This is How To Motivate Yourself To Study Even When You Are Tired
“Haaah! I’m tired and I have this assessment coming up soon. I need to study. What do I do?” If you are in this kind of situation, don’t fret, I have come up with different ways to motivate yourself to study even when everything seems not right – with you or within your environment.
Tiredness could be a result of stress or weather condition. This article seeks to tell you ways you can motivate yourself to study even when you are tired. Let’s dive into it!
14 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Study Even When Tired
1. Set Goals and be Mindful of Them
Setting a goal is one of the ways to motivate you to study. This is very important whenever you want to achieve anything meaningful in life. Before you even begin to read, you must have something at stake or there must be a reason why you need to study in the first place. Now that’s your goal. Tell yourself “I’m on an important journey and I can’t afford to back down at this moment”.
Even though you are tired, when you remember your set goal(s) – say your examination is coming up in a few weeks and you need to pass, or you have a presentation, seminar, workshop, or even a lecture to make on something in a few days, you will surely rise and pick up that book.
2. Want to Motivate Yourself to Study, Try Taking a Shower or Bath
Taking a shower or bathing after a stressful day is one of the ways to motivate yourself to study. This may sound funny to you, but it isn’t to me and anyone who has tried it. Freshening up has a special way of relieving you of the stress you feel. According to research, taking a shower or a hot bath can help us feel better about ourselves.
After a stressful day, take a nice warm shower and try to relax, as it’s known that when we feel better physically, we get more confident in ourselves, the more convinced we are up to the challenges ahead.
Also, I suggest you quickly look at how a hot bath can clean off a day’s stress here.
Whenever you are tired but still need to study, don’t hesitate. Just take a shower!
3. Set a Reward for Yourself
Sounds childish right? Ok fine. Consider this scenario and then we’ll see if you still feel the same:
Fatima – a customer care agent in an establishment, needed to study for an examination which she hasn’t prepared for it well the following day, but she was tired because of work. She needed rest but can’t because of what’s at stake. She recently caught her husband in an act of infidelity which hurt her so much. He has been apologizing for weeks since the incident but never did she forgive him, though deep down, she wants to so peace could reign in the family. To motivate herself, she decided “I will forgive my husband if I pass my examination”. That was all it took. She passed her exams and her family is back to normal!
Everyone wants to be appreciated when they do something good. That was her way of rewarding herself.
Do you still see it as childish? I bet NO!
4. Breakdown the Material
I remember one time during my days in the university; I had a big material on Geomorphology to study – the kind that will scare an average student. So, I kept on worrying and thinking of how to go about studying the material. Behold! I got found the way. It was like a voice came down from the sky and said to me “break down that material into chunks” which I did. Since then, I hardly get scared of studying, no matter how voluminous the material is.
You can also do that. I understand the situation where one is tired but still has to study because of a test, examination, and the likes. Trust me, I have been there. But not to worry, just try and break that material into smaller units so that reading and comprehending the content becomes less tasking, and doesn’t scare you.
You may decide to pick topic by topic or chapter by chapter. Just remember that your choice should be strictly related to your intellectual ability.
5. Study Bit By Bit
One of the ways to motivate yourself to study is by studying the material bit by bit. Because you are already tired, you will most definitely feel lazy to read even though you know you have to study because of the situation at hand, do not go for the entire material at a blow. You should consider reading item by item or paragraph by paragraph – whichever one works for you at the moment.
By so doing, you won’t be bored and at the same time, you are on the course of achieving your goals. As they say, “slow and steady wins the race”.
6. Get an Active Study Friend
Having an active study friend could go a long way in motivating you to study when you are tired. They could be messiahs depending on how keen they are to studying. They are those kinds of people that they not only love to read but have a passion for it. I bet you can’t be relaxed or lazy when you have such friends around you. Attend tutorials together, or have group discussions on the subject matter.
They are those kinds of friends that set your butt on fire to enable you to get to space regardless of how tired you are.
