Education has a crucial role in life. Without education, it is nearly impossible to grow and survive in today’s day and age – and to gain the knowledge you must study. Without motivation, you can’t do something to its fullest. Likewise, you need the motivation to study. In this writing, our main focus is – how to motivate yourself to study?
Before getting into how to motivate yourself to study let’s see what motivation actually is. Scientifically speaking, the word motivation refers to the internal psychological energy that drives a person to do something. Our everyday life is dependent on this particular aspect of our psychological makeup. But here we are going to discuss motivation in terms of studying specifically. We will discuss how to maneuver that internal force for the purpose of studying. Before we talk about how one can motivate himself to study, we will look into when and how we are motivated. Then work out the ways that can be sought to change our attitude towards study.
Before moving further here is a piece of advice for you. If you are trying different methods to motivate yourself in the study but are still struggling, you might also need to hire a qualified and subject specialist tutor who will help you through your study along your journey of your education. You can take advantage of websites such as “CIOAL tutors, the home tutor in Karachi”, and find your best tutors from tutoring services like “the home tuition in Karachi” to get one-to-one help, online or on-site. There you will find a science tutor, math tutor, English Tutor, or any tutor of any other subject in no time.
When a person picks up a book and begins to read randomly (not talking about when you have to do it for the purpose of an exam or something), what is it that keeps the reader hooked on to the book? It is “interest”. The more interest-arousing a book is for you, the more you will want to read. Maybe you have had that experience when you are not in the mood of studying or reading and you randomly start to turn over the pages. However going through pages you find something that is catchy, relatable, or something that you were curious about knowing. From there you keep on reading. All of a sudden you are motivated to read!
Why does it happen? Human beings basically seek rewards, the feeling of satisfaction comes when they learn something they want to. Because they know in their instincts that someday this knowledge is going to benefit them in the future. So in this case the reward is the feeling of satisfaction obtained through finding out what one wanted to learn.
Many of us must have also felt that slight anxiety during or while preparing for exams. That is normal and nothing to worry about. Without slight anxiety and this feeling of an adrenaline rush, many things in life would be virtually impossible or at least we can say, less possible. A person would become an emotionless dull robotic machine thereby. Because there would be no kind of push to do something. Actually, there has been a case of a grown-up tech genius who seemed very healthy outwardly but began to suffer from a psychological illness that reduced his motivation level to null, so much so that he had to be told even to attend to the call of nature when it was required – that was maybe an ultimate example of lack of motivation.
This example shows that indeed that slight anxious feeling is a basic need for a stable psychological makeup. Those who are well prepared for exams also feel it let alone those who spent their entire years playing games, watching movies, and hanging out with friends, and at the end of the year, they want all the syllabus to be magically crammed and stored in their brains somehow, which is a proof that even if you are not too much fond of studying, you will still be pushed to prepare for the exams at least. In this case, the low amount of time left for the exams is what motivates you.
What your brain is basically seeking the reward. The reward does not have to be a material thing but can be the satisfaction of passing, or of getting good grades, (which shouldn’t be, by the way, the only motive for a student, and is discussed in another article ( Grades are important but not everything! ) as is not the topic of the discussion).
In the language of psychology, the promise for the reward that your brain gives you is called the incentive. Your brain keeps on telling you to do certain satisfying tasks that you have experienced or may not have experienced with a promise that you will be rewarded with the feeling of satisfaction. It is basically these promises or ‘incentives’, to be more technical, that drive people to do something. Incentives can be good and also bad.
It is indeed these incentives that force ”addict” people to carry on with their drugs. The same is the case with other addictions also as game addictions and obsessions, etc. The addict is basically seeking pleasure. Even though he knows for sure that he won’t feel the pleasure he felt the first time indulging in it out of curiosity, but still he does it and gives in to the false promises of the brain. So he is kept motivated to do the bad things. There should be some way to maneuver this promise for good purposes like doing productive things such as studying.
How to motivate yourself to study
How to maneuver those promises of the brain, how to motivate yourself to study after all? What way on earth do we need to follow so that we can make use of this particular aspect of our brain to do the good things? See if we know that our brain seeks satisfaction and that if we start reading from the part of the book that is more “interest arousing”, there is a bigger chance that we will keep on. So indeed the advice is to rummage through and start from the most interesting part.
This advice may look simple but is a very crucial one. You must not take it lightly. At least you shall try this. Start reading from the part of the book or the notes you have taken for something that captures your interest the most. Once you have read enough from that specific part of the writing, shift on to the relevant part.
I remember once before exams when they were just nigh and I was not in the mood of studying. I picked up my notes and put them back. It was kind of a double feeling. To study or not to study? I would speak to myself well if you are not studying, you will not get your dream grade. You may not be knowledgeable enough in your future field. I would randomly pick up a pen and start doodling and it was kind of satisfying.
That is where the real thing hit my mind- incentive! I saw that doodling and randomly using a pen kind of felt good so I picked up my notes again and began copying them on my notebook. And then guess what, I wrote and wrote until it was enough for my wrists and then moved on to the next chapter’s reading. In effect, I was motivated.
Besides motivation, one should work upon changing his or her routine for the best. To understand the point here is an example from chemistry for those who are keen to learn science. Motivation works like a catalyst in a chemical reaction. However, if there are no reactants or not enough reactants, there is no or limited reaction. Our daily routine should be such that we have slept enough. Things are balanced enough that we do not feel a lack of energy or lethargy. Otherwise, we will only be motivated to lie down and recover enough energy in the hand only to pick up a gadget and watch Netflix and whatnot.
How to motivate yourself to study
One needs to be brave enough to touch a book and overcome the constant fear that he is not going to be able to cover the book in time anyway. Some people enter the denial phase by ignoring their problems. They spend their time scrolling down Facebook posts or watching auto-play Youtube videos one after another. Consequently, they forget they have other things to do in life which they are not doing. Because they deem those things to be “boring” and “difficult”.
They think they are overcoming the problem but the reality is these defense mechanisms are adding fuel to the fire. When they are done with procrastinating habits they realize had they utilized the time more productively, things would have been better. However, it is too late, and regretting is to no avail. So what needs to be done is to keep your brain relaxed also because the brain can get tired too. Also, the strain on your eye muscles can cause them to run out of energy if you are constantly into using mobile phones or games, etc. When you revive your energy after resting, don’t touch your smartphone. Rather hold a book and rummage through pages until you find something interesting. When you have done so, just start reading and then switch on to the chapters you need to prepare well. Simple!
Take your time and think about the consequences.
How to motivate yourself to study
The last but not the least advice is that one should take his/her time and ponder upon things. One should write down what is going to happen. One should think that his or her time is wasted and things are not ready enough before exams. Similarly, what will be the benefits and how satisfied will he or she be to prove himself standing out if he or she studies better. This thought itself would be a motivation for one to at least give it a go. This will work as an incentive. Then once, following the advice given earlier, if a student starts from the parts which he or she is more curious to learn about, things will get a lot easier, and learning will be fun.
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