1
00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:09,680
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

2
00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,920
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

3
00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:18,480
Speaker 1: tip is about how to stay motivated when you feel

4
00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,919
Speaker 1: like you're in a slump. Motivations for any long project

5
00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:26,600
Speaker 1: can ebb and flow, especially in the middle. When your

6
00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,920
Speaker 1: initial enthusiasm wears off but the end is not yet

7
00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:34,239
Speaker 1: in sight, it can be tough to keep going. I

8
00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,440
Speaker 1: was reminded of this when I received a note from

9
00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,680
Speaker 1: a Before Breakfast listener who is currently earning her bachelor's

10
00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:44,199
Speaker 1: degree in accounting online. She's excited about the subject, and

11
00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,960
Speaker 1: she's proud of herself for making school fit into her life,

12
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,760
Speaker 1: but she reported that she's running into motivation problems. Schoolwork,

13
00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:54,920
Speaker 1: she writes, seems to be an endless cycle. While each

14
00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,560
Speaker 1: new week covers a new topic, the formula is the same,

15
00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,280
Speaker 1: with the same sorts of quizzes and discussions in a

16
00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,400
Speaker 1: short project, with her work due at midnight each Sunday.

17
00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:06,120
Speaker 1: When I was in my first semester, she says, I

18
00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,080
Speaker 1: had heaps of motivation to be ahead of schedule. Now

19
00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:11,600
Speaker 1: I'm only in my second semester, but sixteen weeks of

20
00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,000
Speaker 1: the same formulaic assignment structure has kicked my motivation in

21
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,840
Speaker 1: the stomach, she says. Instead of aiming to be a

22
00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,120
Speaker 1: head of school work, I found myself procrastinating into the

23
00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,880
Speaker 1: last minute, dreading work, and waiting until five pm the

24
00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:28,440
Speaker 1: night that work is due. This listener suspected that her

25
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,480
Speaker 1: lack of motivation came from doing the same thing over

26
00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:33,840
Speaker 1: and over again each week, and she asked if I

27
00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,399
Speaker 1: had advice for dealing with her slump in a healthy way.

28
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,960
Speaker 1: I do have some advice, and I suspect other listeners

29
00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,800
Speaker 1: will as well. My first question was whether it was

30
00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,400
Speaker 1: possible to take a short break. One of the upsides

31
00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,840
Speaker 1: of a traditional academic schedule is that you'd get a

32
00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,960
Speaker 1: break between semesters, either around the new year or over

33
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,640
Speaker 1: the summer. This provides a break in the routine, gives

34
00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,440
Speaker 1: you the opportunity to do something different, and by the

35
00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,200
Speaker 1: time you return, you might be starting to miss school.

36
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,160
Speaker 1: Many online programs, on the other hand, offer courses year round.

37
00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,240
Speaker 1: They assume reasonably that the adults availing themselves of these

38
00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,880
Speaker 1: programs want to get through and get done. But there's

39
00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,960
Speaker 1: still something to be said for breaks. Our listener might

40
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,600
Speaker 1: consider trying to pace herself a bit as she goes

41
00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:23,000
Speaker 1: through her bachelor's degree program. Second, when you're deep in

42
00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,680
Speaker 1: the weeds, it can be easy to lose sight of

43
00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,079
Speaker 1: your why. Our listener, no doubt, had a very good

44
00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,800
Speaker 1: reason for choosing accounting and choosing to get a bachelor's degree.

45
00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,400
Speaker 1: So what was that reason? She can remind herself by

46
00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,079
Speaker 1: getting together with friends in the accounting profession, or going

47
00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,120
Speaker 1: to an accounting conference, or reading some literature related to

48
00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,200
Speaker 1: the topic. She can visualize herself in a few years

49
00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,519
Speaker 1: in her new career and what this degree is going

50
00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,520
Speaker 1: to enable. As for the day to day experience of

51
00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,720
Speaker 1: doing her work, there are a few things she can do.

52
00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,640
Speaker 1: She mentioned procrastinating until five pm on Sunday when the

53
00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,080
Speaker 1: work was due at midnight, but she didn't say that

54
00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:01,240
Speaker 1: she was ever late with her assignments or that she

55
00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,840
Speaker 1: didn't get them done, So potentially seven hours is in

56
00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,400
Speaker 1: fact a workable amount of time. She could simply accept

57
00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,320
Speaker 1: that this is what she'd like to do the work

58
00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:13,400
Speaker 1: for the remainder of this term. It's not an ideal solution,

59
00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,880
Speaker 1: as she could get sick, or have car trouble, or

60
00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,160
Speaker 1: have her plumbing spring a leek on Sunday night, and

61
00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,560
Speaker 1: then she'd be behind the class, but it is a solution.

62
00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,840
Speaker 1: On the other hand, if she's finding her procrastination stressful,

63
00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,000
Speaker 1: then she can use some of the strategies we talked

64
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,680
Speaker 1: about a few months ago during our Procrastination Week. I

65
00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,440
Speaker 1: recommend scheduling in short work sessions most days and then

66
00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,880
Speaker 1: rewarding herself profusely when she finished. So, for instance, if

67
00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,160
Speaker 1: she's currently allocating seven hours on Sunday, she could do

68
00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,600
Speaker 1: one hour on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and then maybe

69
00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,000
Speaker 1: two on Saturday, two on Sunday, or four on Sunday.

70
00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,880
Speaker 1: Either way, she could set a timer and once she's

71
00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,400
Speaker 1: done with her hour, she can do whatever she wants,

72
00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,280
Speaker 1: watch TV, surf the web, call a friend, cook something fabulous,

73
00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,920
Speaker 1: go out for ice cream. She also might want to

74
00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,760
Speaker 1: consider when she's doing the work. A lot of people

75
00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:05,880
Speaker 1: who are going back to school assume that the best

76
00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,000
Speaker 1: time for studying is in the evening after work. But

77
00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,680
Speaker 1: the problem is that we're tired. Then you've already done

78
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,080
Speaker 1: so much it can be easy to think, well maybe tomorrow.

79
00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,480
Speaker 1: Most people have more discipline, energy and focus in the morning,

80
00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,120
Speaker 1: so maybe our listeners should try getting up in the

81
00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,560
Speaker 1: morning to work. Instead, studying from six thirty to seven

82
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,160
Speaker 1: thirty or eight am three days a week would mean

83
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,039
Speaker 1: she's approaching her work when mentally fresh, even if the

84
00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,640
Speaker 1: work is repetitive. If she's got a big cup of

85
00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,120
Speaker 1: coffee and she's spending one hour, not seven hours straight

86
00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,960
Speaker 1: on her work, it might feel more doable. Listeners, if

87
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,520
Speaker 1: you've ever found yourself in a slump, what have you

88
00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,240
Speaker 1: done to pull yourself out? Please let me know your

89
00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:53,320
Speaker 1: advice for our listener at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia

90
00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,880
Speaker 1: dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,

91
00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:07,280
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

92
00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:09,600
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

93
00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,280
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

94
00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:17,719
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

95
00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:23,640
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four then Breakfast pod. You

96
00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:27,120
Speaker 1: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast

97
00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,560
Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out

98
00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,040
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look

99
00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:41,360
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

100
00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:46,839
Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio, app,

101
00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:54,279
Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.