I have three exams tomorrow, two papers to write, work at 5 p.m., my professor’s office hours and a group project due this Friday. So what do I do? I hop in my bed and watch Netflix for the next four hours hoping my responsibilities magically disappear. Did any of that sound familiar to you? If so, you know how stressful it is to be a college student. With all of these responsibilities, obligations and duties thrown at you, it can seem like you just can’t catch a break and it’s tempting to give up. Without any motivating resources, it can be extremely difficult to keep your head above the water. According to the Nacada Clearinghouse, an academic advising resource center based at Kansas State University, there are several factors that inhibit students from getting and staying motivated. How interesting or important a task is, whether or not we’re goal oriented, our expectation of how we’ll do and test anxiety can all impact our ability to maintain the drive to be successful. Our challenge as students is to identify something that can get us productive and keep that drive, so we’re not tempted to give up and get involved with activities, such as Netflix, that won’t help us. College Board’s top five motivation tips are to focus on high-impact activities, create new challenges, set attainable goals, find a social support network and acknowledge our accomplishments. These tips alone can be a start to get anyone working on themselves academically, physically, mentally and emotionally. I’ve struggled with motivation in the past, and my all-time lows were in college. Seeing all these responsibilities in front of me was not enough for me to want to do them, in fact it was much more unappealing. I had to figure out what would push me to take on these responsibilities and do what was required of me to the best of my ability.
