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So school’s starting again, and after the summer, you need study motivation more than ever. Ring a bell? Student life is one of the most formative periods of life and having spent about 6 years in school after graduating high school, I know that for a fact.
During all my years studying languages, then makeup artistry, and now leading a digital nomad lifestyle, I’m always in need of study motivation.
Even as a digital nomad in Rome, in London, and in Paris? Yup.
Why? Because once your student life has passed, hopefully using successful time management tips and work organization ideas to bring you to the top, if you decide to become a freelancer, a blogger, or a digital nomad (sometimes all three together), you’re going to need to apply those studying tips over and over again.
You see, by becoming a digital nomad, work organization ideas for productivity and time management strategies are more important than ever. I have written a full guide that you can read about the best ways to become a successful student, and these new tips for study motivation definitely echo this guide.
You can use all the motivational quotes for students to study hard you can find, but sometimes, when you’re not feeling it, you’re just not feeling it.
So what do we do? We go slow.
Slowly, slowly – study motivation, in my opinion, is the sum of work organization in the office, and little ideas for productivity and time management all put together.
So yes – even when you’re not feeling it, you can still find that study motivation throughout the day. In this article, I’ll tell you about study motivation tips to improve your student life drastically and hopefully prevent you from burning out.
As I said in my post about Pinterest for bloggers: using Pinterest keywords and tips, Rome was not built in one day. Studying motivation has to be built up, and it takes some time to perfectly master work organization to improve your time management and productivity.
Enough rambling – let’s get to the bottom of it!
Study Motivation: 7 Best Tips To Get Motivated To Study Hard
Before we get started, let me put this out there: these tips for studying motivation are those I actually use for myself. Even long after I left uni, I still kept learning. Over and over again, more and more skills, more and more courses.
I am quite thirsty for knowledge – knowledge that I know will be useful for me. I will assume you need study motivation for courses you know will be useful for your future. If not, why bother?
It’s better to be studying tips to organize your work and your life when you actually enjoy the course, isn’t it?
And if that’s the case, then congrats – you don’t need that much more. Maybe a few tweaks, motivational quotes, and work organization ideas will help you with time management, especially if you’re studying information-loaded courses. But being motivated and actually enjoying what you’re studying definitely will help you out much more. In my case, I usually light a TK Maxx candle I’ve shopped around, calm down, and get to business.
If you’re studying abroad and need some help with staying productive, make sure you read these posts too:
- how to stay productive while living in a hostel
- tips to save money for travel as a student
- how to do healthy meal prep for college students
Study Motivation Tips: Revise Your Study Notes Bit by Bit
If you need study motivation – especially after the holidays or before your exams, let me give you one valuable piece of advice: you won’t make it very far in your student life if you cram all your revisions just before your midterms.
A little always goes a long way, so I would tell you to revise your study notes hard, but just a little bit every day. Make it fun; recite your notes to someone else, sing them, and rewrite your notes with plenty of colors (something I personally do)…
Using studying stationery such as colorful metallic pens and beautiful notebooks has helped me create a studying aesthetic that I don’t know where I’d be without. If you need studying motivation, use all those small tactics, and make studying fun.
Even if it’s medical school, marketing, or other information-loaded courses that require a strong study motivation. When I say do a little bit every day, I mean organizing your time so that you can chew a bit in the morning, some at lunchtime, and some in the evening before you go to bed.
By all means, don’t overlook the power of the everyday. Even if you’re leading the most fun and exciting student life, do remember that you’ll need that information later on in life (although when we’re students, we don’t always know yet why this will be useful).
Study Motivation: Use Free Apps For Time Management
As soon as I feel like I really need study motivation, I use several free apps to increase my productivity at once. I have never been diagnosed with ADHD, but I know for a fact that throughout all my student life, I was always looking for work organization ideas – because I have lots of trouble focusing.
I want to do it all, and I want to do it all now.
If you’re like me, you should definitely check out the guide I’ve written about the best free productivity apps for freelancers and students. Some of the free apps for time management I currently use on a day-to-day basis are Trello, Forest, and PomoFocus.
Work Organization App: Trello
Trello is a simple, colorful board system that allows me to organize my ideas for work and manage my time all at once. How? When I create my lists, I pay attention to creating work lists organized by things to do in time.
You can add colors to the lists and even subcategories, and since you can create up to 10 boards for free, it’s perfect for study motivation.
Time Management App: Forest
Forest is another free app that you can use either on your cellphone or your laptop. I prefer using it on my phone, since all kinds of distractions come from our phones, with Instagram, Pinterest, Whatsapp, and Messenger coloring our studying aesthetic.
Forest allows you to grow little trees that literally die if you leave the screen – it sounds simple, but you really get to love those little trees and flowers you grow and it really helps with studying motivation.
Time Management App: PomoFocus
PomoFocus is a free website, and telling you to use it is probably one of the best time management tips for students I will give you in this post. Create study sessions of 25 minutes, take 5, come back and do it four times, and you’re allowed to take a 15 min break.
