Question:
What helps you stay motivated in pharmacy school? I'm one week in, and I feel that my mental health issues are taking over.
Response #1:
Hello! So I will share a little bit of my personal experience & what works for me but remember that everyone is different! So I am an RX2022 student and I struggle with anxiety. Some strategies that I have learned over the past few years in school for motivation and mental health are:
Mental health first! It is going to be very hard to be productive if you aren’t prioritizing your mental health. For me this looks like taking my meds, seeing a counsellor on a regular basis and structure. Especially with being online, creating structure has been very helpful in keeping me on track of things. If you need referrals or more information for counselling resources you can find that information under resources.
Get dressed for the day! If you stay in bed/stay in your pjs all day you’re going to feel like lounging around.
STRUCTURE! For me this means having a regular sleep schedule, meal prepping & knowing what I am eating on a weekly basis, having a designated workspace that is separate from my bedroom (if possible), and having a good way to organize my tasks. Organizing my tasks / to-do list has always been a challenge for me, especially since we have gone virtual. This term I have split my bulletin board into 6 separate sections and put sticky notes in each section with things I need to do for each course & the approximate time they will take to complete. This helps me visualize tasks and plan out my day when I sit down to work.
Schedule breaks. And when I say breaks I mean breaks for you to get up, move your body, nourish your body those sorts of things (as tempting as it may be to spend your 30 minute break on social media). Try to get outside every day! Even if it is just 10 minutes to walk around the block, that fresh air will do wonders for your brain trust me!
Finally, honour your feelings, your energy levels and practice positive self-talk. If you are having a bad mental health day, or didn’t sleep well the night before honour and be okay with the fact that you might not get as much done and that it is okay to feel unmotivated. Talk to yourself like you would talk to a friend, you’d probably encourage them to maybe do a small task and also do things that will make them feel energized for the next day (going to bed early, doing some yoga, do a facemask whatever it may be).
When all else fails just do it. My trick for if I am feeling unmotivated or paralyzed with anxiety is to count to 3 and then just do it (1,2,3 GO). Sometimes you just need to force yourself to do something to get motivation to do the rest of the things.
Response #2:
As counterintuitive as it sounds, being intentional about taking time away from school is what helped to keep me motivated. I found that my anxiety was just bundling itself up and consuming me in the first few weeks of pharmacy school, so I set aside times of the week to go to lane swim. I would cook myself dinner every night and eat it while watching Netflix as a way to unwind. I set aside time to volunteer on the weekends. At first, stepping away from school caused me to be more anxious, until I recognized how it refreshed my mindset and left me feeling ready to tackle my schoolwork. Figure out what re-energizes you and brings you joy, and find ways to incorporate these things into your schedule.
One factor that I’ve noticed has really affected my motivation since starting online learning this past year is the class group chat. I think it is a helpful tool for helping each other out with course content and assignments, but at the same time it has been a major contributor to my lack of motivation. People would be asking questions about content I hadn’t even started yet, which would leave me feeling down and my thoughts would start to spiral, making it difficult to even get started. I found that speaking with my friends about how I was feeling really helped. It made me realize that everyone works at their own pace and there is nothing wrong with me if I take longer to work through the content than my peers. Everyone faces different challenges and we just need to be kind to ourselves.
Know that you are not alone. There are many supports available through the university, and if you feel like these would be helpful to learn about, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
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