Study and Motivation

Adriana Thompson provides advice on how to study when you have lost the motivation to do so.

Being motivated all the years while studying is not so easy. There are a lot of ways to cope with this problem, and professional help from outside is one of the main ones. Interested in the details, then read on.

Everyone is feeling down sometimes, and it is okay. A bad day, gloomy weather, boredom, illness — these are only a few things that can distract you from normal life and feel unhappy. However, when you lose motivation, things can get much worse. It is worse than a bad essay for a plagiarism detector, and it is a much more severe problem than procrastination or temporary frustration.

Motivation-loss epidemic

The loss of motivation has become very common lately. On the one hand, it makes students feel more normal and less alone. On the other hand, it gives some food for meditation. Nowadays, students have vast opportunities for education, building careers, personal development, and self-fulfillment, but such diversity makes their lives more complicated. Every teenager and young adult feels a lot of pressure. They need to get high grades to enter a good university. They need to study a lot to get a scholarship and use it. They need to start working part-time to be able to find a good job after college. There are too many needs and too little attention to what a student wants.

The loss of motivation during education can happen for several reasons. Firstly, many teens are not free to decide what to do in the future. They get directions from parents, who leave no chance for personal interests. Secondly, some do not fully understand what is waiting for them at college. What seems so great in their imagination turns out boring or irrelevant. Thirdly, there is a lot of stress and pressure — from a new environment to a constant strive to be as good as people one follows on social networks. Unfortunately, there is no plagiarism checker tool, which could have forbidden copying the trends. Finally, some personal problems can distract as well.

How to get motivated?

To deal with the motivation issue effectively, it is necessary to figure out what exactly affects it the most. Then face it and overcome it, step by step. Here are several things that will help during this struggle.

Start with changes

Turn on a demotivation checker and do not hesitate to get rid of everything that annoys you. Throw out clothes you do not like. Start eating waffles for breakfast instead of cereals. Make that tattoo you have always wanted to have. Move to another room. Stop communication with toxic people. Unfollow accounts that make you feel down or irritated. Changes may not be easy, but they are necessary.

If you feel that you can continue your education only by changing your major, do that as well. It is much better to leave what makes you unhappy and focus on things that can do the opposite. Please do not treat it like a loss of time. It is a positive experience that showed that you should move in a different direction.

Take a trip

An excellent way to distract from what leaves you unmotivated is by changing the decorations. If you do not have much time, go somewhere on the weekend. It should not be a distant or exotic place. Sometimes a day in a park in the city suburbs is enough. Try travelling alone. For many people, it is the best way to clear their minds and let go of everything negative. Besides, it is an exciting experience, especially in case you go abroad. But if you feel like having company, do not stay alone.

Find time for sports

Sports will help to clear your mind as effectively as solo travels. No need to remember that exercising is good for health and keeping inner balance. Start jogging every morning. Take daily bike rides for exploring different neighbourhoods. In the end, try boxing and beat the troubles out of a manikin in a gym. It all can boost your study motivation.

Find new hobbies (or reanimate the old ones)

If you have always wanted to paint, dance, play the guitar, write a book — do it now. If you liked these occupations in the past but do not have enough time currently, change your daily routine. Some crises triggered the loss of motivation. Underachievements accumulate and will explode at some point. Leave some room for talents and Interests even if they have nothing to do with your profession and education. They are an essential part of your personality.

Create a visualization board

This is not some childish or sentimental thing. It is a simple and effective tool that will help to understand what you want to achieve in the future. It is not about education and career only. Start from general things — travelling, family, achievements. Pin there the car you want to drive, your dream house, a map of the city you want to visit, a future invention, and a future book. Think what a perfect scenario looks like. Then think about the steps you need to make to get there. It will help with tracking the progress and deciding what to do at the moment.

Be clear about why you need good grades

Instead of screaming "Give me motivation!" it may be useful to answer some questions to clarify things. Visualization board might help you with this as well. Any reason for getting good grades fits:

You want to be the brightest student in the class.
You want a diploma with honours.
It will be your Christmas present to your parents.
You want to find a good job after graduation.
It is a challenge for this year, and you are testing your skills.
You want to be disciplined and educated.
High grades are proof of your knowledge and development.

These are only some examples. Everyone has different triggers for motivation. Even in case you are certain that knowledge matters more than grades, remember that grades keep you in the university and allow you to continue your education. That is also a good point.

