15 Ways To Get Motivated To Do School Work

To get motivated to do school work one should set SMART goals, work in a motivating environment, break large projects into smaller tasks, use a priority matrix, schedule time in calendar to do school work, challenge oneself to work for 5 minutes, think about the end reward, make a 30 day study challenge, form a study group with classmates, use a homework tracker, work in short focused bursts, find what is interesting in the work, use the Pomodoro study technique, exercise before doing school work or try out a new study method!

1. Set SMART Goals

Goal setting makes you think about how you are going to achieve something and thus makes you very motivated to do so. What most people don’t realise is that a goal doesn’t have to be a cliche fitness goal, it can be as small as a goal to finish some school work!

The SMART goal acronym stands for:

S – specific
M – measurable
A – achievable
R – realistic
T – time bound

SMART goals are a fantastic framework to use for setting any type of goal. This is because it takes you through a range of questions that in the end highly increase your chances of actually achieving the goal. (There is a great template in my digital student planner which guides you through all the questions to make a SMART goal)

This is a screenshot of the goal planner in my digital student planner for iPad:

2. Work In A Motivating Environment

Everyone has different levels of motivation in different environments. Some people work really well alone in a quite space at home while others thrive off other people being around and prefer to work in a library.

Figure out what environment is most motivating for you so you can complete your school work more easily!

3. Break Large Projects Into Smaller Tasks

Sometimes we don’t feel motivated to do school work because there is so much to do! If you have a really big project or assignment that you have to do, you should break it down into smaller more manageable tasks that are less overwhelming.

Read Also: 10 Tips To Make Studying A Habit

4. Use A Priority Matrix

If you are not motivated to do school work because you are feeling overwhelmed, you should use a priority matrix to organise your tasks into categories of importance.

A priority matrix is simply a table where you can organise tasks by urgency and importance. By organising according to this, the matrix will tell you to either complete the task now, schedule a time to do it later, delegate the task to someone else or eliminate the task if it is not important at all.

Check out my printable priority matrix in the student time management printable pack here!

5. Schedule Time In Your Calendar To Do School Work

It is much easier to be motivated to do school work when you have a time allocated to it. It gives you a reason to start doing school work without much thought otherwise it will run into your next activity.

As Parkinson’s law states “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” If you don’t schedule times in your calendar or diary to do school work you will not be productive and spend too much time thinking about doing it and not actually doing it!

I like to schedule times to do my school work in my digital student planner:

6. Challenge Yourself To Do School Work For 5 Minutes

Most people don’t feel motivated to do school work because they have not built up ay momentum. Starting is definitely the hardest part!

To overcome this problem you can simply challenge yourself to do school work for just 5 minutes. It is not a very long time so you have nothing to lose. This tactic works really well because it tricks you into starting your school work. The five minutes will go very fast and then you won’t want to stop.

7. Think About The End Reward

One thing that really motivates me to get my school work done is to think about the end reward. Your reward could be anything from treating yourself to your favourite food, watching a movie or something simpler like having free time as you have no more school work to worry about.

8. Make A 30 Day Study Challenge

If you consistently struggle to do your school work you should consider committing to a 30 day challenge where you challenge yourself to do some school work every single day!

You should consider using a 30 day challenge printable tracker as it will help guide you to make an achievable 30 day goal. The one below lets you define a challenge, write a start and end date, make a reward, write down reasons why you want to complete the challenge and also make an action plan. The 30 days are marked out in boxes and each day you complete the challenge you can cross one off. This will keep yourself accountable and also motivate you to do it!

9. Form Small Study Groups With Classmates

Being in a setting where other people are doing work can be very motivating. That is why forming a small study group with classmates is a great idea to keep each other accountable for staying up to date with school work. Study groups are also great for when you need help with some school work that you might not understand. They are also a really good idea for trying out the study technique where you teach other people the content that you have just learned to test your knowledge and understanding of it.

10. Use A Homework Tracker

If the school work that you are not motivated to do is homework you should consider using a printable homework tracker! A homework tracker is very motivating as you can print it out and place it at the front of your binder. On it you can create a full list of everything that is due with due dates, estimated time that it will take and also tick it off once it’s completed.

11. Work Productively In Short, Focused Study Sessions

Working for extended periods of time is not effective at all as you will easily lose your focus. Often study breaks are overlooked as important as it seems like a waste of time. But in reality taking a short pause to relax in between study sessions is a necessity as it will give your brain time to recover and rest and thus will lead to boosts in your productivity and happiness for the next load of work you have to tackle.

12. Find What Is Interesting In The Work

Another reason why you might be feeling unmotivated is because you find the school work boring. Sometimes this is inevitable but if you want to be more motivated try to look for the more interesting side in your work.

13. Use The Pomodoro Study Technique

The Pomodoro technique is a time management focused method of studying that uses a timer to break down tasks into smaller chunks (usually 25 minutes in length but there can be variation).

Between each 25 minute study session there is a study break of 3 to 5 minutes and after completing four ‘poms’ (terminology for a pomodoro session) you can have a longer break of 20 to 25 minutes.

Read Also: The Ultimate Guide To The Pomodoro Study Technique

14. Exercise Before Doing School Work

Exercising before starting school work is extremely motivating as it increases the amount of endorphins released into your bloodstream. It will make you feel much happier, positive and also put you in a good mindset to complete your school work. Best yet, doing exercise will also increase your ability to learn as your concentration will drastically improve!

You don’t need to do super vigorous exercise either! Some ideas for exercising include: following a yoga video on YouTube, trying out a new workout from an exercise app or taking a walk around the block.

15. Try Out A New Study Method

You might not feel motivated to do school work because your current study method is ineffective or getting boring. A great way to increase your motivation to do your school work is to mix up your study routine. One easy way to do this is to simply try out a new study method.

These Study Methods Can Get You Motivated To Do School Work:

• Cornell Note Taking (Check Out My Printable Cornell Note Template Here)
• Self-Quizzing
• Leitner Method
• Pomodoro Study Technique (Check Out My Printable Pomodoro Tracker Here)
• Try Teaching Others
• Mind Mapping
• The Feynman Technique
• Colour Coding
• Spaced Repetition

Further Reading

• The Most Powerful Way To Stop Forgetting What You Study
• Why You Always Study Last Minute & What To Do About It
• How To Learn A Language By Watching Netflix