At the beginning of this academic year I made a decision that I would attend every single one of my lectures. In order to do this I knew that I would need a little bit of inspiration to get me out of bed for those 9:00am lectures. It was at this point that I began a post-it “count-up” of the number of days I’d been to all of my lectures.
I took a post-it and hung it in front of my bed for me to see every single morning. As the days went on, I increased the number on the post-it until I eventually reached 13. Unfortunately, that night my housemate had people over until 3:00am meaning they kept me up and I slept through my alarm clock but I’m getting back into the swing of things and at least now I have a target to beat.
I know this method sounds a bit silly but it works for me and I would recommend it to anyone trying to get into a good habit. I think it worked so well for me because I’m very competitive and always need a score to beat. So try it out! Let me know what you think. Do you have any rituals that help to keep you motivated?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like a pretty cool way to keep yourself motivated!
What I would do is something similiar. I would set myself a goal and count with bigger steps and reward myself. 10 days in a row with followed lectures means I can do something or buy something. (I had a girl once in my class who rewarded herself with shopping)
Thanks for this nice way, I will keep it in mind!
That’s a pretty good idea, and I definitely see how it could work.
For me, my best motivation comes from simply being awake (for early classes), so my making sure I’m up, I’ll usually go to class. I set my alarm clock far away from me and set it loud, so I’m very wide awake by the time I shut it off.
Unfortunately, my roommates aren’t too fond of it
Stefan: That’s an awesome idea for taking the post-it motivation a step further. I’ll definetely try that! Not quite sure why I didn’t think of that and write it in my post!
Paul: Unfortunately, my alarm clock broke so I can’t implement the put-your-alarm-clock-far-away routine but I know a lot of people who do use it and it seems to work for them. Maybe this christmas I’ll get myself a new alarm
Thanks for that idea. I should give it a go.