Make boring subjects interesting

Let us face the truth, "learn" does not equal "memorize." If you do not analyze what you have learned, technically, it is plagiarism. You need to understand them. Try to find effective examples, draw parallels, ask fellow students for help. If some topics are easy but do not seem interesting, dig deeper and find additional information. It is likely to change your attitude.

Find time for brain exercises

The loss of motivation can be a result of a relentless focus on negative experiences or fixation on hardships. Besides finding a way to distract, keep your mind in shape. Buy a box of puzzles of 1,000 pieces, Hungarian cube or other brain-twisters, do a crossword or Sudoku, do math calculations, open a plagiarism checker and paraphrase a piece of text in different ways. You can also install an app, like NeuroNation or Lumocity.

Make learning active

Learning is usually about reading books or lecture materials. It can become boring. There are many ways to make this process interactive and interesting. Take a notebook and make graphic notes. Find movies or podcasts on the topic. Discuss it with friends or in online communities. Devote some time to case studies. Find several ways to apply this knowledge in life, both realistic and crazy ones. Ask "What if..." questions (this is how Stephen King writes books, by the way).

Do not expect to feel motivated 24/7

Motivation is a feeling or a condition, so it is not permanent. The article started with this. We are not robots. If motivation comes in waves, there is no need to worry.

Leaving university is not a solution

We have not mentioned one more significant factor that often affects motivation: the educational process itself. Outdated tools and materials, incompetent lectures, biased opinions and prejudices, the lack of relevance of knowledge in real-life situations, and the last straw — this free online plagiarism checker with the percentage that makes your essay look bad. All these things are poisonous to the education process, and they still take place in educational establishments.

It is not surprising that students might face a lack of motivation in such circumstances. However, leaving the university is not a solution. Having a degree has always been important. If you do not like how everything is organized, you may become an activist, who will question the entire process and try to change it for the better. If you do not want to be that saviour, take a break for a year or choose a different place to continue your education. You are tough enough to make it to the end.

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

THOMPSON, A. (2019) Study and Motivation [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article417.htm [Accessed

About the Author

Adriana Thompson is an author who earns her living as a freelance writer. She is writing a children's book, hoping that someday she will become a famous writer.


