Motivation and Biting the Bullet

I’m going to share a little secret with you, one  I am sure some if not most of you will empathize. From the time Halloween rolls around bringing pumpkins, football, crisper weather, hot cider…and midterms on, I find it increasingly difficult to stay motivated to do my work, to concentrate on the tasks at hand, and to do it all with a smile on my face and a skip in my step.

The things I really want to be doing are going to the movies or to the bookstore to get the latest book in a series I have been waiting for (I know some of you might not love this idea, but roll with it). I want to spend time with my family and friends without feeling guilty for putting off this research or that paper for a little bit longer, or for turning down those same people to do this research or that paper.

So, by the time Thanksgiving Break comes and goes, my mind and body are shutting down, preparing for Winter Break  and in a very animalistic way hibernating for winter.  

The question is: how do I (read: we for those who are nodding their heads and giving me an “Amen!” as you read) keep going, stay motivated (enough), and get what I need done, done?

In my eyes, there is only one answer: Bite the bullet.

Dig deep and find those last dregs of motivation and determination to get the job done. Do it and put it aside. Then go celebrate a job well done…or at least a job done to the best of your ability while juggling all your other final projects.

Of course, getting myself to that point also takes a certain amount of avoidance, brooding, and panic to light a fire under my tooshie.

But then I do it. I bite the bullet. I hand it in, and then I take the time to relax over break (read: work and make some extra money for the next semester, see family and friends, and generally run around like a chicken with its head cut off, but in an entirely different way than I do while I’m in school).