Merry Motivation

These days, you keep asking yourself, ‘Where has that resolve to stay on top of my academic responsibilities gone to?’ You didn’t realised it until it was too late, you gave yourself a little more leeway each time, ‘Just one more outing.’ ,‘Just one more drink.’ ‘Just one more night of freedom then I’ll definitely hit the books.’ However, we all know what happens next. It does not seem to be getting easier to stay motivated now that Christmas is just next week. The louder the jingle bells sound, the more your motivation crumbles. For the sake of the last few assignments that desperately need your attention, these tricks may (may not) help you to remain motivated.

1. Do not walk down Northumberland Street.

It is the prime shopping area where Christmas literally screams in your face, from the Christmas decorations to the festive bargains in every shop, so I highly suggest you take a longer detour if you are that determined to avoid the Christmas festivities until the very day itself. How about wearing a paper bag over your head if you just cannot find any other way to avoid the action?

2. Remain in your room until the last day of the term.

Even your housemates have caught the festive bug; they are hanging strings of Christmas lights and ornaments in the communal area. They have already stocked up on Christmas sweet treats, so when you open every cupboard, either a box of candy cane or a pack of Maltesers or a random Christmas goody tumbles right out, your agony restarts again! Another suggestion is to stay in your room where there are no signs of Christmas to remind you of this joyous occasion, just piles of notes to sift through before doing your assignments. However, I cannot guarantee that you will not hear your housemates belting out Christmas carols through those paper-thin walls.

3. Live without Internet for the next two weeks.

I can guarantee that this is an insurmountable task for many, what’s with all those Christmas advertisements leaking in even after you ban advertisements? Social media is the danger zone here, articles on how to create pre-Christmas drinks or how to piece together an amazing Christmas outfit. That is the struggle here; nobody can do assignments without the Internet, can they? There is a way though, there is the Robinsons library or City Council library, use the old-fashion method of studying by referring to books. Cooping yourself in the library is an excellent way to avoid the pre-festive celebrations for the time being.

If you are still not feeling the sense of urgency, walk into the Robinson library

4. To motivate yourself, scare yourself.

While we are edging towards the Christmas holidays, it also means that assignment submissions are due very soon. If you are still not feeling that sense of urgency, walk into the Robinson library and watch that crowd of last minute muggers cramming their assignments. After that, think about what it will mean if you miss your first class honours degree by that bit, just because you failed to submit your assignments. You will never be able to get that high-powered job that you have been eyeing and you will have to settle for that alternative substandard job and slave away for the next 50 years, doing the bidding of your obnoxious boss 30 years younger than yourself and the reason why he was able to get a faster promotion compared to you was because he had first class honours whereas you did not. This vision is a bit far-fetched but you get the idea! Moral of the story: Buckle down and finish your assignments before catching up on the Christmas fun later! Merry Christmas everyone!