How to stay motivated if you don’t have exams during exam season. 

With the upcoming festivities and decreasing temperatures it can be all too easy to become stuck in a slump, especially when you don’t have the pressure of exams to squeeze some motivation out of you over the holidays and the only warm place in the house is under your duvet wrapped in 10 layers. 

However, it’s still important to remain up to date with university work and keep it from flying under the radar as this will avoid it taking you by surprise and making you feel overwhelmed during deadline season. Although, it’s also important to enjoy your time off to prevent burnout as this will ensure you’re starting the new year feeling rested and ready to take on the rest of the academic year in the best mindset possible. Therefore, its paramount to strike a balance!

The first thing to do is to ensure everything is organised, write down all your important dates, make sure all of your notes make sense, are in order and are useful, not just a copy of the lecture slides! By doing this you’ll be aware of what to prioritise during this break and get a plan going, with a key timeline of how long you have left, it can also spark some motivation as everyone loves the feeling of getting work done early! 

Reflect on why you’re wanting to do well, reflection is a great source of motivation and by writing down your goals and how you’re planning to get them, you’ll be motivated to finish them as you’ll have refreshed yourself on why you’re doing it. Whether it’s a dream career, passion or a steppingstone to somewhere else, everyone has reasons for completing their degree and these reasons keep us pushing forward, even when faced with burnout. 

Another simple way to keep the motivation going is to schedule in little rewards after you complete tasks, these can range from letting yourself go wild at the boxing day sales to a simple hot chocolate. By rewarding yourself after each little task it’ll give you an instant sense of gratification as it can be hard to constantly see the bigger motivational picture, such as graduating, as it can seem very far away and almost unaffected by the present. 

In addition, little and often is the way to go! By keeping your work to short bursts, especially over the holiday period, you’ll ensure you’re not burning out from a ten-hour work day. It’ll also mean you’ll have a better attitude to working since it won’t seem as long and keep your motivation going.

Although it can be hard to separate work and enjoyment, it’s important to prioritise spending time with family and friends and work at an equal level. This will ensue you’re relaxing and keep the motivation going, since you’re not spending all your time worrying about work. A good plan also means you have set time to think about it.