Many of my tutoring students ask me, “How do I get motivated to do my homework?”
It helps to keep your long-term goals in mind. The better you do at school, the easier it is to pursue a range of options for the rest of your life.
Short-term goals can help a little bit as well.
But, when push comes to shove, goals are not always enough. We all have long-term and short-term desires, which sometimes don’t match up.
When this happens, our short-term desires often win. So, a genuine commitment to doing better at school may not be enough to resist the temptation of:
- Social media
- Gaming
- Texting
And alike.
This is where behavioural psychology, and more specifically, Grandma’s Rule, can help.
Grandma’s Rule & Motivation to Do Homework
One of the key principles of behavioural psychology is that behaviour that gets rewarded is likely to be repeated. When your short-term desires and long-term goals conflict, you need to use your short-term desires as rewards.
Grandma’s Rule sums this up nicely.
No Dessert Until You Eat All Your Veggies
With grandma’s rule, you make a short-term desire, such as dessert, a reward that you only give yourself after doing a less desirable activity. For example, allow yourself 5 minutes of social media only after 30 minutes of homework.
The specifics are up to you. But the keys are to:
- Choose an activity you already enjoy and do most days as your reward
- Decide how much homework you must complete before giving yourself the reward
- Choose how long to reward yourself for
Here are 3 examples of how you could use Grandma’s Rule to help motivate yourself to do your homework.
Example 1
I will allow myself 5 minutes to check social media and messages after finishing my homework for each subject.
Example 2
I will allow myself to game only after I have finished all my homework for that day.
Example 3
I will allow myself to:
- Check social media for 5 minutes after each 30 minutes of homework I do, and
- Game only after I have finished all my homework for that day
Extrinsic Motivation to Do Homework
When you want to do something just because you like it, you are internally or intrinsically motivated. But when you lack this inner desire, extrinsic motivators can help.
Extrinsic motivators include external rewards, and one of the most potent external rewards you can give or withhold from yourself is something you already enjoy doing.
This is the essence of Grandma’s Rule, and following Grandma’s Rule is a great way to motivate yourself to do your homework.
FAQs
Use Grandma’s Rule.
You can use anything you like doing that you already do most days.
