Basically strawberrye's advice is golden and what I'd endorse heartily.
On what worked for me:
1) I set goals for each assessment, ranks for each report as well my overall ATAR and #no of b6 goal and course/uni goals. This kept me motivated on the small stretch all over the year. Goals should be realistic and focus on improvement from prior tasks
If you get close to goal but don't get it, don't despair, the act of setting a goal and working towards it is helpful even if you don't quite reach it. Arguably better than not setting a goal in the first place. Then you look back constructively on why you didn't achieve it, what you could modify the next time and move forward
2) Yes to do lists were the bomb with me, with incentives after I'd crossed of a certain number of things. This encourages effective opposed to dawdling rummaging around the desk-esqe study as you are directed on what must be done. Timetables only work for people who are brutally honest about their patterns but also have a relatively stable life pattern. Regardless if you try and timetable or not, it's helpful to know when you are most effective. Can't hack a study on a Fri afternoon? make that your downtime. Do you prefer to work at night or morning etc.? Main reason I advocate to do lists over tiemtables is I always found you can never seem to count on contingencies in life. I may have thought I'd get my modern history reading done right after school, but then had to do something like go to the chemist to get my nan's medication. Also timetables limit that your motivation/efficiency varies with mood and that as we are human. Some days I was just in the zone and it was good to capitalise on that. Some weeks would be more struggle-y weeks where I'd be lighter on myself.
Know yourself, and know that the power of rest, recreation, sleep, socialising is a potent performance weapon
It's a marathon, not a sprint. I took complete breaks at points in the year and did fine.
3) As corny as it is, make your goals visible on the wall and maybe have some motivation triggers. For me, I had my favourite quotes in my school folder, my psych up song (yes it was a Disney song
) or even a youtube video. Even maybe some light dance or something for me. It's on this point I say intrinsic motivation is the most important. Extrinsic factors like beating your snotty second cousin won't have long lasting motivation, nor will making your teachers happy. they can help to an extent, but they won't be the main driving force.
4) When I experienced burnout (in something completely unrelated to studies/school)-I'd say it occurred because I pushed myself so hard and didn't see the result. I lost the outlook of looking what I'd overcome to rather being disenchanted with things. It was when I had a break and re-evaluated my goals in that life area that I overcame burn out. It's kinda like being a circuit breaker, although jolting yourself to circuit break is the hardest things. Know yourself and know the signs of burn out and respond to them before they snowball.