staying motivated

Nursing Students Online Learning

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How do you stay motivated to keep up with your online course work? Do you have a specific study time or fit it in whenever?

Specializes in Certified Diabetes Educator.

I would schedule and pay for a test. Then I knew that I had to study "x" amt of time and go take the test. I also had a husband that insisted I stick with this and pass. We needed the extra money that the RN provided.

Specializes in Pediatrics/Adult Float Pool.

agreed! i could have finished several months ago if i hadn't wasted a bunch of time "studying tomorrow". as soon as i put that test on the calendar though, it's over! i'm in it full speed ahead until it's over. then i don't waste any time and get right on scheduling the next one. good luck!!

Specializes in Home Health, Podiatry, Neurology, Case Mgmt.

I posted this in my own thread, but in case you didnt see it...i also did what Mudwoman suggested!

I took the content guide, saw how many sections were on it, then broke it down into weeks...

week 1

April 18th-23rd Section I Nursing process 10% & first practice exam

week 2

April 24th - April 30th Section II Health, Wellness, and Illness 20%

week 3

May 2nd- May 8th Section III Environmental Safety 15%

week 4

May 9th - May 15th Section IV Biological Safety 20%

week 5

May 16th - May 22nd Section V Medication Safety 15%

week 6

May 23rd - may 29th Section VI Psychological Safety 20%

week 7

May 30th - June 5th final Review and 2nd practice exam

Take FINAL on or around June 7th

this gives me a guideline as to what i need to be working on and when it needs to be done. I started to do the EC program almost 2yrs ago, but didn't lay out a timeline for myself at all, so i was overwhelmed and got frustrated and quit before i had even got through two chapters of my study guide. This time i'm laying out a time line and i wrote those "due dates" right on my content guide so as to keep it right in my face as i study. I also used my yahoo calendar and blackberry calendar to set off reminders to there is no excuse to forgetting or slacking off...i do need to go back and give myself a little bit of "cushion" time though, i didnt' account for being sick, or appts ect, so i will probably add a week to the end should i get off schedule or have a hard time with some chapters.

Many people stay motivated by scheduling the test date, putting it on a calendar, then using this appointment time in the future to keep them going from day to day. If you don't give yourself a deadline, then it is very easy to put it off over and over again until you realize that not only weeks, but months, have gone by with no progress.

Specializes in Psych, LTC, Acute Care.

I agree with others. Pay for the test and schedule a date. This worked well for me. I usually took a test every 3 weeks. I failed 2 but kept going and picked them up in the end. I Finished the test in 6 months 24 days. I aint gonna lie, I was burned out but it felt good to get it over with. You need to have a made up minds coming into the EC program. Job advancement and more money was another big motivator. Good Luck to you!

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