Staying motivated when studying towards a degree, whether it’s a distance or an in-person degree, is an important skill so that you don’t fall behind, but it can also be a difficult one. I’m by no means perfect when it comes to staying motivated, but as.I’m studying full time with The Open University I’ve tried to keep myself disciplined. In this blog post I’m going to go through some things that I find useful for keeping myself both motivated and focused.
Creating a To-Do List
First things first, I find that making myself a to-do list on a weekly basis is really useful in making sure that I have all of my tasks written down. I tend to split this between both of my modules so I know what I need to complete for each. This can be anything from completing notes for the module materials, completing some independent study, or reading a set text. Making to-do lists, in general, helps me to get all of the things I need to do down on paper before I dive into the work and also helps me to prioritise my work. I also enjoy crossing tasks out when I’ve completed them!
Pomodoro Technique
Studying in blocks is also useful in order to keep yourself motivated. There are a lot of YouTube videos that you can watch following this technique. You can set the timer to however long you feel like you can focus, but the common times tend to be 25 minutes with a 5 minute break or 50 minutes with a 10 minute break. Whatever suits you really, and it can really be adapted to suit your focus needs. For this technique, it’s important to incorporate short breaks into your studying to try and help you focus. It’s really useful though if you’re struggling.
Forest App
I use this app quite often when studying to try and keep myself motivated, focused, and off my phone! Phones are probably one of our biggest distractions and this helps me to keep it. Although I can’t guarantee I always stick with it and sometimes get distracted anyway, but I would still recommend it as a way to stop yourself from getting distracted by notifications. There is also a browser extension that I occasionallty use on Firefox, you can probably get something similar on other browsers too.
Change of study scenery
I think that it’s important to study somewhere that isn’t your bed for the majority of the time, although there are occasions during the colder months where I do end up studying from bed! This doesn’t have to be at a desk because I know this isn’t possible for everyone, but this could mean studying from your dining table, from your sofa, or even going to your local library or cafe. Whatever works the best for you.
Find a study buddy / group
Studying at university, especially when it’s distance learning, can be a lonely experience and in turn this can make it difficult to motivate yourself. But if you can find a study buddy (or group) of like-minded people who may be studying the same course or modules as yourself, then this can be a great help! I have my own little group from my first year of studying with The Open University and it would have been an incredibly lonely experience if I didn’t have that.
Listen to music
Whether it’s your favourite music or finding some ambience or lofi music on youtube, this is also another great way to help keep yourself motivated. I struggle to focus on studying new material with musics that have lyrics, so I find ambience or lofi music on youtube a great alternative.
If you’ve made it to the end, I hope you found this post somewhat useful!
Question of the day: What are some of your favourite study tips to keep yourself motivated?
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Ashleigh Writes 
I’ve never actually heard of the Forest App. I’m going to search that one up and have a look into it. Motivation is something I’m struggling with at the moment so it’s worth a try!
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