1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to stay motivated when you 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: feel like you're in a slump. Motivations for any long 5 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: project can ebb and flow, especially in the middle. When 6 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: your initial enthusiasm wears off but the end is not 7 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: yet in sight, it can be tough to keep going. 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,200 Speaker 1: I was reminded of this when I received a note 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: from a Before Breakfast listener who is currently earning her 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: bachelor's degree in accounting online. She's excited about the subject, 11 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: and she's proud of herself for making school fit into 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: her life, but she reported that she's running into motivation problems. 13 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: School work, she writes, seems to be an endless cycle. 14 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: While each new week covers a new topic, the formula 15 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: is the same, with the same sorts of quizzes and 16 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: discussion in a short project, with her work due at 17 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: midnight each Sunday. When I was in my first semester, 18 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: she says, I had heaps of motivation to be ahead 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: of schedule. Now I'm only in my second semester, but 20 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: sixteen weeks of the same formulaic assignment structure has kicked 21 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: my motivation in the stomach, she says. Instead of aiming 22 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: to be ahead of school work, I found myself procrastinating 23 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: into the last minute, dreading work and waiting until five 24 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,119 Speaker 1: pm the night that work is due. This listener suspected 25 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: that her lack of motivation came from doing the same 26 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: thing over and over again each week, and she asked 27 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: if I had advice for dealing with her slump in 28 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: a healthy way. I do have some advice, and I 29 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: suspect other listeners will as well. My first question was 30 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: whether it was possible to take a short break. One 31 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: of the upsides of a traditional academic schedule is that 32 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: you'd get a break between semesters, either around the new 33 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: year or over the summer. This provides a break in 34 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: the routine, gives you the opportunity to do something different, 35 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: and by the time you return, you might starting to 36 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: miss school. Many online programs, on the other hand, offer 37 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: courses year round. They assume reasonably that the adults availing 38 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: themselves of these programs want to get through and get done. 39 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: But there's still something to be said for breaks. Our 40 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: listener might consider trying to pace herself a bit as 41 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,519 Speaker 1: she goes through her bachelor's degree program. Second, when you're 42 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: deep in the weeds, it can be easy to lose 43 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: sight of your why. Our listener, no doubt, had a 44 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: very good reason for choosing accounting and choosing to get 45 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: a bachelor's degree. So what was that reason? She can 46 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: remind herself by getting together with friends in the accounting profession, 47 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: or going to an accounting conference, or reading some literature 48 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: related to the topic. She can visualize herself in a 49 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: few years in her new career and what this degree 50 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,839 Speaker 1: is going to enable. As for the day to day 51 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: experience of doing her work, there are a few things 52 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: she can do. She mentioned procrastinating until five pm on 53 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: Sunday when the work was due at midnight, but she 54 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: didn't say that she was ever late with her assignments 55 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: or that she didn't get them done, So potentially seven 56 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: hours is in fact a workable amount of time. She 57 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: could simply accept that this is what she'd like to 58 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: do the work for the remainder of this term. It's 59 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: not an ideal solution, as she could get sick, or 60 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: have car trouble, or have her plumbing spring a leak 61 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 1: on Sunday night, and then she'd be behind the class, 62 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: but it is a solution. On the other hand, if 63 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: she's finding her procrastination stressful, then she can use some 64 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: of the strategies we talked about a few months ago 65 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: during our Procrastination Week. I recommend scheduling in short work 66 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: sessions most days and then rewarding herself profusely when she finished. So, 67 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: for instance, if she's currently allocating seven hours on Sunday, 68 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: she could do one hour on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 69 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: and then maybe two on Saturday to on Sunday or 70 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: four on Sunday. Either way, she could set a timer 71 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: and once she's done her with her hour, she can 72 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: do whatever she wants, watch TV, serve the web, call 73 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: a friend, cook something fabulous, go out for ice cream. 74 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: She also might want to consider when she's doing the work. 75 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: A lot of people who are going back to school 76 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: assume that the best time for studying is in the 77 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: evening after work. But the problem is that we're tired. 78 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: Then you've already done so much it can be easy 79 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: to think, well maybe tomorrow. Most people have more discipline, 80 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: energy and focus in the morning, so maybe our listeners 81 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: should try getting up in the morning to work. Instead, 82 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: studying from six thirty to seven thirty or eight am 83 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: three days a week would mean she's approaching her work 84 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: when mentally fresh, even if the work is repetitive. If 85 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: she's got a big cup of coffee and she's spending 86 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: one hour, not seven hours straight on her work, it 87 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: might feel more doable. Listeners, if you've ever found yourself 88 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: in a slump, what have you done to pull yourself out? 89 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: Please let me know your advice for our listener at 90 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In the meantime, 91 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 92 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: the most of our time. M Hey everybody, I'd love 93 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: to hear from you. You can send me your tips, 94 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, 95 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b the 96 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also 97 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i 98 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out 99 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward 100 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of 101 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 102 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 103 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.