Finding Motivation

 

Happy Tuesday! I normally post on Mondays, but we had yesterday off from school, so I decided to push back my post for the "first" day in my week. Since starting medical school, I have been thinking more about productivity and motivation. I think everyone has their ups and downs with these two, but as a professional student, I notice them more. I am not always 100% motivated, which is probably pretty normal, and that is ok! It is hard being a med student (or any other student, or in any career), and living in this world that hustle culture has become so prevalent. 

It has become easier for me to recognize when motivation is low. I think this is a good tool to have for yourself, so you can start to learn a better balance of productivity and mental rest. It is definitely hard to take care of low motivation in medical school when there is always something you can be learning, studying and reviewing. I am making it a point to take breaks and have better balance, and you should too. Burnout is real in the healthcare field, and really any other field. I am not saying it is 100% preventable, but you can take the little time to start to recognize when you are feeling it.

Here is when I know that motivation is low, and I am feeling burnt out:

-I have no attention span to do anything or study.

-I keep getting the same practice question or Anki (med school flashcard) card wrong.

-I can only work for so long before I feel like I have brain fog (I call this feeling "not having a brain", haha).

There is probably more here, and you could probably think of some for yourself if you dig deep, but these are the big ones.

What I do to increase my motivation:

-Walk away from my desk: I am not going to have quality study time if I try and force myself to work when I have no attention span and no motivation. Just the act of getting up and walking away feels like a big mental break!

-Do a task from my "non-school" to-do list: sometimes doing something mindless like vacuuming, a load of laundry while listening to a podcast makes you feel productive and also makes your space feel refreshed. My closet always needs to be organized :)

-Go for a walk or do a short work-out: such great things to clear your mind. Fresh air always feels very cleansing.

-This may seem obvious, but taking a bigger stretch of time to do something that really fills my cup. This should not be something you sporadically do when motivation and productivity is low, but something you always make more for in your day to day life. Making sure your cup is always full will negate the more extreme feelings of lack of motivation, in my experience. It can be really hard to do this in med school, or any school/career, so being intentional about your break time/me time/self love time will make doing your work and being a productive person, so much easier! I know it is easier said than done, but sometimes just saying it helps internalize it. 

I would love to hear how you deal with feeling unmotivated. We can all learn from each other here :)

As always,

#dontforgetyourpearls