Motivation is the emphasis we place on performing certain tasks or activities. A high and lasting motivation is vital to help us achieve everything we set out to do, especially when it comes to studying.

However, sometimes this is not so easy to maintain, so here are some tips to increase your motivation to study , either during exam time or for fast learning moments on your own.

The importance of motivation in studying

As with most activities or actions that people do, motivation is the engine that makes these activities successful . This motivation can be either intrinsic, when we do something for the mere pleasure of doing it; or extrinsic, when what motivates us is the achievement of an external reward.

Motivation can also be affected by our state of mind. Sometimes the different situations we go through in our daily lives condition our mood and therefore this also affects our motivation to perform certain tasks, including study habits.

For example, one day we may wake up very motivated to study, we intend to spend the day in the library and we feel full of energy. However, during breakfast we are given some bad news. Most likely, our mood will drop , therefore our motivation will drop and we will no longer feel like going to study.

In addition, study habits, like many other activities, need to start from a starting point, a planning and a methodology with which we will guide our work. Finally, and as it is obvious, we need an objective, a goal for which we have decided to start studying.

Usually, our motivation strategies for studying are conditioned by our perception of the subject or course , or of the tasks we have to perform in order to study. For example, we will probably not perceive studying for a subject with a lot of theoretical material to be the same as for another one that is more practical.

12 tips to motivate you when studying

Here are a few tips to make starting a study session more attractive and enjoyable. By following these small steps, they will gradually become a habit and your academic performance will improve significantly .

1. Planning the study session

It is essential to start by planning your study session. Choose what subject or subjects you are going to study and try to set a time limit for it .
A good idea is to make a list of the tasks to be carried out during the session and sort them according to their priority. As you progress with the tasks you will feel more motivated and fulfilled.

2. Setting small goals

Establishing small goals or objectives in those moments when the study or work material is of great volume ** will help us feel fulfilled and therefore keep our motivation high

3. Do the hardest thing first

The first moments of study are when we have the most energy. This energy will be consumed little by little as the hours pass, so it is much more effective to perform those activities or study those subjects that we find more difficult at this time.

Otherwise, if we leave it to the end we will most likely have little strength left and perceive this task as much more complicated than it is.

4. Avoiding distractions

Mobile phone, social networks, internet, television, etc. All of these are distracting agents! They divert us from our task and make our minds scatter, making it much harder to refocus on our task.

All these distractions only make us lose a lot of time , be less effective and therefore encourage us to develop a feeling of incompetence and lack of motivation.

5. Rest from time to time

It is highly recommended to take some time off before fatigue sets in. If we leave our task when we can no longer take it up, it will be very difficult for us to resume it and we will surely do so unmotivated.

The ideal is to take short breaks of 10-15 minutes when we notice the slightest sign of fatigue. This way, we will be much clearer and have more energy to sit back down to work.

6. Rewarding yourself

After the work or study session, reward yourself with small rewards. If you think you have done well or that the work has been productive allow yourself some reward to motivate you.

In order to do this effectively, you can follow these steps:

  • Set a goal and establish the reward in advance. Then you’ll be motivated to achieve it.
  • For the reward to be effective, it must be proportionate to the effort or difficulty of the task.
  • If you think you haven’t given enough don’t reward yourself, it won’t have any effect when you do.
  • Self-affirmations are also small rewards that we can give ourselves while we are working.

7. Finding the ideal study context

Each person performs better in a given context and time. It is therefore necessary to know what our ideal timetable and environment is for studying .

For example, we can study with music if it is appropriate, study in a place where there are more people like a library, or on the contrary be totally alone and silent.

In the same way, it is possible that during the first hours of the morning we find ourselves more clear to work well or, on the contrary, the afternoon is our ideal moment to concentrate better .

8. Using libraries

Even though, as mentioned above, each person has an ideal place to study. Libraries provide us with a quiet space and without the distractions we may have at home.

In addition, if you are accompanied you can set joint goals and rest together with another person, which always makes the long study sessions more bearable.

9. Adapting your workspace

Make sure everything is working properly and that you have everything you need to study or do your homework. Otherwise you’ll waste a lot of time looking for things and this can become very frustrating when you find you can’t get any work done.

Likewise, a tidy and clean workspace will not make us feel more comfortable and at ease.

10. Thinking about long-term goals

Reflect on what has led you to these studies or activities, as well as what you can achieve once you have completed them. All this will boost your motivation and help you find a reason to continue.

A good option is to leave it reflected somewhere, a paper or a board that will serve as motivation and can help you remember what you are doing this effort for.

11. Do not procrastinate

Procrastination is the “art” of leaving what we don’t feel like doing for another time, replacing it with something lighter and that we feel like doing more. Although this sounds good, the reality is that you will always end up postponing it , so the best thing is to set out to do it and do it when we still have energy.

12. Assume a certain level of stress

Experiencing a minimum level of stress is not harmful, on the contrary, stress helps us to stay active and aware of what we are doing .

However, we cannot let this one seize us. Although a little stress is good for our performance, a lot of it can make us overworked and the anxiety that goes with it can prevent us from concentrating and doing our job well.