Life as a student can be thrilling and stressful at the same time. Planning all your activities in a way that puts your study first isn’t easy.
No matter how focused you are as a student, many external and internal factors can steal your study motivation from time to time.
However, these 7 distractions can be converted to motivation once you identify how they are taking your time and focus.
1. Socializing With Friends
Having a social life is good for your mental health. Going to parties with your friends, visiting them, and spending time with them regularly is recommended.
However, it’s easy to lose your study motivation when your friends are more concerned about socializing than studying.
Reading for an important test or exam isn’t going to be easy when you have a long list of social activities that you can’t miss because your friends insist.
To solve this problem, make sure that all your friends are on the same page as you. They should be ready to prioritize their studies and yours as well.
Hang out with friends who can say no to attending a party because there is a test coming up, and they don’t want to fail. Friends can be a strong source of motivation when they share your goals.
2. Having Too Many Followers On Social Media
Social media is more or less the biggest distraction to students of the 21st century.
When you have active social media accounts with many followers, you’ll be going from notification to notification day and night, and you’ll lack the motivation you need to study.
It takes a lot of discipline to ignore those notifications when it’s time to study, but this is something you must learn to do if you want to stay motivated.
Also, in order to use social media to your advantage, you can create virtual study groups with course mates who have the same goals.
You can all agree on reading a subject and discussing it the following day. This way, you’ll be using your social media channels for something productive.
3. Reading With The Internet
The Internet is a resourceful tool. Most of the research you’ll need for assignments and tests can be easily accessed from the Internet.
However, the Internet can also serve as a big distraction to students.
Thanks to advertising giants, you can hardly scroll through a page on Google without seeing a product, service, or content you want to read. For example, while you’re trying to read an article about study motivation, you can feel tempted to click on a banner advertisement of the shoes you like.
4. Creating A To-Do List
Scheduling is a good thing, but it only works if you follow through with it.
So, having a to-do-list that you never use can actually make you lose motivation. To solve this problem, try creating a mental to-do-list and sticking to it before you move on to creating a physical one.
If you can fulfill everything you want to do, including studying, without using an elaborate list, you’ll understand and stick to a schedule.
5. Watching Netflix
Netflix is one thing that can take your mind off the stress attached to day-to-day life. After a long day at school, you may feel like you’ve earned two hours of Netflix.
However, most of the series on Netflix are addictive.
Two hours can quickly become 4 hours, 5 hours, or even 7 hours. The next thing you know its morning, and you haven’t even studied for 1 hour.
Being able to enjoy Netflix without allowing your studies to suffer will require a lot of discipline. If you can’t discipline yourself, stick to subscribing for Netflix only during vacations.
6. Being Obsessed With Chores
Cleaning your room, cooking healthy meals, and doing laundry are important. However, it’s easy to lose your
study motivation when you spend all your time doing chores.
This time could have been channeled into studying. So, does this mean you should avoid doing chores entirely?
Not at all.
What it means is that you should learn the tips and tricks that will help you speed up the pace. Or, more simply, you should learn to prioritize your studies over-cleaning.
7. Relationship Drama
Your relationship with your significant other is going to play a key role in determining your mood, feelings, and study motivation.
Being in a mentally challenging relationship can consume you and steal your motivation.
Being in a relationship that is amazing can also steal your time and in extension, your motivation because it will serve as a distraction.
The good news is that being in a positive relationship is better than being in a negative one. All you have to do is find a balance that allows you to put your education first.
If, on the other hand, the relationship is not making you happy, try ending it, and focus on being alone for a while.
Bottom Line – You can complete your education without compromising on other aspects of your life if you find the right balance.
Have you ever noticed in your own life how any of these seven things take your study motivation from you? Have you been able to flip the script and instead use one of them to your advantage? Share your stories with us in the comments below!