Motivation. It all starts with motivation right? And when you don’t have motivation you simply don’t have it, right? Or not? Is there a way to stay perpetually motivated? In session number 2 of the StudySuccessful podcast I try to answer these questions by explaining my top productivity/motivation system!

Items mentioned in this episode

• Nine Ways To Get Motivated For College
• Successful Students Motivational Course
• Dan Pink on motivation
• Learning On Steroids: Extinsive Video Course by Scott H Young. Everything about motivation/study hacks and studying methods. (Big reccomendation for all my readers!)
• Weekly/Daily goals
• StudySuccessful.com Facebook page!
• Powernapping: The Secret to Productivity and Creativity

Please subscribe below to the podcast to get automatic updates:

• Click Here to Subscribe through iTunes
• Click Here to Subscribe via RSS-feed (non-iTunes)

Thank you a lot for your support. I would love it if you could leave a rating or review. Please leave me an honest one on iTunes here. It will help the show and it’s ranking in iTunes immensely! I appreciate it!

Next?	Stefan Recommends
View the StudySuccessful homepage.	9 ways to get motivated for college – The ebook by Stefan Knapen (free)
More on the author.	Learn More, Study Less – Relearn learning
Get in touch.

In January 2011 I bought an iPhone 4. A device which I am really happy with. Only one problem. It is a big (BIG) distraction. Since I have the phone, I am constant checking my email/twitter/facebook. And this is causing problems, especially with studying for a test. Luckily I’ve come accross a solution, a technique which made my concentration go SKYHIGH!

I am sure some of you already heard from this, it isn’t something new, but after explaining it to a couple of friends, groups of students in workshops and discussions about the topic I have some insights to share, some thoughts behind the technique and only when you understand the underlying mechanisms you can start to use a technique like you should – you should have a burning desire to use it.

The technique is called ‘The Pomodore Technique’. It is fairly easy:

Take the Pomodore Technique into action:

1. Shut everything down and set a timer for 25 minutes. Work until the timer goes off.
2. Have a 5 minute break. Do something fun, enjoy your break.
3. Repeat this 4 times. Which makes around 2 hours of studying/working.
4. Take a big break. Go for a cup of coffee/lunch or whatever. Visit a site like www.mademan.com, I don’t care: have a bigger break.

Pretty easy right? Why I am sharing this on this blog? Let me explain a couple of points.

Thoughts behind the Pomodore technique.

First of all, what means shutting down? After I booted up my iPhone for the first time I knew this was going to cause me problems with studying. Without an eggtimer or anything running in the background I am constantly checking the thing. Using the technique, I force myself into not-looking for 25 minutes. This doesn’t seem like a long time, but you only need 5-10 minutes to get in some sort of flow, which enables you to go on, it gets you in a state of mind where you are highly concentrated so you can absorb the knowledge like you should.

I don’t shut my iPhone down, but I do shut off the messages and everything. I can still look up terms on the internet, but I won’t be noticed when somebody is texting me or something. I am shut down for the outside world – contact me in my breaks. I am setting my own office hours.

Second. Tiny Wings is a great game for the break. I don’t know who of you ever played Tiny Wings, but it is a game about a little bird whom’s wings aren’t that big, so he has to slide over the land. You have to help him to get as far as possible during one day. Here is the thing: one game takes around 5 minutes. So this makes the perfect pomodore-break game, because you only play one game and you can go on with your studying again!

Third. You don’t want to have these breaks. When friends are testing out this technique they don’t want to stop after 25 minutes. Because they are finally in the flow, so they want to continu to work on their study materials. I tell them to still take the break, because your brain needs some rest. You need a couple of minutes to get out of the material to get into with a fresh mind again later. This enables you to go on for 2 hours.

