Deciding to reward yourself may seem selfish and unproductive, but it can actually create in you a better member of society — someone capable of doing more good with their life and work than if you played it the other way and never decided to reward yourself with anything. In past posts, we’ve been big proponents of establishing a system of rewards when you hit certain study milestones. So not to be too vague, we’ve decided to offer some concrete ideas for rewarding yourself from the files of reddit. Consider the following, and make them your own.
“When I reach a fitness milestone, I buy myself new workout clothes. I reward myself with something good, and something I typically wouldn’t buy (last time was a pair of running shorts from lululemon!). This way I 100% feel like Im treating myself but I’m also making myself more excited to go work out.”
“Exercise has worked well for me as a reward. I generally like physical activity, but don’t workout sometimes because I don’t feel like I have the time (when I’m actually just procrastinating). Either that, or I’m treating exercise as something else I have to do, a chore, and I avoid it too. … For a month or so now I’ve been earning time for exercise. If I get X amount of work done, I get 25 minutes of physical activity. If I do more work, I get more time. I bike, run, hike, or just take a stroll around town. It’s also positive feedback, because exercising makes you feel better, and when you feel better you work better. A short walk can be a great break after you’ve gotten some stuff done, and before you get back to it.”
“The most fun thing I did to reward myself was get a charm bracelet and add a charm every time I reached a small goal. It was fun because it was rewarding myself with something I enjoy and was inexpensive, but it was also a collection that reminded me of where I’d been and how successful I was. Any collection that you like that isn’t too expensive [and] could be out on display for at least you (in your room or whatever) would work. Or, if you didn’t want to spend any money, then making something (like filling a jar with origami stars, one for each goal) or adding to a collage/picture or something would maybe work.”
“I use hypnotic inductions that make me feel good. In particular I like to reward myself with one that projects the results of the habit I’m developing through time, so I get a taste of what it’s going to be like in the future right now. I got the idea thinking about hyperbolic time discounting. … The biggest motivator for me however is the opposite hypnotic induction, projecting forward the consequences of maintaining bad habits. Sometimes I find myself shouting ‘no’ out loud. … It’s worth a experimenting to see which approach works best for you. … I use the success tape as a reward but it’s the failure tape that really gets me rearing to go.”
“When I am desperate to get something done that I have been procrastinating for months I fill a bowl with sour patch kids or licorice nibs and eat one for every tiny step I do. Eg. Sit at the computer. Eat a piece (eap). Open correct file. Eap. Write one bullet point. Eap….and so on. The thing is, after a few, I get into a groove and I forget to even eat them. Getting started is the hardest part. Although a few times I have made myself feel ill from too much sugar. To be honest, it was still worth it.”
“An end goal as a reward for going through a grind isn’t an effective strategy imo. … For example going to the gym, people often have unrealistic expectations for what results they’re going to get. Often progress is far too slow to be apparent to them, so they quit after a few months. A realistic expectation is to lose 50lbs of fat in a year, and/or gain 15lb of muscle. That’s very slow. … You have to learn to love the grind, because the grind is life and it doesn’t go away. … You find a workout that you enjoy and you do it because it’s fun to do, whether it’s lifting, running, or some kind of sport. You find a job that you like so that your reward isn’t to go home early, your ‘reward’ is to actually go to work because you actually enjoy it.”
“Try to keep the reward related to the goal. e.g. If I read X books, I get to buy myself more books. If I meet one of my fitness goals I get to buy myself a new gym outfit. If I lose X amount of weight, I get to buy myself a new bathing suit or get a new hairstyle etc.”
“Some overly sweet coffee drink, then back to more studying and prepping for the next terms classes. I made a goal of graduating with Magna Cum Laude when I started college… don’t be like me, now that it’s over I wish I would’ve made friends instead.”
“A new game, hobby item, some cool thing on Amazon, that’s what I buy myself if I hit my goals. I usually set it on a 1 or 2 week deadline, and if I reach my goals during that time period I order my new thing. If I fail, I don’t get it, and that’s my punishment and I have to start all over the next week. A few weeks of getting denied my new toys gets me motivated … This works best with someone to be accountable to, I let my wife know what my latest goal reward is so she knows [to hold me accountable].”
“I said to myself that I get to watch only one episode of The Office per day. But for every hour of studying I get one more episode. For half an hour of exercising I also get one more episode as well as playing the guitar for half an hour. If there are several goals that you want to do, you should also reward yourself for every goal you achieve. But the harder one or the ones you want to to before the others should take less time or the reward should be greater in order to do them earlier. One other thing I did is that everyday I do 20 push ups and sit-ups. And I also get to watch one episode after I do them. It seems easy but the catch is that I can do this only once a day and next day I add one push up as well as a sit-up. So next day I have to do 21 of them. In the start it is easy, but as you go along it is really a nice exercise.”
What are some ways that you reward yourself, readers? Sound off in the comments section!
Aric Mitchell's work appears regularly here at 4tests.com and across the web for sites, such as The Inquisitr and Life'd. A former high school teacher, his passion for education has only intensified since leaving the classroom. At 4tests, he hopes to continue passing along words of encouragement and study tips to ensure you leave school ready to face an ever-changing world.
Deciding to reward yourself may seem selfish and unproductive, but it can actually create in you a better member of society — someone capable of doing more good with their life and work than if you played it the other way and never decided to reward yourself with anything. In past posts, we’ve been big proponents of establishing a system of rewards when you hit certain study milestones. So not to be too vague, we’ve decided to offer some concrete ideas for rewarding yourself from the files of reddit. Consider the following, and make them your own.
