The document provides guidance on maintaining motivation for students. It discusses that motivation can be internal or external. Maintaining motivation can be challenging and there are normal dips in enthusiasm. Some symptoms of lack of motivation include temptation towards other activities, procrastination, lethargy, negative self-talk, and feelings of being overwhelmed. The document suggests possible coping strategies for each symptom, such as establishing a routine, breaking large tasks into smaller chunks, talking to a tutor, prioritizing tasks, and focusing on individual progress rather than comparisons to others.

1. Business, IT and Engineering Division
Learning to Learn
Motivation
1

2. Contents page
Motivation 3
Symptoms for lack of motivation and coping strategies 3
2

3. Motivation
Motivation is either internal or external: you can either be self-motivated, where the drive to
do something comes from within or be motivated by others, or by circumstances outside
your control.
The better kind of motivation is internal since you are doing something because you want to,
not because you have to.
You are at college becasue you want to be and because your area of study is the one you
have chosen.
It is normal that you may not always be able to maintain strong motivation and there may be
dips in your enthusiasm at various times as you meet different challenges. The main
difficulty then is not having motivation in the first place, but in maintaining it.
Symptom Possible coping strategy
Temptation towards other Establish a routine, studying at the same time each
activities: this happens to us all week. Regular progress becomes automatic.
and it usually revolves around the
choice of more pleasant options
such as going out with friends
Procrastination: you may be The hardest part of a task is starting it: the longer you
putting off doing your delay, the harder it becomes to start. Once you have
assignment. This is a delaying begun you will find it much easier. Remind yourself
tactic and is often a sympton of about your long term goals
temptation. It works sometimes
but places events in the wrong
order – reward should come after
the task
Lethargy: you may feel from time It is important to look after yourself and your health.
to time that you do not have the Burn-out can account for lost motivation and taking on
energy to work too much, not eating properly and not getting enough
sleep will all have a part to play. Build leisure into your
study plan. Be consciuos of your body rhythms and work
patterns and decide in which part of the day you are at
your best. These are the times you should reserve for
study
‘This is going to be difficult’ It will be difficult is your tell yourself it is. Once
I don’t think I understand this understood you will wonder why you found it so difficult
in the first place. Talk to your tutor
‘I’ve too much to do’ Remind yourself why you are here and your end goal.
Having a goal to work towards is the greatest motivator
of all. Make a list of things to be done in order of priority.
You reach a less interesting Don’t be too hard on yourslef. It is normal that
part of your studies sometimes you will make slower progress. Be patient.
Most things develop in fits and starts over time. Do only
a little at a time.
3

4. Symptom Possible coping strategy
‘I’ll never do that’: expectation You can do it if you break it up into manageable chunks
overload, leading to panic and well before the deadline. Completing tasks in stages is
(partial) shutdown much less worrying and emanding that trying to do them
all at once. It also contributes to better quality
‘I’m not as good as others on it is better to compete with yourself than with others. Be
this course’ concerned only with your own previous performance,
not with your fellow students. If you are making
progress, isn’t that all that really matters? Your
confidence will grow as your progress through the
course
4