Get out of a slump

A listener asks how to stay motivated when the excitement of a project wears off

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to stay motivated when you
feel like you're in a slump. Motivations for any long
project can ebb and flow, especially in the middle. When

(00:26):
your initial enthusiasm wears off but the end is not
yet in sight, it can be tough to keep going.
I was reminded of this when I received a note
from a Before Breakfast listener who is currently earning her
bachelor's degree in accounting online. She's excited about the subject,
and she's proud of herself for making school fit into

(00:46):
her life, but she reported that she's running into motivation problems.
School work, she writes, seems to be an endless cycle.
While each new week covers a new topic, the formula
is the same, with the same sorts of quizzes and
discussion in a short project, with her work due at
midnight each Sunday. When I was in my first semester,
she says, I had heaps of motivation to be ahead

(01:07):
of schedule. Now I'm only in my second semester, but
sixteen weeks of the same formulaic assignment structure has kicked
my motivation in the stomach, she says. Instead of aiming
to be ahead of school work, I found myself procrastinating
into the last minute, dreading work and waiting until five
pm the night that work is due. This listener suspected

(01:28):
that her lack of motivation came from doing the same
thing over and over again each week, and she asked
if I had advice for dealing with her slump in
a healthy way. I do have some advice, and I
suspect other listeners will as well. My first question was
whether it was possible to take a short break. One
of the upsides of a traditional academic schedule is that

(01:48):
you'd get a break between semesters, either around the new
year or over the summer. This provides a break in
the routine, gives you the opportunity to do something different,
and by the time you return, you might starting to
miss school. Many online programs, on the other hand, offer
courses year round. They assume reasonably that the adults availing

(02:08):
themselves of these programs want to get through and get done.
But there's still something to be said for breaks. Our
listener might consider trying to pace herself a bit as
she goes through her bachelor's degree program. Second, when you're
deep in the weeds, it can be easy to lose
sight of your why. Our listener, no doubt, had a

(02:28):
very good reason for choosing accounting and choosing to get
a bachelor's degree. So what was that reason? She can
remind herself by getting together with friends in the accounting profession,
or going to an accounting conference, or reading some literature
related to the topic. She can visualize herself in a
few years in her new career and what this degree
is going to enable. As for the day to day

(02:49):
experience of doing her work, there are a few things
she can do. She mentioned procrastinating until five pm on
Sunday when the work was due at midnight, but she
didn't say that she was ever late with her assignments
or that she didn't get them done, So potentially seven
hours is in fact a workable amount of time. She
could simply accept that this is what she'd like to
do the work for the remainder of this term. It's

(03:12):
not an ideal solution, as she could get sick, or
have car trouble, or have her plumbing spring a leak
on Sunday night, and then she'd be behind the class,
but it is a solution. On the other hand, if
she's finding her procrastination stressful, then she can use some
of the strategies we talked about a few months ago
during our Procrastination Week. I recommend scheduling in short work

(03:33):
sessions most days and then rewarding herself profusely when she finished. So,
for instance, if she's currently allocating seven hours on Sunday,
she could do one hour on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday,
and then maybe two on Saturday to on Sunday or
four on Sunday. Either way, she could set a timer
and once she's done her with her hour, she can
do whatever she wants, watch TV, serve the web, call

(03:56):
a friend, cook something fabulous, go out for ice cream.
She also might want to consider when she's doing the work.
A lot of people who are going back to school
assume that the best time for studying is in the
evening after work. But the problem is that we're tired.
Then you've already done so much it can be easy
to think, well maybe tomorrow. Most people have more discipline,

(04:19):
energy and focus in the morning, so maybe our listeners
should try getting up in the morning to work. Instead,
studying from six thirty to seven thirty or eight am
three days a week would mean she's approaching her work
when mentally fresh, even if the work is repetitive. If
she's got a big cup of coffee and she's spending
one hour, not seven hours straight on her work, it

(04:41):
might feel more doable. Listeners, if you've ever found yourself
in a slump, what have you done to pull yourself out?
Please let me know your advice for our listener at
Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In the meantime,
this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time. M Hey everybody, I'd love

(05:07):
to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b the
number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out

(05:30):
with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,
visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.