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Being motivated all the years while studying is not so easy. There are a lot of ways to cope with this problem, and professional help from outside is one of the main ones. Interested in the details, then read on. Everyone is feeling down sometimes, and it is okay. A bad day, gloomy weather, boredom, illness — these are only a few things that can distract you from normal life and feel unhappy. However, when you lose motivation, things can get much worse. It is worse than a bad essay for a plagiarism detector, and it is a much more severe problem than procrastination or temporary frustration. Motivation-loss epidemic The loss of motivation has become very common lately. On the one hand, it makes students feel more normal and less alone. On the other hand, it gives some food for meditation. Nowadays, students have vast opportunities for education, building careers, personal development, and self-fulfillment, but such diversity makes their lives more complicated. Every teenager and young adult feels a lot of pressure. They need to get high grades to enter a good university. They need to study a lot to get a scholarship and use it. They need to start working part-time to be able to find a good job after college. There are too many needs and too little attention to what a student wants. The loss of motivation during education can happen for several reasons. Firstly, many teens are not free to decide what to do in the future. They get directions from parents, who leave no chance for personal interests. Secondly, some do not fully understand what is waiting for them at college. What seems so great in their imagination turns out boring or irrelevant. Thirdly, there is a lot of stress and pressure — from a new environment to a constant strive to be as good as people one follows on social networks. Unfortunately, there is no plagiarism checker tool, which could have forbidden copying the trends. Finally, some personal problems can distract as well. How to get motivated? To deal with the motivation issue effectively, it is necessary to figure out what exactly affects it the most. Then face it and overcome it, step by step. Here are several things that will help during this struggle. Start with changes Turn on a demotivation checker and do not hesitate to get rid of everything that annoys you. Throw out clothes you do not like. Start eating waffles for breakfast instead of cereals. Make that tattoo you have always wanted to have. Move to another room. Stop communication with toxic people. Unfollow accounts that make you feel down or irritated. Changes may not be easy, but they are necessary. If you feel that you can continue your education only by changing your major, do that as well. It is much better to leave what makes you unhappy and focus on things that can do the opposite. Please do not treat it like a loss of time. It is a positive experience that showed that you should move in a different direction. Take a trip An excellent way to distract from what leaves you unmotivated is by changing the decorations. If you do not have much time, go somewhere on the weekend. It should not be a distant or exotic place. Sometimes a day in a park in the city suburbs is enough. Try travelling alone. For many people, it is the best way to clear their minds and let go of everything negative. Besides, it is an exciting experience, especially in case you go abroad. But if you feel like having company, do not stay alone. Find time for sports Sports will help to clear your mind as effectively as solo travels. No need to remember that exercising is good for health and keeping inner balance. Start jogging every morning. Take daily bike rides for exploring different neighbourhoods. In the end, try boxing and beat the troubles out of a manikin in a gym. It all can boost your study motivation. Find new hobbies (or reanimate the old ones) If you have always wanted to paint, dance, play the guitar, write a book — do it now. If you liked these occupations in the past but do not have enough time currently, change your daily routine. Some crises triggered the loss of motivation. Underachievements accumulate and will explode at some point. Leave some room for talents and Interests even if they have nothing to do with your profession and education. They are an essential part of your personality. Create a visualization board This is not some childish or sentimental thing. It is a simple and effective tool that will help to understand what you want to achieve in the future. It is not about education and career only. Start from general things — travelling, family, achievements. Pin there the car you want to drive, your dream house, a map of the city you want to visit, a future invention, and a future book. Think what a perfect scenario looks like. Then think about the steps you need to make to get there. It will help with tracking the progress and deciding what to do at the moment. Be clear about why you need good grades Instead of screaming "Give me motivation!" it may be useful to answer some questions to clarify things. Visualization board might help you with this as well. Any reason for getting good grades fits: You want to be the brightest student in the class. You want a diploma with honours. It will be your Christmas present to your parents. You want to find a good job after graduation. It is a challenge for this year, and you are testing your skills. You want to be disciplined and educated. High grades are proof of your knowledge and development. These are only some examples. Everyone has different triggers for motivation. Even in case you are certain that knowledge matters more than grades, remember that grades keep you in the university and allow you to continue your education. That is also a good point. Make boring subjects interesting Let us face the truth, "learn" does not equal "memorize." If you do not analyze what you have learned, technically, it is plagiarism. You need to understand them. Try to find effective examples, draw parallels, ask fellow students for help. If some topics are easy but do not seem interesting, dig deeper and find additional information. It is likely to change your attitude. Find time for brain exercises The loss of motivation can be a result of a relentless focus on negative experiences or fixation on hardships. Besides finding a way to distract, keep your mind in shape. Buy a box of puzzles of 1,000 pieces, Hungarian cube or other brain-twisters, do a crossword or Sudoku, do math calculations, open a plagiarism checker and paraphrase a piece of text in different ways. You can also install an app, like NeuroNation or Lumocity. Make learning active Learning is usually about reading books or lecture materials. It can become boring. There are many ways to make this process interactive and interesting. Take a notebook and make graphic notes. Find movies or podcasts on the topic. Discuss it with friends or in online communities. Devote some time to case studies. Find several ways to apply this knowledge in life, both realistic and crazy ones. Ask "What if..." questions (this is how Stephen King writes books, by the way). Do not expect to feel motivated 24/7 Motivation is a feeling or a condition, so it is not permanent. The article started with this. We are not robots. If motivation comes in waves, there is no need to worry. Leaving university is not a solution We have not mentioned one more significant factor that often affects motivation: the educational process itself. Outdated tools and materials, incompetent lectures, biased opinions and prejudices, the lack of relevance of knowledge in real-life situations, and the last straw — this free online plagiarism checker with the percentage that makes your essay look bad. All these things are poisonous to the education process, and they still take place in educational establishments. It is not surprising that students might face a lack of motivation in such circumstances. However, leaving the university is not a solution. Having a degree has always been important. If you do not like how everything is organized, you may become an activist, who will question the entire process and try to change it for the better. If you do not want to be that saviour, take a break for a year or choose a different place to continue your education. You are tough enough to make it to the end. Page Reference If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is: THOMPSON, A. (2019) Study and Motivation [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article417.htm [Accessed About the Author Adriana Thompson is an author who earns her living as a freelance writer. She is writing a children's book, hoping that someday she will become a famous writer.