When there’s not much going on, it can feel frustrating to keep doing school work. You can begin to feel bored or low. You may be craving excitement and change. Maybe, you think your friends are out doing stuff that you could get in trouble for or, you know that you don’t feel comfortable doing it.

Check our five top ways to motivate yourself today:

1) Picture how you will feel after completing a piece of work that you’ve been putting off.

We all know how it feels to leave something to the last moment or the night before the deadline – overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. Think about how much better will you feel once you’ve started the task, made a plan and finished it. Find the motivation to start today. You can do it. You know you will feel relief and a thousand times better once you complete the task.

2) Make a schedule that suits you and plan in reward time.

You could do this through an app, your phone calendar or write it in a diary. You can plan when studying works best for you. If you know you study better at 8 am, then schedule that and reward yourself afterwards. Reward time could be fifteen minutes on your Xbox or on social media or going for a walk with a friend.

3) Some days, you will have lower energy levels, so plan your day accordingly.

Other days you will have high-energy levels so you can do more work. It’s about taking rest when you need to. If you haven’t slept well, you probably can’t concentrate as much, so give yourself some slack and reorganise some of your tasks. You could complete them later in the day or the following day when you feel refreshed and more focused.

4) Set small goals.

No one can study for four hours at full concentration. Try the Pomodoro Technique: decide on your task, set the timer for 25 minutes and work on your task. When the timer ends, take 3-5 minutes of break and work for 25 minutes again. After four Pomodoro’s, take longer interval breaks of 15–30 minutes. Timers are free online.

5) Team up with a study buddy.

An accountability partner could be a friend or family member. They don’t need to have the same goals, but they are also working towards achieving their goal. You could have a buddy that Facetimes or Zoom calls you when you’re both studying. You could organise to meet a friend at the library at a specific time, so you’ve committed, and you don’t want to let them down. Surround yourself with friends that will motivate you and your goals. You can encourage and support them back.

Every day is different, and your mood will fluctuate, but with these techniques, you can find ways to achieve your goals and motivate yourself. We know that you can do this.