How to Find the Motivation to Finish Your Degree
Finishing a degree is hard work. Trust me, I've been there, done it and worn the T-shirt. I know that those last few months and weeks can be tough, and it's difficult to give your brain that one last push it needs to get you over the line.
But as we've been out and about recently, I've noticed a lot of students graduating and it got me looking back on my own degree experience and how I actually managed to get the job done. A lot of it, looking back, was down to motivation. So, how can you find the motivation to finish your degree, like I did? Let's find out:
Keep focusing on the end goal
As opposed to thinking about the amount of work that you need to do to complete the degree, focus on the end result. Think about what life will look like when the degree is done and you've graduated university. Imagine walking across that stage and picking up your scroll while everyone claps.
Think about starting a dream job. Look forward to celebrating with your family and friends. Feel proud of what you've accomplished when the time comes. The end of your degree will make all of that hard work feel worthwhile.
Break down your work into smaller tasks
A dissertation, which is mainly what you'll be working on at this stage in your degree, is a monster project. It's ten thousand words of a topic or theory that you've spent the last three years studying. So, it's easy to look at a dissertation and think about how big of a challenge it is.
It makes you think that you'll never complete it. This isn't the attitude that will get you through to the end. Instead, you need to compartmentalise it. Break your dissertation down into more manageable chunks.
Do some work on it every day and set yourself a small and achievable goal each time. This way, over time, you'll slowly see your dissertation come together and you'll find that the weight you felt at the start of the year is slowly getting easier and lighter to bear.
Celebrate small wins
To keep yourself motivated to carry on, sometimes all it takes is a few rewards every now and again. Whether you've completed a chapter of your dissertation or got great feedback from your supervisor, you should find a way to celebrate the small wins as you go through the year.
Celebrations can be something like spending a day shopping and getting lunch with your friends or it could even be something small like watching your favourite TV show again after weeks of studying. Give yourself something to look forward to with every goal achieved and you'll find yourself wanting to carry on.
Don't compare
It's easy to compare yourself to what your peers are doing, whether they're on the same course as you or not. Don't think about what others are doing or how far into their dissertation they are. Keep in your own lane and focus on your own progress and timeline. You won't get the job done by thinking about and comparing yourself to others.
Be organised
Something I found was that if my room was neat and tidy and if I had everything set up with a dedicated work space, I found myself more able to sit down and actually get some serious work done. If you're disorganised and messy, then it can lead to procrastination and stress.
You won't want to work in a messy environment. As well as keeping your workspace clean and tidy, and set up for work, you should also use calendars, planners and task management apps to keep a track of things like assignment deadlines, exam dates, reading lists, lecture notes and revision schedules.
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I hope you found this blog post useful when it comes to finding the motivation to finish your degree. Let me know in the comments what you're studying and how long you have left of your degree and I'll see you all again soon with some brand new content!
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