the encouragement lounge: Staying Motivated - overcome end-of-semester fatigue

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Staying Motivated - overcome end-of-semester fatigue - three strategies

More end-of-semester advice. How to maintain your motivation, even late in the year when you may be tired. From my PhD-buddy Lisa:

Promise to allow yourself a specific, desired reward for accomplishing your goal. For example, "I am allowed to buy that fabulous pair of red heels if I finish this paper by tomorrow/ make at least a B on the final exam/ make it to the end of the semester without hurling myself off a cliff."

Create a rich mental image of yourself doing something you plan to enjoy doing after the semester is over. When you are feeling burned out or frustrated, stop for a moment. . .take a breath. . .and call forth your enticing image. (I'm sitting by the pool with my favorite book, husband by my side, sound of a waterfall in the background. . .combined with some beachy music. . .)

Study independently but with friends. And get out of the house or the library! Even if your friends are not taking the same classes with you or you don't learn as much through collaborative study, go to a coffee shop/ restaurant/ outdoor venue with others who are focused on their own work. It is easier to slog through the last weeks of school when you feel surrounded by community.

-Lisa "Buns of Steel" Graham

3 comments:

JudiApril 19, 2011 at 7:49 AM
I like this girl. She had me RED HEELS.....
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JudiApril 19, 2011 at 7:50 AM
oops....I meant to say She had me AT Red Heels....I just got so excited....
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Harriet SchwartzApril 19, 2011 at 2:48 PM
I though that would get you fired up!
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Working adult students, on my mind...

I hope this blog will be helpful to friends and others involved in a variety of endeavors. However, I created the blog with students in mind and continue to develop it with that specific group as my focus.

I believe that with the increase in evening, weekend, and low-residency programs, students are working more and more in isolation. If we were all full-time students on campus, we would have the informal support that comes with being able to go down the hall and talk with a colleague, etc. But instead, we are working late nights and weekends at home in front of the laptop.

With that in mind, I hope the encouragement lounge provides brief moments of respite and energizing connection. This does not at all replace valuable face-to-face contact. Many aspects of the academic journey can only be addressed via in-depth conversations with colleagues and teachers. And I would always rather sit down and talk with someone than to communicate online. Nonetheless, my aim is to give you one more channel for quick hits of support.