As with any great enterprise your greatest obstacle to study success is none other than yourself.  Everybody likes to procrastinate and take it easy for a little bit and it’s true that life is to be enjoyed but it you want to make a success of your distance learning course sooner or later you have to put in the effort and make it happen.  Nobody can make it happen but you.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to help find the motivation you need to succeed at learning online.  Here are a few of our favourite study tips for getting and keeping yourself raring and ready to go for learning success!

 

Set Goals to Be Achieved

 

Figure out what you want to achieve with each study session.  For example:  decide that you will read through a particular lesson, or that you will spend this hour memorizing key facts in preparation for an upcoming exam.  Your brain works better if it has a specific goal in mind so it’s imperative that you take the time to decide before beginning just what you are going to spend the time doing.

Set and Stick to Deadlines

 

Never set a goal without setting a deadline.  Without a deadline you will find it far easier to procrastinate and put things off.  Remember that trying to do things at the last minute rarely pays off and usually results in poor quality work and bad results.  Set realistic deadlines and stick to them. 

 

Offer Yourself Bribes

 

It’s all well and good to think about the far future and how your study is going to help you blaze a path to greatness.  But let’s be honest for a moment – it can seem an awful long way to the finish line from the start and that only makes it really easy to say to yourself “Ah, I can do it tomorrow!”. 
So appeal to your lower instincts.  Offer yourself a treat – perhaps a favourite snack or drink or a visit to a favourite place.  Perhaps you might prefer an evening with friends or a night in with a movie.  But if – and only if – you sit down and write that assignment! 

 

Remind Yourself Why You’re Doing the Course

 

There’s a reason you decided to sit down to study whatever it is you have chosen to do.  You expect that somehow in your future the knowledge and skills you will acquire will be essential.  Take a few moments to sit down and plan out your ideal future.  What will you be doing in five years?  In Ten?  What will you do after this course is finished? 

Put them together in a timeline and see exactly how one thing will lead to your ultimate goal and remind yourself that this course of study is but one more step needed to realize your dreams.

 

Turn Your Negatives into Positives

Unless you’re some sort of prodigy it’s to be expected that at some point of your studies you will run up against some sort of difficulty in your studies.  The trick is not to see this as something to be avoided or circumvented but rather to see it as an opportunity to identify a particular weakness.  Once you know about it, you can take steps to focus on it relentlessly until you overcome it.   Revise, practice, try new methods but whatever you do, do everything you can to turn your point of difficulty into a new strength.

 

Decorate Your Study Area With Inspirational Quotes

“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere” – anon

There is wisdom in the realizations of others who came before.  Before you sat down to this course of study others likewise will have attempted to undertake new things.  Progress was not always easy, in many cases it was incredibly hard but valuable lessons were learned and preserved to be passed on to future generations. 
You might find you yourself benefit from keeping a collection of your favourite sayings nearby to inspire you.  The Internet has several great quote archives you can find or you could alternatively visit a library or your local bookstore to acquire a book of great quotations.  You know best what words might motivate and inspire you and will help you to keep going even when you feel tired and ready to quit.