Stuck in a Rut

By Madeline

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With covid shutting the world down for months, and school and work rapidly moving to online platform, coming out of lockdown and beginning to experience “normal” things again can be exciting. But at the same time, coming back to school and work full time in person after a global pandemic that affected all of us in different ways can stick you in a rut of little motivation and difficulty focusing. Especially since things are starting to open back up and go slightly back to normal at the end of the school year, the motivation to do well in school may not be there like it used to be. 

Finding our way back to the ways things used to be may take awhile and we may never get back to fully being “normal” again, however, there are ways that you can help yourself get through the end of the school year and get some of that motivation back. 

As I am able to be in person at school more and more, I’ve found it harder and harder to focus on my classes and upcoming exams. After being online for so long, in-person classes feel like something out of a distant memory. I feel my focus slip much faster, it’s harder to get myself motivated to do work, and when I do work it takes longer. It doesn’t help that I’ll be graduating soon so it doesn’t feel like I need to work anymore. I’ve really had to work on different ways to keep myself studying throughout the end of the year to overcome that lack of motivation. 

I’ve by no means perfected how to regain motivation, but I have discovered certain things that have helped me keep working. 

• Organize and plan what you need to do each day. Set your work in achievable increments with breaks in between. By setting yourself a schedule, your workload will be divided and easier to get done
  
• As cheesy as it sounds, take it one day at a time! Focus on what you need to do that day and not what you need to do the next day or later on in the week
  
• Give yourself credit for the things you do. Allow yourself to feel proud about the things that you accomplish each day and focus on that rather than what you didn’t do or what you will be doing the next day. 
  
• Take breaks to give yourself some “me time” when you need it. You can work it into the schedule that you make or simply take short breaks when you feel like you need it while working. The most important thing is to make sure that you’re not overworking yourself and taking the time between working to relax.    
  

The pandemic and outside factors can drive you into a rut suddenly, leaving you unprepared. By taking each day as it comes and focusing on what you accomplish, some of your motivation may return bit by bit. Setting daily goals and a schedule for yourself will help push you to work as well, as the structure will set a time for everything. However, it is important to make sure you're taking the time for yourself that you need! If you need a break, take one to avoid overworking yourself. At the end of the day, you are more important than whatever work you may have.