Have you been feeling down? Lonely, unmotivated, or guilty? I know it’s really hard to deal with this generation’s idea of life, and a lot of you might be ready to give up, especially considering the world as we know it. We’re trying to balance health, the health and wellbeing of our families, friendships, and of course, school. The second quarter is already halfway done, and students are feeling the burnout of school. As a student who is new to the district, I may not know many of you, but I’m going to try super hard to help anyone that might be reading.           

Let’s start with the problem of motivation, or really, lack thereof. Let it be known that you aren’t alone in this and lots of people have trouble finding the willpower to be productive. It’s not very easy when there are so many things holding you back. I suggest starting with something small, how small doesn’t matter as long as it works for you. For example, try to push yourself to walk around your room or house. Just walk around and acknowledge the atmosphere around you. Bring some snacks or music with you if you’d like.  Once you’ve done that for seven minutes or more, be proud of yourself. You got up and walked, which is very good for your brain. 

After you get to feel proud of yourself, you’ll be able to find the motivation to do something a little more challenging, like reading parts of a book or eating a snack. Do this at your own pace and remember to take time to feel accomplished after each task. Soon you’ll be able to do big things like writing essays or a completing whole exercise routine. Make sure the tasks you do are things that will be beneficial to you, and you’ll be able to grow while finding motivation. Plus when you really think about it, that’s multitasking and another thing to be proud of. 

When you start to do bigger tasks, remember to take breaks in between. Burnout is another thing that’ll bring you down, so try to avoid it. You can do this by breaking up your work time into small increments of, say, thirty minutes. After every half hour of work, take a seven to ten-minute break to keep you grounded and minimize distractions. This will also allow you to regenerate a little more energy to work a little longer all while avoiding burnouts and shutdowns. Now, this is only for when you get to bigger things like homework, and you don’t really need to worry about it for anything under thirty minutes. Work at your own pace with this and trust me, you’ll soon be even more productive than you ever thought you could be. You got this.

I hope this helps anyone in need of it. 🙂