Hi
My name is Lucie and I am a PhD student at Cranfield University, I study environmental engineering. I would like to give you some tips on how to be more organized and motivated, speaking from my own experience.
First of all, you need to know WHY you are doing your studies - which is mainly for your future. If you study now, your future self will give you big Thank you. There is a nice technique to imagine yourself being happy in the future, for how hard you studied and giving thanks to you past self (your present self now). So always keep the WHY in mind and right it on a vision board or piece of paper on the wall or fridge.
How to be more organized? Proper planning and preparation is the key. You need to look back to the "mistakes" you have done in the past and how you can prepare better to avoid making the same mistake. So for example if I know I have to study all day, and I get easily distracted by my friend calling me going out (which means I would not study at all), I need to say to that friend in advance that I will be busy that day or maybe do not pick up the phone call and call later when I finish studying.
Preparation: Plan ahead what you need if you have to study and focus? If you are at home, and need to do homework, you might need a pen, paper, or laptop, ruler, water, food. If you will have everything ready at home, just put pen, paper and laptop on your office table, open the laptop like you are going to study, prepare water next to it and make sure you have eaten before you start. We can easily get distracted by suddenly being hungry or the need to visit bathroom. Make sure that all your needs are met, everything is ready for you for studying, and your phone is off, far away from you (or in another room). And then the step is just not to think about how HARD it is to study, not to think at all, but JUST DO IT. Thinking is always making everything more complicated.
Focus and discipline might be bit challenging in the beginning, but once you learn it, you become unstoppable and you will always keep your WHY (motivation) in mind which will be your fuel.
If you need more guidance, do let me know please
Lucie,
PhD student
Student Ambassador
Cranfield university.