1) Make a plan
Making a detailed plan is one of the best ways to ensure you don’t fall behind with your workload. This is especially the case if you’re a VCE student with a whole host of deadlines, due dates, and examination dates to keep track of. Planning your week/month or even year in advance can be a great way to remind yourself of all the tasks that are coming up and even be excited for them! It’s also a great way to ensure that no tasks or deadlines surprise you. You could use a good old-fashioned calendar or diary to keep track or use online software and applications such as Wunderlist, Google Calendar and Trello.
2) Rehearse your victories
It’s all too easy for us to remember our failure and dwell on them, as I’m sure you know. It is far too easy to remember one’s shortcomings and to forget one’s victories. An excellent way to stay motivated throughout the school year is to remember your victories, whether small or large. This could take the form of having an award you won on your study desk as a reminder of your capabilities and past achievements, or reminiscing with your family or friends about the time you achieved the best marks on the SAC.
3) Stay healthy and fit
Whilst it’s particularly important to study hard, apply yourself and balance your multitude of tasks, the importance of staying healthy both physically and mentally cannot be undervalued. At the heart of your education, your accomplishments and your future ambitions is you. In order for all of these to thrive, you must be fit and healthy. Keyways to look after your health is to stay hydrated, maintain a balanced, nutritious diet and a routine of mild to vigorous exercise.
4) Reward yourself
Following on from taking care of one’s health, it’s just as important to take care of your mental health as well as your physical health while studying. Taking a small break from study to reward one’s self can do wonders for one’s productivity and learning and memory capabilities. This reward can take the form of watching a movie, going for a hike, catching up with a friend for a meal, purchasing something nice for yourself or engaging in a hobby.
5) Be inspired
It can be hard to maintain your level of enthusiasm and motivation throughout the school year. While energy levels may be abundant at the beginning of the school year, they can drop significantly towards the middle of the school year.
At times like that, it’s important to remind yourself of your end goals and of what inspires you. It would be useful to think about what inspires you and motivates you to achieve your goals, whether this be your parents, teachers, heroes, or people working within your dream profession. Finding your inspiration can involve research into the fields of work that interests you, going to university open days and speaking with academics and so much more.
6) Do the toughest task first
Finally, a practical tip that’s tried and tested. It’s all too easy to avoid doing a certain set of tasks or starting a to-do list simply because one task on the list stands out as daunting and overwhelming. It’s yet easier to start the rest of the tasks in dread of the daunting task and have a less than productive and unhappy day. In situations like this, it is often best to tackle the most difficult task on your list first and you’ll often find the task was not that difficult after all.