Last, you need to have your own office hours to complete work. I am studying in a library, more often with others than without. But you need to set your own ‘office-hours’ to complete your own work. When you listen to friends and drink coffee with them whenever they want, you can’t stick to your own schedule. Since I adopted the Pomodore Technique I am not a nice guy to study with anymore, because I am studying for 2 hours until I have a break and I need to take a break in my hours. Sounds selfish? Maybe, but hey, I am the person who wants to pass the test as well!

Interested? Test it out yourself and let me know what happened!

There is enough bullshit around the internet about the Pomodore Technique, I hope I gave you a couple of insights which made you curious about the Pomodore Technique. It definitly is something I am starting to believe in more and more. So test it out yourself!

Don’t forget to leave a comment with your thoughts, especially when it is not working for you or anything, I love to learn something new every once in a while =)

Next?	Stefan Recommends
View the StudySuccessful homepage.	9 ways to get motivated for college – The ebook by Stefan Knapen (free)
More on the author.	Learn More, Study Less – Relearn learning
Get in touch.

This is a guest post by Katheryn, if you would like to send in a guest post as well, please visit the contact page!

An increasingly popular option for students around the world, particularly in Europe and the United States, is to study or work abroad for six months to a year in a different country. Of course, the advantages of doing so are innumerable?you’ll learn a new language or practice one you’ve studied only in a classroom, you’ll meet new people from all over the world, and you’ll experience a completely different culture. That being said, the value of your time spent abroad is directly related to how you structure your experience. Here are a few tips for making the most of your stay.

[Note from Stefan: If you are going to Study Abroad, make sure to check out this awesome guide on How To Study Abroad: 'The Ultimate Study Abroad guide'!]

1. Don’t drink too much.

For many students who go overseas, the temptation to party is practically ingrained in the entire “study abroad” culture. While of course, you do want to have fun, taking it to extremes will make you miss out on many opportunities that living in a new place affords.

2. Choose a homestay option over dormitory living.

If your study abroad program gives you the option of living with a family instead of sharing a dorm room or apartment with other exchange students, consider the advantages of staying with a family. Not only will you get to practice your language skills in an immersive environment daily, but you’ll also have a taste of what it’s like to live as actual denizens of the city or town in which you are studying do.

3. Make local friends.

In the same way that home stay accommodation encourages a more authentic exchange experience, so too does actively making local friends. Many study abroad programs become somewhat insular with their groups, effectively creating an “expat” clique. Branch out and make finding local friends a priority. If anything, you’ll be steered away from expensive expat bars, restaurants, and other entertainment venues.

4. In addition to studying, check out volunteer or internship options.

As any student has enrolled in an exchange program before knows, the vast majority of courses are not very difficult or particularly time consuming. So you’ll more than likely have tons of free time on your hands. Visa restrictions will probably not allow you to get a real part-time job, but think about scoping out volunteer or intern options. Participating in one of the two will enhance your international professional experience?something employers everywhere are interested in?and it will also give you the opportunity to be more involved in a new community.

5. Take advantage of visiting cultural institutions.

Whether or not you are the museum type, do avail yourself of the opportunity to experience another country or city’s cultural institutions. Whether it’s going to see the opera, the theater, an art gallery, or a local park, find something you enjoy and go check it out. While your stay will be longer than a typical tourist’s, you won’t be living in your host country forever, so it’s enriching to explore whatever culture the country has to offer.
These are just a few ways to enhance your time spent abroad. Above all, remember to enjoy every minute of your stay, because it could very well be the last time you actually reside in such a different place. For students who have already had exchange experience, what was your favorite part? What additional advice would you offer students who have yet to study overseas?

Katheryn Rivas is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online universities. Questions and comments can be sent to: katherynrivas87@gmail.com.

Next?	Stefan Recommends
View the StudySuccessful homepage.	9 ways to get motivated for college – The ebook by Stefan Knapen (free)
More on the author.	Learn More, Study Less – Relearn learning
Get in touch.

Quick reminder – you don’t want to miss this!

Only 2 hours left for probably the best Personal Development Deal you can get on the internet.

