How to stay motivated during your studies

After finishing my first year in my master’s program here at LiU, I wanted to talk a little bit about motivation and that it’s totally okey to have periods in which you have less motivation. After finishing my bachelor and now halfway through my master’s, I thought I could give you some tips of things I do during my studies to stay motivated and pass my courses without being stressed! :).

First of all, it’s super important to make a realistic planning and to really use it – I think we’ve all been there that we had to create a planning and never really put much effort into it and therefore never used it. Try to really put some time into making the planning so that it’s useable, it’ll help you for sure plan your studies and have a great personal life with lots of fun. In addition to making a planning, you need to decide for yourself what your goals are for the course/semester etc. Do you want to get top grades and work harder for that, or do you want to have a bit more of a chill experience and get average grades? It’s completely up to you, but again it’s important to keep it realistic – you’re probably not going to study for four more hours after a completely long day filled with classes and that’s totally understandable, just give yourself this time off.

University can be super challenging, especially when you’re also moving to a new country, and you have to speak English all the time. Another tip is therefore to really think of yourself as well and to prioritize your wellbeing. Do something you really like frequently as a break from university and studying and don’t skip it because you’re too busy with university stuff. Doing things that make you feel energized is super important to keep motivated with your studies.

In Sweden we do a lot of group work so you will mostly be working with groups, but sometimes you will also have to study for exams or do individual projects. I would really recommend switching up the places where you study to kind of make it more fun for yourself. For example, you can go to HG in Ryd or Studenthuset on campus Valla. If you want to explore some new cafes, go down town and bring your laptop to explore some nice Fika places in Linköping. For me switching up places to study makes me stay motivated and also break through the cycle of just sitting at home in front of your computer. Some days it’s nice to study with your friends, other days it’s easier to just study on your own. Again, it’s nice to switch it up a bit :).

You will find out that some courses are more fun (and easier) than other courses and this is totally normal. Make sure to take a lot of breaks from studying, keep it fun for yourself and try to have a positive mindset – after this not so nice course, you’ll probably get a nicer one! Hopefully this gives you some useful tips to stay motivated and to let you know that it’s okey not to feel motivated every single day.

Enjoy the sun!! // Milou

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