Taylor Daniel | Staff Writer

I think we are all on the same page when it comes to winter. It sucks, and none of us want to do anything that involves going outside. This includes classes, meetings, and 6 a.m. workouts with Lane. *Shudders.* About the only thing I want to leave my room for is to eat, and that is usually a pretty disappointing experience in itself. Even in our rooms, we don’t want to do our homework. This dark, cold, and excessively depressing weather has put a damper on our motivation. I don’t know about you guys, but I am not going to let this tundra-cane bring my 4.0 down! That last part may or may not be true, you can decide for yourself…

So, what are we going to do that is going to turn our slump around, you ask? With these four simple steps, we can overcome the cold and make sure we are getting done what we need to get done.

Step 1: Attainable Goals
In order to make sure you are getting everything done, it will be important to make goals for yourself. I would not suggest making a goal that involves anything like “finish” or “study”. Maybe if you are writing a 50 page paper about the path to emancipation, you start writing it the week before instead of the night before. Just a thought. Breaking your tasks up into mini goals is going to be more effective than doing it all at once.

Step 2: Coffee
Picture this. You are sitting in the library studying for your organic chemistry test, and you’re starting to question if becoming a prostitute/stripper is such a bad idea. Now picture a hot beverage in your hand, in a cup obviously. This beverage is steaming and emitting off the essence of deliciousness. This is your liquid motivation. This is your drug. This is coffee. This sweet delicate beverage is going to change your life, for the better or worse. It will keep you so motivated that you won’t have time for not being motivated. Think of all the energy and sleepless nights. This is going to give you so much time and drive to do your homework. So put this on your to do list.

Step 3: To Do Lists
I decided to ask my fellow peers how they stayed motivated during this season. Nicole Weiss told me that she gets motivated by making a list and checking it twice. Just kidding, she makes lists and when she finishes something on it, she crosses it off! Sounds easy enough. She explained that when she crosses off an item from the list, it was almost therapeutic. It is easy to see your physical progress of what you are getting done and what else needs to be done.

Step 4: Reward Yourself
Sometimes it is essential to have a little reward for your efforts. Maybe a few minutes snuggling up with the heating blanket or 20 episodes of your favorite TV show on Netflix. Whatever your heart desires. I like food so I enjoying rewarding myself with eight cookies or an entire pizza when I read 5 out of 40 pages.

Another big thing is to think about what you are going to do for spring break! That will be a reward in itself. Will it be Florida with the family? Panama City Beach with your hooligan friends? Or maybe like me and my friends you will choose to go to Tennessee where there will be hiking, zip lining, sleeping in a potentially sketchy hotel, and driving monster trucks! Woot woot. Whatever you decide to do, just know that your cold, snowy blues will eventually lift and all the hard work and the suffering is going to pay off. Probably.

Photo by Kyle Shade