Adam Baker (from ManvsDebt.com) has organised with 23 of the biggest personal development bloggers out there to create a one-time (so only 72 hours) deal for the best personal development products out there.

Reader question!

Already got a couple of questions from my newsletter subscribers on how to use this deal as a student. Well, first you need to buy the package. Yeah it is an investment ($97), but it is an investment definitly worth it. Next steps? Let’s dive into it:

1. Buy the package. Head over to the site right now and go to the checkout. Payments are through Paypal and creditcard.
2. Put the books all somewhere else. Put them away in a different folder, you are not going to read them yet all together.
3. Grab ‘Focus’ by Leo Babauta and read it first. This book will learn you some general principles on how to focus, even dealing with things like and more important: how to change a habit!
4. Grab Scott H Young’s ‘Learn More, Study Less’ and read it. Read the book good and learn from it.
5. Take the actions required to change which are described in the books into account for the next 6 months. Learn, experiment and improve.
6. After half a year take a look at the other books. The other books are definitly worth a read as well, but as a college student, these two books will do the trick!

These two books already pile up to $102, so you are already cheaper off! And now with the other books you will definitly have health, happiness, sleep, financial success and everything else  you should have to become the best student you can possibly be!

Check it out now!

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate for this package, so yes I do get money from this. But this deal is so amazing I can’t let you go with not getting it..

Quick post! As you know I don’t like to offer things in my blog posts, but this is definitly an offer you can’t refuse..

Only 17 hours left for probably the best Personal Development Deal you can get on the internet. Why I’m only letting you know this now? Because me as well only heard from it just now! But I do want to let you know!

Adam Baker (from ManvsDebt.com) has organised with 23 of the biggest personal development bloggers out there to create a one-time (so only 72 hours) deal for the best personal development products out there.

So Stefan.. What is so special?

What is so special is that the products separately add up to over 1000$ in total. Now (again, only 17 hours left) you can get this cool package for only $97!(!!!)

Let me pick some highlights!

• The Language Hacking Guide (normally $67) – I actually helped Benny Lewis translating this to Dutch and last month I had the chance to meet the guy! This book is amazing for everybody who wants to learn a new language!
• Learn More, Study Less by Scott H Young (normally $67) - Amazing book by Scott, talked about it a lot on this website. Great resource for everybody who is interested in learning new ways to study!
• Focus by Leo Babauta (normally 35$) – Great read by Leo Babauta including a ‘email fast guide’, ‘decluttering quickstart guide’ and a guide to changing habits!

There it is, 3 big recommendations already piling up to $169 already! Three books you have to have read. Now way cheaper and with a lot more books in the package as well.

Being honest. Not buying this would be stupid. This will be the best investment in yourself you will make this summer! It contains happiness, sleep, financial success and much more..

Check it out now!

A short post today, basically because there isn’t much more to say about it!

When you are setting goals, people tell you they should be clear. A clear goal makes your path clear towards the goal. A clear goal is everything. If you want to build a house, visualize it, draw it, make a list of requirements. Make a goal and work towards it. Or is there more to say about this?

How to set a goal you can reach

But what if the store ran out of the special floor you wanted so much for your house? What if they don’t have the right color green for the doorknobs? Your goal will never be reached and you will be bumped out.

That is the thing with setting good goals: Keep them vague! You want an end result, you don’t want the perfect picture in the end.

This insight results from a project I am working on. It is called the ‘Philosophy Garden’ (Dutch people: Filosofie tuin in Groningen). We are working on this with more than 5 guys, so the end picture can always change. And is that a bad thing? No! If we (a friend of mine and I, who started this project) would have had a picture in our heads that was so clear nobody would visit the Garden. Nobody would want to work together, because they couldn’t do their thing on this project. So our only goal is: ‘Having a place where we can hang out and discuss the Bigger Questions of life with awesome people’. How that is reached, where those conversations will be, what Bigger Questions are, that is all open for suggestion. Everybody can work with us on this project and everybody can put their egg into this basket. Great.

