Motivation to Study – Break it Down and Make it Manageable

If There’s One Key To Motivation

It’s this…whatever you’re working on break it down into manageable chunks instead of looking at it as the mountain it probably is.

That’s the way many of my college friend’s minds always seemed to work…they’d look at an assignment, find out they had to write a 20 page paper with 10 scholarly references, and their mind kind of went…well…a little numb.

I Never Suffered From That Kind of Paralyzed Thinking

Not because of anything I did (or didn’t do) but because, following a 10 year hiatus from college, upon entering Florida State University for my junior year I was lucky enough to get a super tough professor for my first research class…the toughest class I’d ever taken.

I mean, this professor made students tremble. He definitely struck fear into hearts. Past students celebrated having survived his class, present students prayed to one day be able to be counted among the survivors, and future students…well, you could just mention his name and eyes glazed over, mouths gaped into grotesque shapes, and hands began trembling

It may not sound like it but he was actually well-liked.

I Was Already Extremely Nervous About

Writing The Big Dawg Papers but surprisingly I found that I’d been bitten by the research bug (some of you either know what I’m talking about, will know at some later point what I’m talking about, or know someone who knows what I’m talking about).

I truly enjoyed that class because he took the essential parts of a publishable research paper and chopped them into manageable pieces, one of which was due every six weeks or so. In the meantime he taught and tested on that particular section.

The Motivation To Study and Do Well Was Already Evident

In that I was a nontraditional student (with, at times, 3 or 4 children at home).

However, that motivation could have so easily been squashed if I’d found it impossible to comprehend the material or if I’d felt so overwhelmed that I didn’t think success was within my grasp…even after working my butt off and even pulling some all-nighters.

This makes sense considering that we’re all more motivated to do something that we know we can succeed at, even if it is very difficult.

I Understand That Not Everyone Is Fortunate Enough

To have been taught this way but I’m convinced that because he had us write our research papers section by section it definitely made a difference in how motivated I was to work in the class.

In other words, he broke it down and made it manageable and, as a result, motivation wasn’t inhibited.

Granted, 98% of the students still hated the class but that was more because they hated research in general than that they weren’t motivated.

In Summary

The best way we can keep ourselves motivated, or to motivate someone else for that matter (Parents…hint, hint), is to break those tasks down into chunks that can be managed easily. This applies whether it’s you doing a research paper, teaching your child to clean a bathroom (a necessity at this stage of your life…and his…if he’s over 5 years old), or coming up with a household budget (yep…another necessity).

Now that you know how to keep yourself motivated (how did the saying go?) “May the Force Be With You.” (I never was a Star Wars fan so I’m not sure who said that.)

Want to learn more about time management while being a student? If so, then download my free ebook about Time Management and Students to get a jumpstart on a less stressful more productive life.