How do you stay motivated?

[CagedFatKid]

Thank you for all the great adviceI kind of have a schedule...sorta. My day usually goes as following: Wake up at 7, go to work till 8-9ishpm and then get on the computer and work on school till
1. I get too tired,
2. It becomes 1:30am(with the walk to my PEB, a shower and settling down gets me in bed by 2:45) or
3. I start getting easily distracted. This could work hypothetically, but I sometimes have to call my wife or family, which takes an hour or so, and I am usually tired or miss them and just wnat to sleep after that.

Then sometimes I go to the gym and push myself too hard and dont want to do any work at all. Then theres the nights that I am basically just like eh, ill just go home tonight.

This new CLEP thing has got me excited though, I think I will take Humanities, and Anazliying & Interperating Literature. Since these are both needed. I have already taken Microeconomics. I have till the end of the month so thats my schedule so I will push myself to study and do well on them.

I am going to go talk to the people over at the education center today and bring them my little spreadsheet and show them what all I need to get done. I want to get 9 more straighterline courses done in the next 2 months I am not sure if Ill be able to do it though.

[ryoder]

It is too bad you have to work 12 hour days. It is hard to get anything else done when you work that much.
I get up at 6, study for 1.5 hours, go to work, return home by 6-6:30 and I can study for another 1.5 hours that night if I want to.
My weekends are my greatest asset. I spend 8 hours minimum per day studying.

[CagedFatKid]

I am getting movtivated again. I took some of your advice and did a few things to help myself out.
I already had a spreadsheet of the courses I need and have finsihed, but now I added a deadline. Which is mainly for my straighterline classes cause thats all I can do right now, but Ive also started to make flashcards that I wont have to be on the internet using istacert for. So I got an ipad app that lets me make flashcards so I can study even when I am not at work.

Thanks for the support, my wife is helpful sometimes but doesnt exactly understand, her going to school for 2 years now and has 21 credits :toetap: I started 6 months ago and I have more then her. :roflol:

[anp0028]

The thing that keeps me motivated is getting out of the military in a few years. Times are tough and I plan on getting out at the end of my enlistment and I don't wanna go back in the real world with nothing to show for my time here.

[LaterBloomer]

Caged and anp0028, You've probably read from a number of folks who were in the military in this forum and wished that they'd taken advantage of the oportunities offered while they were serving. I don't mean two-for-one at the NCO club, either. I did take all of the Gen Ed CLEPS when I was on terminal leave from the military. Knowing what I know now - what a sad lament - I would have done MUCH more while I was serving. When you're feeling down, pressured, unmotivated, stop thinking negatively. Think how fortunate you are to have the opportunities you have, and how smart you are to be taking advantage of them. Good luck to both of you.

[Kaz]

"How do you stay motivated?"

Fear. Honestly, thinking about the positive things I will/could get by finishing something school-related has never worked on me. Not when I was 8 years old or 18 years old or 28. But really, emotionally feeling that I could be utterly screwing something up in my life permanently by not finishing, well, that gets me going. That gets me my third wind late at night or early in the morning when nothing else does. Negative? Absolutely. Does it work for me? More than anything else.

[marclar2u]

1. Coffee, good french pressed coffee !
   
2. All of the things that kept me from finishing college when I was "college age."
   • Parents decided not to pay for college at the last minute...
     
   • Big Plan B Fail: Medically disqualified to enlist in AF (back then) ... and earn GI bill benefit
     
   • Several other "incidents" I could turn into a sob story, but instead use as, you guessed it, motivation :toetap:
     
3. The fact that I had to demote myself at work in order to finish school.
   
4. Mo' $$$
   
5. The fact that I'd like to at least get into law school BEFORE I turn 40.
   
6. Knowing that I WILL graduate next May even if I have to [SIZE="5"][censored][/SIZE] to do so.
   

[CLEP101]

Feeling a bit overwhelemed/procrastinating/lazy.
Just wanted to know how you guys stick with it and keep going?

It's false motivation for me, but it still works. hilarious
I use my retirement date as my goal to have all my schooling complete. That way I can jump right into another career if I choose to and already have the degrees at hand.

[dondeal]

Towards the end of my bachelors, obtaining the degree was my main motivator. It really felt like the last mile of a marathon. Try to learn via videos if you run across any video learning resources. Youtube is a great learning tool.