Setting goals isn’t always about having a clear goal, what is more important is to get somewhere, towards your goal. You can always change your goal into what you’ve reached! And you will be truely satisfied.

Awesome after post note: Half a year ago I wrote the exact opposite article about Goal Setting. How life can change a person, right?

Next?	Stefan Recommends
View the StudySuccessful homepage.	9 ways to get motivated for college – The ebook by Stefan Knapen (free)
More on the author.	Learn More, Study Less – Relearn learning
Get in touch.

When you look at the biggest fears of the human race ‘speaking in front of an audience’ is the biggest fear in Americans according a study with 3000 participants from the Sunday Times. Why is that? Why are we so afraid of speaking in front of more than 3 people. I want to make this problem even more simple. People are afraid to talk to strangers. This is not because your mum told you you are not allowed to speak to strangers, but you are just afraid in general! When I sit in the train and I go sit next to somebody, they don’t greet back 8 out 10 times. A simple, laid back conversation is really, really hard for the most of us. Let’s change that!

The key in losing fear for conversations.
There are a lot of ways to change behaviour of people, but in this typical behaviour (afraid to talk to others), there is only one sollution according to me. The confrontation therapy, just confront somebody with their inner fears. So in order to overcome this (stupid?) fear of speaking to others, just do it. Get out on the street and talk to somebody, there are other ways also. You need to lose your shame in some sort of way. Tim Ferriss explained pretty clearly in his book how to. Just go to a busy street and lay down on the ground. Suddenly. Get down and chill for a little while. Feel the eyes burning on you. Everybody is looking, everybody sees you acting all weird. So what? Is that behaviour you need to be ashamed of? I don’t think so. When you cheat on your girlfriend, that is something you should be ashamed of! Looking funny, nothing shameful about it.

Let’s don’t do any drastic things a laying down on busy sidewalks. Let’s make a more easy training.

How to lose fear for conversations

1. Say hi. When you are in the train, on the bus or just walking somewhere, greet! Greet people, say hi, it is such a simple word. But with this word, you force yourself to talk to others and that is a big step in overcoming your fear! Greet people and get ahead of the game. Repeat this for two weeks or so and this isn’t scary anymore.
2. Talk. Now you are feeling confident about greeting people and initiating contact. Now start to talk. Say something about the weather, about the timetable of the train or whatever. When you see people looking for the way, ask them if you can help them. Get used to talking to random strangers. Just a little small talk, ask what they are doing, where they come from. This is your ultimate goal and the next step is making this step easier again.
3. Ask stupid questions. Let’s face your biggest fear: Shame. Let’s provoke situations where you will be in fear, definitly. You need to ask the most stupid questions you can think of to get really ashamed. Ask questions like ‘Where is the nearest toilet and not an urinal if you know what I mean’ or ‘Where is the nearest adult-video store?’ Questions that will make you guaranteed ashamed. This is to make the second step way easier. Talking to general people isn’t that hard at all, but to more important people, or a pretty girl or something can still be hard. When you are practising with asking really stupid questions, you will know how not-important that feeling of shame is and how it has been holding you back for a long time. This step is a step that you don’t practise on those beautiful girls, but it will make the conversation with them more easy!

Shall we look back a little? The key point which is holding us back to talk to strangers is fear. We fear the feeling we get when we talk to people in general, that is the point we need to overcome. In order to overcome (or lose) that fear, we need to face it. Provoke it and make it even worse. With this kind of training we won’t have any fear anymore and talking to people will just be something which is easy!

Starting a conversation is really easy, you just need to lose fear, overcome it and you will enjoy the feeling of a nice little conversation about nothing, with a total stranger. Have fun!

This is a guest post from Dee Barizo. He writes for TheBestDegrees.org, a site that features the best online degrees.

Online college can be a difficult environment to transition to if you are used to on-campus courses. Without the face-to-face interaction and set class schedule times, online learning can feel very different from traditional education. You may need to adjust your mindset and expectations to meet your educational goals.

