Motivation
 

Guys! It's only 3 weeks into the semester and I'm already slacking off and losing my motivation to do well! I'm doing my required study hours and everything, but that doesn't help much. Anyone have any ideas for incentives for myself to keep up in classes?

Talk to your academic chairman. She'll have lots of ideas.

Set up a study group that meets weekly in the library.

Set up a competition with some sorority sisters-- theme it by making a chart-- whoever gets the highest grades for the semester gets treated to a girls night out-- and everyone goes out to celebrate the end of the semester. Maybe you can make it a "garden" theme-- each of you represents a flower and the flower grows with each good grade.... etc.

Get class study buddies

Make a sister your study motivator-- and you will be hers. Leave each other little notes and gifts, and meet to study weekly. Even if it is a different subject, knowing that the other is depending on you to show up is enough to get you to the study spot.

Go to Starbucks to indulge your $5 latte habit and spend 3 hours there studying

Go the tutoring center

Limit yourself to one mixer and one sisterhood event (intramural game, hanging at the house, going to a service project) during the weekdays.

Make Sunday "study day" from 1-4 PM. Go to Starbucks or the library. This gives you time to go to worship or recover from Saturday night, whichever is more "you"-- on Sun morning. You even have time to meet friends for brunch.

Track your progress-- start a blog, even!

This sounds cheesy but some AOIIs at Ole Miss do this. They make these posters (big size) and put all of their classes on the poster and put what grades they want to make in the class. This way they see the poster everyday to motivate them to make those good grades and to make that good semester GPA. For some reason it really does work.

Also, try somewhere new to study; I know I use to love to study at the gym on campus. I would sit on the bike and read my textbooks and that was a good way to workout and study. Find out of if your chapter offer incentives for those who do well. We try to give our 3.8-4.0 girls either money or a gift pack. I know that always makes girls work harder to get something free! Also, find some friends in your classes (or make friends if you don't know anyone) and have some sort of "check in" system. Meaning, if you aren't in class they are calling you to find out where you are and vice versus. Also, have everyone make copies of their notes and study everyone notes. I know I write word for word for a professor says and I have friends who write what the teacher says in their own words so sometimes it’s good to see what others are writing down.

Hope this helps!

Example Poster:

Organization Behavior Mgmt 391--Goal--A
Buyer Seller Communications Mktg 351--Goal B
Principles of Accounting, Accy 201--Goal C
Intro to Music, MUS 200--Goal A
MIS 309--Goal B
Semester GPA Goal: 3.20 GPA (if I did my math right but I'm not a math gal!)--you get the idea

thanks guys! any other ideas? A lot of my problem is just sitting down at my desk to study and finding a million other things to do instead...like check myspace and facebook.

1) Unplug your computer

2) Work without a computer in your workspace-- IE: find a workspace somewhere away from your room

3) If you work on the computer, go right to business. I mean, just sit down and go the news group you're supposed to read or the Word doc yo're supposed to work on. When you're done, you can surf. If it helps, set a timer. When the timer goes off you can leave that application to surf. (I've had to do this. It does help to just sit right down and go to it.)

Remember how much it's costing you to take those classes, or how much it's costing your parents or whoever is paying. Honestly, college is expensive, and if you look at wasted time as wasted money, that can be a motivator.

Take a dollar bill and smell it. Do you smell the money? Do you smell the expensive coke someone snorted using that bill? Do you smell the expensive stripper that had that dollar bill in her panties?

-Rudey
--That should motivate you.

Ha- that is the best thing I have read all day! I have a family member that constantly says he loves the smell of money-- next time I hear that from him I am quoting you!

I know how you feel. I got the flu and so I missed some classes and now it is soooooo hard to go back. My sleeping is all messed up and I'm having trouble going to bed before 4, which makes it even harder to wake up.

I'm just not motivated anymore. :(

UKDaisy,
I am also not sleeping. Literally, only two hours in three days. I have been calling my doctor for the last three days with no result. A bit frustrated.

I am trying to stay caught up by following the syllabi I have for my classes. I have also emailed my professors to let them know I am having difficulties. I can't even try driving right now, because I fall asleep behind the wheel. This is bad, because I have to commute 30 minutes one-way to classes.

I hope you feel caught up soon. Also, keeping my fingers crossed that you get your sleep back to normal. I feel ya!

Meredith

I have this EXACT SAME PROBLEM - if I try to study at my apartment, I dont get anything accomplished. I'm an IT major, so computers are essential to my studying...but if it isnt something that i HAVE to type up, or a webdevelopment assignment - I force myself to go to the student center on campus and find a quite spot to study. If I'm at home either the TV, the computer or my bed (to nap of course!) is more exciting to me than studying - so therefore I remove myself from the distractions.

That works too. I had jobs during high school where I was working with 30, 40 and 50 year olds who were at the exact same employment level. Seeing them struggling day-to-day, and knowing full well that they really didn't have anywhere else to go professionally made me feel damn lucky I was getting a college education.