading this article.
So what is the source of being unmotivated? A student, Simmren Ravi, said ‘for me, I struggle to get motivated when I am overwhelmed; I tend to procrastinate because I feel too much pressure.’ Studies show that negative thought patterns have a major impact on low motivation levels. When you constantly feel you are incapable of completing a task or you are getting stressed over your huge work load, you are most likely not going to be able to complete what you have to do to the best of your ability. A common misconception is you have to excel at everything you do, and that is not the case. Especially for GCSE and A level students, you are getting started on a completely new journey, and you are bound to struggle. Struggling and failing helps us to improve, if you keep running away from failure, you are not going to have a chance to see yourself at a stage where you have overcome all those challenges. It is inevitable to find yourself at points in the year where you have let all your work pile up and it feels as though it is too much to handle. Nothing is ever as complicated as it seems, you need to simplify the tasks and be proud of your small accomplishments and you will be done before you know it.
It is essential to maintain a work-life balance. Realistically, these two factors will never be equal. You should try and prioritise your time, for an example during the mock exam period you need to put the work in to see the results, knowing that when your exams finish you can go out to watch a movie with your friends.
Research claims that if you enjoy a task you will easily be motivated, unfortunately, during your career you will have to complete tasks you do not particularly enjoy. However, you have to try and make it as engaging as possible to you, maybe working with a friend helps or you enjoy making colourful notes which help you remember content.
Whatever it is that is waiting for you on your desk, whether that is your school work or a big work presentation, if you’re struggling to get motivated think of the bigger picture. What are you looking to gain out of it? How does it benefit you? By answering these questions, I am sure motivation will be flowing through you.