Fortunately, there are skills you can learn to make the transition smoother, earn high grades, and learn the important concepts about your field. This article describes four skills that will help you become a successful online student.

Navigate the E-Learning System

E-learning programs provide the virtual classroom to interact with the professor and other students and complete the coursework. The popular programs like WebBoard, ANGEL, or BlackBoard/WebCT are equipped with at least one tutorial. Complete the tutorial to get an overview of how to use the applications and resources within the program. You should get very familiar with the virtual environment so that you can efficiently navigate within it and not waste time.

Along with tutorials, many e-learning systems include interactive help sections. If you want help from a live person, don’t hesitate to contact tech support. They can give you specific advice for your software issues. Many online schools offer 24/7 tech support, so you may be able to receive help even during late night or early morning study sessions.

Establish a Routine

Achieving success in online degree programs, for instance at the University of Phoenix online, will require establishing and following a routine for working on and finishing assignments. Without the set class times, it is easy to procrastinate and fall behind on your studies.

At the beginning of each week, create a schedule based on the free time you foresee in the week. For each open time block, write down a specific task that will move your classwork further along to completion. This planning time helps you become organized with your class responsibilities. You will be focused during the week and be reminded at opportune times to move forward on your assignments.

Evaluate Your Communication

Your online communication through discussion forums, emails, and written assignment submissions create an impression on your instructor. Evaluate and edit all your communication before you submit them. Professors try to grade every assignment as objectively as possible, but if you have created a good impression of yourself through your writing, your instructor will be more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt during grading. Reading the feedback from your instructor on written assignments, email messages, and forums can guide your thinking for future assignments and exams.

Network with Other Online Students

Online tutoring is not your only option for getting assistance with studying for online courses. You can get help from your professor through email, and you can form strategic partnerships with the other students. Fellow students can give good suggestions for completing a certain project. They can serve as peer readers for your papers. If you live in the same geographical area, you can even get together with fellow students and study for exams. Chatting via telephone, Skype, or web cameras offers alternatives to traditional study groups.

Also, share what you’ve learned with your peers. By teaching them, you internalize the information for yourself and solidify your grasp on the concepts. The students will appreciate your knowledge and be motivated to help you in the future.

Online learning combines new educational delivery methods with more traditional methods like the course syllabus, papers, and exams. By applying the above tips, you can make the virtual classroom a tool for academic and workplace success.

Merry Christmas all! This is the first Christmas that StudySuccessful.com sees, let’s hope there will be many many more! There is still a little bit of snow in the Netherlands, so we are actually having a white Christmas. Hope you are as lucky as I am.

You’ve probably seen the new lay-out already, if not, RSS readers, visit the website, it looks awesome (according to the biased me!). I’ve decided to make the jump to Thesis, so I can do much of the designing myself. Thesis is a theme I can advice to anyone who is starting a blog. I will be tweaking the lay-out, so if any errors occur, don’t be suprised! If you have any tips about the lay-out, things that are bothering you, don’t hesitate to contact me via the contact page, I love feedback.

Enough for today, I am going to spend time with my family! Merry Christmas all, see you in a couple of days!

Next?	Stefan Recommends
View the StudySuccessful homepage.	9 ways to get motivated for college – The ebook by Stefan Knapen (free)
More on the author.	Learn More, Study Less – Relearn learning
Get in touch.

Hey you guys, I am going to try a new thing, I am going to try to do a video. Yes, you are going to see and hear me, pretty exciting, especially for me!

I add it here in the post, I filmed it with my webcam on my laptop, so I hope the quality is good enough!

I won’t be doing videos a lot, but I want to try to learn how to make good videos, so let me know what you think of it! Have fun.

Next?	Stefan Recommends
View the StudySuccessful homepage.	9 ways to get motivated for college – The ebook by Stefan Knapen (free)
More on the author.	Learn More, Study Less – Relearn learning
Get in touch.