I’m a first-year university student. Right now, we’re going over completely uninteresting topics that I’ve either already covered (or skipped) back in school. I have no motivation to complete the assignments because these subjects don’t interest me at all. I know that in the future there will be subjects I’ll enjoy, but for now, I’m stuck with all of this – and without any motivation.
As a result, I end up doing nothing all day, finding ways to distract myself just to avoid working on my university assignments. I don’t like this at all because I’m not doing what I actually want to do. I “wait” until late at night, realizing I can’t procrastinate any longer, or I end up sacrificing sleep. It feels like a waste of time because I’m neither doing what I have to do nor what I want to do.
Motivation isn’t a real thing. Stop leaning on it and waiting for it to show up out of the blue and support you.
Discipline is what you need. Sucks to hear, sorry for that.
Trust me on this: you told yourself it’s easy. So do it. It’s easy. If you don’t, these inactions will low key create self hatred. You’ll fall behind before you realize it, be inundated with work, and your subconscious will think back to this moment. All you’ll hear is “Fuck this I hate this this sucks” maybe even “I hate myself”.
Don’t let it get there.
It’s easy? Prove it.
If you get shit done while being true to yourself, self-hate is genuinely difficult.
Motivation is why you want to do a thing.
Discipline is how you achieve that thing.
I knew it, but how to discipline myself? How to start?
As shallow as it may sound, just start. Set a timer for 5 minutes and do it fir just 5 minutes. When the timer is up I bet you will continue.
ok, I’ll try it, thx
This might not work long term but for my ADHD I pit a timer for my task.
Depending on the task, I will come up with a time just long enough to complete it. I’ll start the timer and be so busy rushing I don’t even think about how much I hate it. Just blaze through it as fast as possible.
I do something similar. But I also have a huge master list organized by category (for chores it’s rooms based) and frequency (daily, monthly, etc) with a check box next to each thing.
I have it posted up on a wall where I can’t help but see it, and next to it is a whiteboard calendar where I schedule all of these tasks. You could always try something like this (I know it’s borderline insane but ADHD gonna ADHD) or make it your own.
The key though is to make it iterative. Pay attention to what works (for example with chores, is sweeping daily too often? Then change it. Same goes for studying) and modify it on set intervals (every 2 weeks, month, whatever).
It gives a visual representation of what needs to be done, when, and provides accountability because you can see what you did/didn’t do, and so can anyone else who has access to it.
It took me probably 6 hours to initially set it up, but it’s been huge for me.
Alternatively (or as part of some organizational strategy), focus your effort on tasks you do like and subjects you do like, while doing enough to just get by on everything else. Breaks are important, but try not to interrupt any states of flow you get into.
Bonus: Post Secondary School is hard! Be gentle with yourself. And remember it is rarely a life or death situation. Follow your syllabus, it’s there to guide you, and talk to your instructor and classmates when you can. There will never (unless you have insane physics professors like did) be new material on a test. It’s always something you have covered. It may not be a specific question/problem/topic you have solved/written about, but it will use all the same skills and knowledge you’ve developed. Plus, a lot of questions come from fairly standard question banks with digital learning software becoming nearly ubiquitous.
Ask about ‘Independent Study’ from your faculty adviser. If you don’t have one, go to your Department head. If you don’t have that, ask the Registrar.
Independent Study means you get to propose your own coursework and, if approved, get to do it and get credit for it. You still have to deal with faculty supervision but the subject is specific to you. Think about what you would love to learn and propose a way to get there.
Pomodoro technique. Basically set a timer to do work for 20 mins (or even 10 minutes), then take a break. Then do it again. Sometimes this can get you over the initial hurdle of getting started. Once you get into the task you may not want to take a break anymore.
A similar trick is if you think of something else to do that’s timewasting, like posting on lemmy (lol), then its ok to do it - but only after working for 10 minutes. You can still do those things but prioritize getting something done first.
Another one: go to the library to work. Initially all you have to do is go, not do the task itself. Then you’re there, and there’s nothing to do except for work. This can turn into card games in the library cafe lol, but then you have to choose a less popular place.
pomodoro really good. Already tried it. And tried today(remembered) and I have some results. But it’s not only about pomodoro. Thank you all, guys. Even if I know about most of all this tips - I just needed to hear it.
If you have a Mac the free app Tomito in the App Store is a genuinely good pomodoro timer. There are plenty other options, even websites, but this one is my favorite so far.
I had this issue all through school. I would always stay up the night before and do whatever it was while having 17 mental breakdowns. I made it through just fine using this method, but I guess I wouldn’t recommend it lol. That’s all I got, sorry!
Doing things you don’t want to do is part of being an adult. It may sound silly but my method is to write a list of what needs to be done. I feel a little pleasure every time I cross something off
Anyone can theoretically sit down and study for the equivalent of a university degree. Most people don’t have the motivation or discipline for that.
Half the point of the degree is that it pushes you to get it done. (The other half is verification that you did it.)
If you still can’t do it, then it isn’t so easy after all, is it? The main challenge isn’t how big your brain is. It’s actually putting in the work.
If you can’t find enough self-discipline to get through it, you’re going to regret it later.
Treats. Find something u like. Could be candy, could be a game, whatever. Use it to reward yourself when you do the thing you need to do. Even better if u can do it small. Like if doing homework for each question you finish you get a pistachio for example.
