Hello future docs. We all know that consistency is one of the most important qualities that a NEET aspirant should have. The biggest problem with consistency is keeping up the motivation to study.
I remember my NEET preparation days, it was the initial inertia of just going to the study table and starting for the day that was the most difficult part. Once I got to studying, I used to enjoy the process. So today, let’s discuss a few tricks and methods that helped me keep up the motivation and made me go sit on the chair and keep studying everyday.
Setting goals and sticking to them.
Making a to-do list is going to make all the difference in your NEET study.
When we have direction to work, when we know what we are supposed to get done during the day, it is easier to do it. It takes away the initial procrastination of ‘What should I study?’ ‘Do I want to study?’ Or ‘Why do I even have to study?’.
A to-do list cuts these nonsense thoughts and motivates you or just scares you into working.
I would suggest having a weekly target too, and then breaking that weekly target into daily to-do lists. You can carry-forward the left over tasks of the day to the next day. This will motivate you to complete your daily targets. I mean, who doesn’t dread extra work the next day? And also, a weekly target is much easier to set than a daily target.
Another thing you can do is reward yourself after every task. Rewarding can be just a 15 minute break/ your favourite snack/ or 10 minutes of pursuing a hobby. If you keep a loop of work and reward, you will subconsciously want to work more.
So set your target, keep a reward and get to work
Where you work is important.
This is a very important step in trying to get to work. You should have a very good separation between your work space and the space that you use for any other activity. See, although it is great to have a good desk, a comfortable chair and a shelf for books; it is totally fine if you do not have the space/ cannot afford a big study desk.
If you sit on the floor and study, make sure that you do not do anything else while sitting in that same spot. One place must be reserved for just studying.
Absolutely NO STUDYING ON YOUR BED. Don’t confuse your brain.
Make sure that you do not have a lot of distractions in this place. Keep your mobile in the cupboard while studying to avoid any online distraction. If you want to study from YouTube, try to use someone else’s mobile/ a tablet or a laptop. If that is not possible, make sure that you do not have social media apps on your mobile for the NEET preparation time.
The better the study space you create, the more you will be able to study.
Even though this might seem like it’s not that important, trust me when I say that it is. Try it out and you will know.
Stay Organized
As I said, we are trying to take out all the inertia that we have while trying to study. ‘Where is that book? Where are my highlighters? Where did I keep the OMR sheets?’ These are all problems that seem very little but matter a lot. They make you feel irritated and spoil your study mood.
If you sit down to study and you have to get up 10 times to get all your stuff, chances are you will get distracted in the process. So, to avoid this, keep your study desk organized. Put up a white board where you write down the to-do list everyday. Keep your books stacked neatly in one corner of the table. Get a pen stand or use a cup to keep your stationary.
Have some dry fruits on your table so that you don’t have to get up from the desk when you feel hungry. Keep at least one 2L water bottle on the desk. The OMR sheets, question banks, MCQ books and any other resource that you have must be kept in a shelf neatly. Your coaching bag should be kept next to it, in case you need to refer to your class notes. You should always know where your stuff is.
All these steps will help you get into the mindset of cracking NEET. Just thinking is not enough, your dreams should be very visible in how you behave.
Find Your Motivation
What keeps you going?
Is it the dream of being a doctor? It is the idea of giving a better, and a very respectful life to your parents and siblings? Do you want to break the curse of poverty for your family? Do you want to do it for yourself? Do you want to see yourself in the white coat, with a stethoscope around your neck and a ‘Dr.’ before your name?
Does reading reading the sentences written above make you feel energetic, make you want to learn more, work harder, and just keep working till you get there?
If it does, then it is a sign that you need to have your dreams in front of your eyes when you work.
Make a small motivation board, a mood board of your dreams, print out the pictures and tape them above your desk. I had written ‘MBBS’ in big bold words, I had a picture of a Litmann stethoscope in front of me. I had the marks that I wanted and the one that I needed written too.
Every time I felt unmotivated just plain lazy, I would look at my mood board. My dream, my parents’ dream, all my aspirations were right there in front of me. It made me feel something, made me feel so much energy, so much anger at myself for being so easily unmotivated and so much determination to be better, do better.
This is what worked for me most of the times. Just the ideas of my parents attending my convocation, the day I’d get the MBBS degree, was enough motivation for me to sit myself down and start studying.
The motivation wall worked for me, and I’m sure it will work for you too.
Difference between being unmotivated and being exhausted.
A lot of times any sort of motivation does not work. No YouTube video, no motivation wall, no amount of organization, no study spaces, nothing works. This is a sign that you need rest.
We are humans, we need to allow our body to recharge before we start working again. It is impossible to consistently work for 12-15 hours throughout the year, everyday. Everybody needs a break.
You should be smart enough to figure out the difference between exhaustion and procrastination. If you feel that it is physically impossible to work anymore, you are tired. But if you feel like you don’t want to work just because you can do it later too, it’s procrastination. Be strict with procrastination but make space for tiredness.
You will thank yourself in the long run. Remember that short term motivation is not better than working for a long time and allowing yourself to take short breaks in between. Not taking a break will lead to burnout and it will become impossible to get to work again.
How to avoid burnout?
You can avoid such burnouts (which means extreme tiredness and inability to work anymore) by giving you body the rest that it needs on a daily basis.
Take at least 6 hours of sleep during your preparation time. There’s no point in even studying for 15-18 hours a day, if they are not quality study sessions. Study for just 8-10 hours but study with focus.
Eat good food during NEET preparation, avoid a lot of carbohydrates and try to get more protein and fats in your diet, this is to eliminate energy-crashes. You will have energy for a long time and won’t feel sleepy after eating. A lot of NEET aspirants stop eating during their preparation as food makes them feel sleepy, use the smarter method of Low-carb.
As I said above, use the work-reward loop. You can pursue a small hobby this way. I used to doodle in between tasks, this helped me cope with the long study sessions.
Try to meditate for 15 minutes in the morning/ go to the gym for half an hour/ just exercise at home by doing surya namaskar. Do anything that helps your body stay active. Exercise releases endorphins which make you feel happy and this set the mood for the day.
Follow all these small tips to make sure that you do not feel burnout after 3-4 months of intense study periods.
That’s it
I’m sure one of these tips will surely make you feel motivated to study and help you study more.
Lastly, if nothing is helping and you feel sad and anxious all the time, please try to get help. Talk to your friends or family, get therapy if possible. You can go to your college counsellor or any other person who is fit to help you. Do not undermine your feelings. We are proud of you and trust in you.
All the best, dear aspirant.
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