Throughout my sophomore year, I was very good at managing my time and coping with stress, but my experiences in junior year have been vastly different. Becoming more involved in school has led to me being overwhelmed with duties and often finding myself putting them off and not prioritizing my education.  

    There was a shift in my behavior towards my responsibilities and I became hopeless and stuck in a cycle of procrastination. Not being able to complete my assignments and responsibilities made me very self-conscious in the work I would complete. It ruined my self-esteem and mental health. As a student who also works, it can be very draining to have a full day of school and work for about 6 more hours that can strip me of any motivation I had at the start of my day.  

  Staying motivated to achieve an accomplishment does not come easy because obstacles may be discouraging and cause you to lose motivation and drive to strive forward. The article titled “What To Do When You Feel Uninspired” published on the website betterhelp.com says a common cause of losing motivation is being burnt out, a state of “emotional, physical and mental exhaustion.”  

   Being burnt out can make a person feel as if they have no space for new activities, tasks, or projects. As you don’t take on new projects, you have the existing ones which may be hard to get to and can cause stress and feeling overwhelmed. This can lead to procrastinating any sort of responsibility and feeling hopeless. 

    Motivation can affect your school and work efforts. Most people are not sure what motivation even is and how likely it’s the root of their problems. It’s not specific to one definition because there are many goals and aspirations that drive and motivate people.  

   According to the article “What is Motivation?” posted on the website PositivePyschology.Com, motivation is a “drive” or “need” to reach a goal. Teens struggling with mental health in high school are less likely to have aspirations just yet and more likely to lose motivation in their studies and efforts to do greater things.   

   I’ve had to learn some hard lessons in the past year. The most impactful one was that I needed to start working on things that make me happy and not fulfill the happiness of others around me. While helping others can make you feel good, it can lead to putting others’ needs before yours. To prevent losing motivation, we should put our needs, fulfillments and wishes forward and those of others behind us.  

   Staying motivated and fulfilled can benefit your mental well-being and lead to greater successes. There are ways to stay motivated, and one unexpected tip is to take a break! Dealing too many responsibilities can stress a person out. Taking a break and rewarding yourself can refresh your mind and serve better outcomes. While doing assignments I find myself watching shows in between breaks to calm down and rewind.  

– Another thing to indulge when feeling overwhelmed is to be more physically active, stretching occasionally or going for a walk. 

-Don’t take on more than you can handle and do what feels right.  

-One last tip is expressing your emotions in a journal which can be a great escape. Feeling frustrated is common and being able to write it out can ease your conscience.   

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing.  

Motivation determines what you do.  

Attitude determines how well you do it.”   

-Lou Holtz. Famous college football coach