If you don’t have one, get one now!
7. Remind Yourself That It Won’t Last Forever
One of the ways to motivate yourself to study when tired is by telling yourself “this shit ain’t gonna last forever”. Of course, no study lasts forever, there is surely a time when it will come to an end. That’s what you should be looking at, not the stress.
This has helped me a lot, and I strongly believe it will help you too.
8. Setting a Timer or Reminder
Setting a timer as one of the ways to motivate yourself to study, is very important. Here, you don’t need to purchase expensive timers to be able to achieve this, your mobile phone can do. Unlock that phone, set the alarm on a desirable time, then relax on your comfy bed, chair, couch, or maybe sleep.
Since you are tired, I suggest you take a nap, then wake up to the alarm you set. This way, you get to study and study well without much stress.
9. Get Something to Eat or Chew
As funny as it may look or sound, getting something to eat or chew can help you get motivated to study when you are tired or sleepy. I have tried that, times without a number. A university friend of mine is like that; she made it a habit because it always works for her, whether she’s tired or not.
Oftentimes, tiredness has a tendency of making one sleepy, but by eating (popcorn, chin chin, peanuts, etc.) or chewing (chewing gum), you are hindering yourself from sleeping by keeping yourself busy – busy in a sweet way.
This will definitely motivate you to study.
10. Start from the Simple to the Complex
Let’s say, for instance, you have five materials to study for an examination. It will be in your best interest to start with topics or materials that are easy to understand, from there, you can graduate to a more difficult one. Perhaps, the simple topics or materials have a link to the more complex ones. This will give you an added advantage.
By so doing, you won’t feel the stress or tiredness because you know you are starting from easy to complex. Surely, this is one of the ways to motivate yourself to read.
11. Stay Away from Distractions
Do away with anything that can cause any form of distraction to you. You will have to make sure that you are fully focused else, negativity will set in. Make sure the environment is quiet if you want it that way, no televisions playing, no ‘clingy’ wife or husband, video game, etc. Ensure you have a clean environment free from anything capable of distracting you. This is one of the sure ways to motivate yourself to study.
12. Repeating One Thing or a Few Things
One of the fastest ways of retaining or being able to recall something is when you say it over and over again. Not to worry, it won’t be bothersome because you have only a thing or a few things to be repeating.
You could just pick up the material, determine the point where you want to study – like a terminology definition, keep repeating it while still with the material. The moment it sticks to your brain, drop the material and continue memorizing by repeating. By so doing, you are studying and relaxing. Isn’t that great?
13. Want to Be Motivated to Study, Try Sleeping
Sleeping has a way of taking off the stress and tiredness in you. You may not have enough time to do so because you have some studying to do, but believe me, no matter how little the time you set for yourself to sleep, it will be worthwhile.
The moment you wake up, you will have enough energy to deal with the situation at hand – studying.
14. Have Someone Worthy of Competing With
If you are a student, there may be probably someone you fully acknowledge they are better than you academically in your class, or if you are a lecturer, teacher, or an instructor, there is someone whom you know is better than you in whatever it is that you do or whom you are looking up to.
If you have that kind of people around you, healthily compete with them. You may be tired and/or bored or sleepy, but by just reminding yourself ‘I have someone I need to beat’, you surely will get motivated to study.
Do you want to be motivated? Have a worthy competitor!
Conclusion
Studying can be hard most especially when you are tired. I have firsthand experience. Sometimes, they become so necessary that you have to study in that kind of situation. Since that’s the case, you should have some techniques or ways which you should use to motivate you to study.
I have compiled these for you, try and use them in the best possible ways you can and wait to achieve success.
If this article is of help to you, kindly leave a comment for me in the comments section. Do you think I left out some points? Please share with us all. You could also tell us how you overcame your situation. Thank you.
You should also read these ways to Improve Your Self-Confidence with These 6 Proven Tips
