Hello Gaels!
We are just beyond the halfway point of the semester and I’ve avoided this realization for a long time, but I think it is safe to say that—like many of my peers—I have caught a bad case of the dreaded senioritis. If you aren’t familiar with this term, “senioritis” is “a supposed affliction of students in their final year of university, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance.” It’s a weird feeling. I still have a desire to do my best in every academic task yet there’s just some element of exhaustion or restlessness that seems to be pulling me back. It's like a constant battle between wanting to do well and taking my foot off the pedal since it is my final year at Queen’s.
My mindset has been really important in beating senioritis. Small yet powerful actions have helped me develop a stronger mindset over the past few weeks—and boost my motivation as a result. Whether you are graduating or in your first year of studies, we all go through periods where we lack the motivation to achieve our academic goals, so these methods can be used by everyone!
- Create Motivation, Seek Rewards
Who doesn’t like giving themselves rewards? Whether it is getting a donut from the ARC or watching an episode of the latest show on Netflix, use your interests to your advantage! For me, whenever I cross off a task on my checklist, I play a quick game of FIFA with a friend, go out on a walk, or get a Mango Hurricane smoothie from Booster Juice. Having something enjoyable to do after finishing a task not only motivates you to finish a task but gives you that small break to rejuvenate and get started on the next one. Positive reinforcement works wonders! One thing that I learned is that we need to vary the nature of our rewards. If we only pick one thing, and do it over and over again, at some point it isn’t special!
- Enjoy the Moment
Whenever I am in school, I tend to zone out of other aspects of my life. Even when I am going on a walk or eating lunch, my day is planned around my academics. This is not only draining but ineffective because I feel like my mind is focused on academics even when I am not working, making it difficult to study for long periods of time. I’ve learned that it is important to make the active decision to focus on the present because it gives me a much-needed break. This year I wanted to explore more of Kingston, so whenever we have the time, my friends and I find something new to do in the city. For example, last week we went rock climbing. Just being in the moment was such a fun experience that rejuvenated me to continue my work the next day. Sometimes taking a break actually saves you time!
- Schedule your day
If you have read my previous blogs, it won’t be much of a surprise to learn that I am an avid supporter of to-do lists and scheduling my day. When I don’t make a schedule, I feel very disorganized and even somewhat lost because I have less of an idea of deadlines. Sometimes with many things happening at once, we might forget to hand in an assignment or contribute to a discussion board. Scheduling our day can help avoid such easy oversights. Scheduling a day or two in advance helps me wake up with the motivation to accomplish what I set out to do.
However, it took me a while to make an ideal schedule. Back in the beginning of my time at Queen’s, I used to put too many tasks in a day. It felt demotivating to not finish my tasks on a daily basis. I also used to put the biggest tasks first because I wanted to make my day easier as it went by. But I quickly realized that I needed to prioritize tasks according to their deadline rather than the time it would take to finish the task.
When planning your day, make sure to create a timeline that is fluid so that if anything unexpected comes up, you can still stick to it without derailing the entire plan. I used to plan my day to the hour, but I often either took longer than expected to finish a task or something came up that disrupted my schedule. Give yourself some breathing room when planning out your day and you’ll find more time to work and have fun!
Seniors, we are almost at the finish line. Let's not give up now! You don’t see a sprinter run as fast as possible for 90 meters in a 100 meter-dash but walk for the last ten, do you? So let's give our all for the remainder of the semester and remember to spend quality time with the people we made special bonds with during our time at Queen’s!
Until next time!
Santosh