Do you need to motivate yourself to revise over the summer holidays but find it difficult? Lack of motivation over the summer holidays is something that affects us all, and really it is unsurprising! You’ve worked hard at school all year, you deserve a break.
Rest is one of the most important things you need to do when studying. Taking time out is really important and can make you way more productive.
However, learning little and often is the best way to boost your grade and stay on top of your studies. So even if it’s just 30 minutes a week over 6 weeks, you can still make a lot of progress. Just take our summer trial results as an example: Our GCSE students used SchoolOnline for 30 mins to 1 hour every week for 6 weeks and saw a 34.6% average grade improvement!
So here are the top 5 things you NEED to do to motivate yourself to revise over the summer holidays and help you get that balance of rest and study:
1. Little and often
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Studying little and often can bring you great success! Take 30 minutes out of your week to check over some notes on a topic you find hard. Alternatively use this time to get organised, research what exam boards you are doing and what the requirements are or make a template for a study schedule. Motivating yourself over the summer holidays doesn’t always have to be revising, getting organised so you’re ready to hit the ground running in September is also a great idea.
2. Use positive motivators
Sometimes we use negative motivators and think that ‘if I don’t get good grades I’ll have to re-sit’. Whilst if you don’t achieve a grade 4 in Maths and English Language at GCSE, you will have to re-sit, it’s important to keep perspective and look at this from a positive lens. For example good GCSE grades will increase your chance of getting onto your preferred college or sixth form course and give you more options in the future.
3. Organisation is key
What’s that famous saying? Tidy space, tidy mind?
Either way, having a suitable, conducive environment to study in will do wonders for your motivational levels over the summer holidays.
- Find a quiet, undisturbed space.
- Get a comfortable chair.
- Tidy your desk.
This will really help you to improve your productivity.
4. Include ‘revise over the summer holidays’ on your 6 week to do list
Just like you plan your leisure time when going to see friends, why not plan your study time too?
- Creating a revision timetable is the perfect way to motivate yourself.
- That way, you’ve planned out everything you need to achieve and broken it down into more manageable and bite-sized chunks.
- This will also help to stop you from feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of studying. Remember if you’re finding revision or your studies stressful it is important you speak to someone like a parent or a teacher who will be able to support you. Young minds also have some useful resources to help you deal with exam stress.
5. Remove distractions
We’ve all been there – the lure of TikTok can sometimes be too much. So remove the distraction to improve focus! This might mean putting your phone in another room, removing other distracting devices and ignoring social media notifications. Generally, this will help you have a more productive study session. Plus you know if you study for 30 minutes and then allow yourself a 5 minute break on your phone – that sounds like great motivation to us!
Want more study tips to motivate yourself to revise over the summer holidays? Check out our motivational Pinterest board here. Don’t forget to save them for later.
PLUS did you know we offer a 6 weeks Maths Summer Catchup Course with a SchoolOnline subscription? Just sign up for a membership from £9.99 a month and head to the courses section to get started. You’ll be on your way to Smarter learning and Better Grades in no time.