MEDICAL SUPPLIES.

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Dealing With Procrastination and Lack of Motivation During Isolation

procrastination and motivation study tips

Theodore Dimitriou |

For many students and employees studying and working from home isn’t something which they’re used to, and it can be challenging developing a study routine when surrounded by so many distractions.

Below are 5 key considerations that we’ve garnered together from different team members of MyMedEquip who have had to battle with procrastination throughout their undergrad years and, let's be real, aren't without distractions working from home at the moment!

 

  1. It’s not normal

Many people find their study zen in the environment provided by the library at their university, their workplace, or by the company of their classmates and colleagues. With most class learning now being self-paced and online, the lack of an organised and structured class can leave students clutching at straws trying to find a productive structure to apply to their self-directed learning. With the ‘normal’ study environment being disrupted comes an array of the distractions! 

As such, individuals learning/working from home in isolation are often afflicted by a negative spiral of de-motivation, pathological procrastination, and anxiety! In fact, procrastination, is reportedly the greatest challenge students face when working from home! (Scholar?) Netflix sales don’t help this!

  1. Create your learning environment

You are in control of your environment. Cause and create!

The health of your mind is proportional to its ability to cope with complex tasks; don’t stay up late, get up early, go for a brisk walk/jog to oxygenate your brain.

Also, as Jordan B Peterson preaches:

“A messy room equals a messy mind”.

This truth has become self-evident to us now that we’re working from home!

In fact, Jordan B Peterson gets letters from people saying their lives were changed just by cleaning their room!

“The world presents itself as a series of puzzles” the more puzzles before you, whether it be video games, Netflix, or a room that needs tidying, the greater difficulty you will have focussing on the puzzle of your assignment!

 

  1. Acknowledge that you don’t know what to do!


Once you have created an environment supportive of learning, it’s time to acknowledge that this is something that you’re not used to, and that it will now require a bit of mental exercise to establish your routine.

The night before you study, write down your goals and tasks for the next day. Be soft on yourself to start with, don’t overburden yourself or you may be unduly discouraged! You can find some great tips on time management here!

 

  1. You’re still unmotivated

Lack of satisfaction in self-directed study is often due to a lack of results! You might be putting 100% effort in, but your approach may not 100% efficient. Refine your method! Take control. Using the task setting tips in the above linked blog, set your goals methodically.

Use spaced repetition! This is method of revising has the MOST evidence base supporting its efficacy in memorising and learning new material! Link papers

 

  1. Focus on more than your study

Give yourself a well-rounded day! Set yourself a daily challenge: whether it’s a sudoku, exercise (essential in our opinion! We love a brisk walk), or some kind of creative endeavour such as playing an instrument for half an hour or so. It is often thought that the thing which the ancient Greeks favoured above all else was mental development (think: philosophy). But in fact, they favoured both mental and physical development alike! Their gymnasiums were not merely so that Socrates could squat or so Dionysus could deadlift; they were equally used in the development of mental strength. The Ancient Greek’s saw that the development of the mental powers depended on the development the physical powers. And that hasn’t changed! Check out this short TedTalk by a contemporary neuroscientist.

 

 

We hope these study tips help you! We’d love to hear about what you’re doing to stay motivated during this time. Your feedback on whether any of these tips helped you is also appreciated! Feel free to contact us via email, social media, or the contact us page on this site.

 

Stay safe!

 Photo by Photo by Andrea Piacquadio