Dear Teeka,

How do you get yourself motivated to do homework? After I get home from a 7 hour school day, I don’t want to spend 3 hours doing more work. What should I do?

Sincerely,

ZooDog11

Dear ZooDog11,

Motivation is a tricky thing to discuss as it is a self-redeemed thing. Motivation is defined as the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.

What I do is think ahead. I’m constantly thinking of ways to help me stay cheerful and happy for the school day. To do this, I think of what my hobbies are. The main thing is art.

This was my headway. I realized during my early years of high school and middle school that I was completely unorganized. It got to the point where I could’ve sworn that my backpack was an abyss that never ended. Because of this, I didn’t know where anything was in my backpack. When I wanted to do my homework, I could’ve spent a good 10 to 15 minutes trying to find that assignment. By that point I would be frustrated and lost all motivation to do anything else.

To fix this problem, I completely color coded everything. From my laptop case to my pencils, everything matches in color. This helped me organize and, strangely enough, it has made me happier with school. I’m excited to get stuff done!

Obviously, this does not work for everyone. Another tip is to pace yourself. When you get home from school, start with your hardest class.

Let’s say your hardest class is math. As soon as you get home, start on your math homework. Your brain is still in this hard-working, analytical mode and the information is still fresh. This will help you get that assignment done faster. Once it’s done, take a break. Allow your mind and body to reset. This break can be as long as you want, but set a goal for yourself to start your homework at this time.

Example: I want to start my homework after dinner and get it done before 8:30 so I can relax for the rest of the night.

If you promise this to yourself, you’ll feel more obligated. Set timers on your phone to prevent the “oh, I forgot and it’s too late now” excuse.

Now, these are the tactics that work for me. Tweak them and modify them to fit your personal needs.

You are bound to do great things if you put your mind to it!

Sincerely,

Teeka

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