As I write this I am sitting on my bed refreshing Ticketek and waiting for 9am. Yes, I'm buying tickets for a concert that I desperately want to go to. The problem is this: it is during exams.
Fortunately it is in the second week, so there is still a chance I can go. This was my dilemma a few years ago. I had bought two tickets to go to the last ever show of a certain band (ahem-Powderfinger-ahem) and ended up having to sell. I had used that concert as something I was working towards. I knew exams were going to be awful and I knew I was going to want to die but I had the concert.
Hopefully I can go to this concert I'm buying for today. What is slightly frustrating is I am buying pre-sale and I know that more shows will be released. Do I just wait for those and hope they will be later in the week not earlier? Do I buy tickets and sell them if the other concert fits better! The dilemma!
But seriously, promising yourself is a great way to stay motivated over a long period of time. As you may have read in earlier posts, I recently returned from a trip to the United States. I used that trip as motivation through my exams last semester. While it worked great, it probably wasn't the greatest source of motivation as once I finished exams I still had three months to wait!
On a smaller scale I've done this too. If I'm working in a library during the day I'll bribe myself to work hard and say if I work solidly for an hour I can buy myself a coffee. Of course, I quite often move the goalposts when it's about working hard, but I think it does the job!
The more I think about it the more I realise I do this, not just while studying but in everyday life! Even when I have to go into work on holidays I make myself mental promises: It's okay! All I have to do is finish tonight and I can relax in front of the TV. At the shops: If I'm good and get all healthy food, I shall reward myself with marshmallows (yeah I know it's hypocritical!).
So yes, I think I shall buy myself a ticket. It may be in the second week of exams (on a week day too) and I may not be able to go but I'd rather buy a ticket and miss a show than to be free of exams and miss out all together. Plus exam timetables aren't out for another few months, so there is still plenty of time for the show to be motivation!
How about you? Do you ever promise or even bribe yourself to stay motivated? Does it work for you?
Yep. Although primarily with cigarettes. "Finish this task and I can smoke a durry." Not exactly a healthy way to motivate oneself. A healthier way is reminding myself I'll have dinner with so-and-so tonight. Studying is such a solitary activity (I've never been in a study group and don't intend to) that I'd go crazy without the motivation of some human contact!
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