Truly one of the best free websites for time management whether you’re a student abroad, at home, or a digital nomad.
Study Motivation: Look For Office & Work Organization Ideas
I do think that a beautiful studying aesthetic helps tremendously with study motivation, especially when you’re not feeling it. That’s why I have plenty of beautiful branded notebooks, countless colorful felt-tip pens, and lots of other beautiful stationery supplies to keep me motivated.
Of course, I’m not in the ‘normal’ student life anymore. I’m a digital nomad, and I study from home courses about marketing, blogging, and SEO day in, day out. Learning never stops. But you need to have some kind of work organization if you want to be productive.
Take a few minutes, maybe an hour, someday, to figure out what’s missing in your work office (or workspace at home).
Make a list of what’s currently working for you, and what type of work organization ideas could help you improve your time management and your study motivation.
It could be more beautiful stationery, an ergonomic desk chair, planners, or printables with schedules. Once you’ve figured out what your work organization is missing, you can work towards getting more office supplies. It doesn’t need to be expensive, but it will definitely help with study motivation.
Study Motivation: Understand You Can Do It & Set Small Goals
The biggest idea of study motivation, at least for myself, is understanding that I’m totally capable of achieving the small goals I set for myself on a day-to-day basis. Here is what I do when I know I need to study hard and have lots of notes to take, but don’t feel that motivated to learn or do anything:
- I start a task by telling myself I’m only going to do it for 5 or 10 minutes (knowing perfectly that once I start, I’ll want to keep going)
- I open productivity apps like Trello or PomoFocus so I’m already in the mood
- I set very small goals, like simply doing some keyword research or only reading the summary of the course
- I read motivational quotes for study and success on the Internet
- I make my learning fun by looking up more information in books or Google, so I don’t only have the dry textbook to learn and actually end up learning more
Honestly, there’s no real secret to absolute study motivation. It’s really just a sum of little work organization ideas and tips to manage your time properly, plus a fun factor. It’s easier to eat something you like than something you hate, isn’t it?
Same with studying. Make it fun, and if you’re really not feeling it, break down courses into bite-sized pieces.
Use Study Motivation Quotes To Be Productive
I am big on using study motivation quotes when I need to study hard. I’ve always been attracted to all kinds of motivation and self-development books and quotes, and I love that there are inspirational quotes for everything.
You can either create your own affirmations for productivity (I personally do this on a daily basis) or read motivational quotes from inspiring, famous people. Some of the affirmations for productivity you could tell yourself are:
- I can do this
- I am strong and independent
- I am smart and creative
- I communicate my feelings to the people around me
- I ask for help when I need it
- I am able to achieve my goals
Listening to podcasts can help tremendously when you need a pep talk from the outside but no one’s in the house with you and you really need study motivation. I personally also use Study with Me YouTube videos to feel like I have people working with me – kind of like a study group.
Study Motivation Tips: Take Real Breaks From Studying
Now here’s a study motivation tip I’m really writing for myself, here: take real breaks! By using PomoFocus and Forest, you’re already ahead in terms of proper time management skills. Once every few hours, at the beginning of the day, or once your work is done, get out of the house.
At home, we have so many distractions that it can become quite difficult to study hard. Even when you’re using Forest. What I personally do is create my blog posts at home, but if I need to learn something that requires my undivided attention, I’ll go to the nearest library or cafe to work.
Study motivation varies, like everything in life, and sometimes, I just can’t be asked to work from home. It’s better in this case to just go out, get some fresh air, and work in a library where you know the atmosphere is all about studying and making it happen.
Study Motivation Tips: Reward Yourself
All work and no play make me grumpy and sad – and it impacts my study motivation. I’m very much a person who wants and needs to have everything organized. Not because I forget things, but because I want to do it all, so much so that I end up getting nothing done.
So, I’ve come up with an idea that keeps me motivated while studying. I reward myself. I tell myself that I have to complete such and such tasks, and once they’re complete, I can go out and treat myself to something. Luckily, I currently live in London, and there are lots of free things to do alone in London when I need to clear my head.
Student life equals life on a budget, most of the time, so if you live in the UK or the USA, and like me, you love your stationery, you could treat yourself to new supplies at Poundland, Savers, or TJ Maxx. Or, you could reward yourself with a treat, like some chocolate or candy (but don’t go overboard, yeah?).
Hope is definitely a strong motivational factor, so encouraging and rewarding yourself with small incentives really will help you make the most of your student life.
Study Motivation: 7 Best Tips To Get Motivated To Study Hard
There you have them, my best tips for study motivation – to be used whether you’re currently living in a hostel abroad or at home. There are lots of time management strategies out there, but those are some study motivation tips I’ve been using for years. And they work.
Later on, I’ll write other guides filled with work organization ideas for the office, and time management tips for students whether they’re studying abroad or not. Just remember you can do this, set small goals, stay structured and organized, and you’ll be fine!
Until next time!
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