Sunday 31 August 2014

Homework Motivation

It's Monday tomorrow which means it's officially the week of going back to school and that makes me want to cry.

On a brighter note, I still have until Tuesday night to complete all of my homework before returning to school on Wednesday!

I thought that I'd take a day to write a post about homework. That sounds so disgustingly boring, trust me I know. The word homework literally makes me cry currently because I have a lot of it!



However, I feel like a lot of people do find it really difficult to keep on top of homework or actually finding the motivation to do it in the first place. So, I thought I'd write a short-ish (can't promise this will be short and sweet I'm sorry) post about how I stay motivated when it comes to school work and also how to keep on top of it.

Even if this only helps one person, I'm happy.

How to stay motivated...

Staying motivated is really hard when it comes to homework in my opinion because, lets be honest...who really wants to be spending their spare time out of school doing more school work? Honestly, not me. Homework is the last thing I want to be doing most days. However, I'm actually doing really well at school right now and I have the potential to get A's and A*'s in all of my subjects if I really push myself.
I know that not everyone is capable of reaching these results but no matter what results you are capable of reaching, that is your personal best and you know that you've tried your hardest to get that.

Thinking about my grades is one way that I keep myself motivated to do my homework. If you find out what your predicted grades are, you will find that straight away you will either want to reach this goal if you aren't there already or you will want to beat that goal. It's totally natural. Everyone feels that way whether they admit it or not (because we all know that some people think it's not cool to be smart or want to learn) everyone wants to succeed in life in one way or another.

I don't want to ramble on for ages so I'm going to shorten this down into 5 bullet points for you.


  • Think about your destination. Where do you want to be at the end of your GCSE's/A Levels/whatever your doing in school? What grades do you need/want? Thinking about this will make you more determined to learn and then you will improve your grades as you go on through doing your homework as learning is all about repetition.
  • Set yourself a goal. If you don't have a goal you won't get anywhere. When I say goal I don't want it to sound too much like my last point because I mean something different. We all have some idea where we want to be after the stage of our lives we are in right now. After that? Who knows but we all have a slight idea of what happens next. If you set a goal for this and relate this somehow to your homework, I promise you will want to complete your homework even more because you know you're working towards something.
  • Give yourself a break. Trying to do everything all at once isn't going to get you anywhere because the human brain only has a 20 minute attention span as it is! Sitting there all day slaving away at all your homework won't work because you'll just get bored and tired and won't want to do it at all. Sit for 20 minutes-half an hour then take a break to browse through social media, watch some Zoella. Whatever you like. Then return to your work in 10-20 minutes and you'll feel refreshed. Doing this will help you stay focussed and interested in what you're doing.
  • Go out and have fun. This is one thing I think I forget a lot because I've been saying no to going out with my friends a lot lately because of homework and I know I shouldn't but to be fair to myself, I have got a lot to do in a short space of time. However, if all you do is sit at your desk doing homework and revision every day of your teenage life, you are gonna regret that a lot in your thirties my dear. Go out and have fun every now and again! Obviously you have to leave time for your homework but that's not all you need to do in life.
  • Don't leave it to the last minute! I used to do this a lot and it actually got me really stressed out. Leaving it till the last minute just makes people stressed which makes you want to do it even less. It's much better if you get it done and out the way then you don't have it to worry about and you can focus on new bits of homework that you receive.

That was in no way 5 short bullet points but oh well!

I'm gonna try really hard to make the next bit short so this post doesn't last a century!

Tips for keeping organised...

Staying organised is something that I personally have always been quite good at. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and probably (self diagnosed) have a bit of OCD when it comes to a lot of things in life - school work being one of them! I have to know where everything is and everything has to be in a specific order or I get really stressed about it.
I'm not gonna discuss OCD because honestly, I'm no expert so I don't really know what I'm talking about and I know it can be a very serious disorder but do note that it is self diagnosed and not to anywhere near a serious state!
In my opinion, I think I just like to have everything my way because then at least I know that it's done right or at least the way I want it. I can get bossy with people sometimes... (oopsy!)
I'm gonna give you 5 tips on staying organised as organisation is a key part of getting homework done!


  • Have a tidy desk/work area. Not everyone has space for a desk in their house or bedroom but if you do have room for one, it's the best thing you can do for yourself where your school work is concerned. It's better if it's in a quiet place, i.e. your bedroom because then you can get all the privacy you need from the rest of your family to get your work done. Having a desk isn't the whole story though, I think you have to make it a relaxing and comfortable work space for you personally. I've put a lot of photos and personal things on and around mine so this is just one way to do it. 
  • Folders. I don't need to say much more than that. Folders will be your best friend through GCSE, A Level etc. I have a million and one sitting there for each of my subjects. I don't use this as much for homework but more as revision material i.e. worksheets I never finished, practice exam questions etc. as by keeping all of this stuff in a safe place, it will help me a lot this year when I'm revising for my exams.
  • Diary. I get given a planner at my school however I am aware that not everyone gets given one. I think that using my planner/diary really helps me to remember what homework I still need to do, finish off etc. For some people, having a planner doesn't work and now here is when technology and the times of today catch up with us. A lot of people at my school are starting to put their homework into their phones rather than writing it down (very modern, I know) and that works for them. I'm never off my phone but this technique doesn't work for me personally. I much prefer to write things down. 
  • Notice board/whiteboard/chalkboard. I don't have one currently but I've just recently redecorated my bedroom so I'm gradually working on it. I used to have a noticeboard and honestly it was the best thing. You can pin up anything you need to remember and it will be there right in front of you everyday so you can't possibly forget about it. 
  • A bin. This sounds really weird for organisation but I always get rid of anything that I know I don't need. This means that it isn't cluttering up my bag or my desk area and I won't confuse it with anything else. If I feel like it may be of use to me later, then I will put it in the subject folder or somewhere where I know I will find it when I need it. However other than this, anything I don't need goes straight in the bin then it can't confuse me anymore. (Because I'm very easily confused.)
I tried to edit this photo in a way that might explain some of these bullet points a little better so take a look!


I'm also going to include some other photos of my desk area just for you guys to have a look at if you fancy it! :)





Always plenty of space for my laptop...The pen pots are also from IKEA and I thought they were cute because they matched the organisers and they also match my bin which I'm not going to show because it's full!


These filing containers were from IKEA and they are honestly so helpful they keep everything together and in one place and the also look quite cute just sitting on the desk! :)


Having all of this drawer space underneath my desk is really helpful although it needs a lot of sorting out because it's turned into a dumping ground!


So, those 5 bullet points weren't particularly short either! I'm really sorry that was actually so much longer than I planned and wanted it to be but I've tried to incorporate images into it as much as possible to break it down for you! 

I don't know how this type of "motivational" post will go down but if you enjoyed it - or even if you didn't - please let me know in the comments or get in touch with me through social medias as I would love to know what you think! Please be nice with comments though! :)

None the less, I hope you enjoyed today's post and are ready for the new schedule (you can read about this here) to start TOMORROW! Monday 1st September is the official start date for my new schedule so if you want to check that out please do with the link above..

Thanks again!

Becca x

2 comments:

  1. Don't apologise about long posts- personally, I love them! I love the way you have decorated your desk and those tips were really useful!

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