Motivation Issues - HELP!!!

[99.90 pls]

NOTE: Today I've spent the whole day lying in bed. Not even tired or anything. I don't know what's wrong

This resonated profoundly for me. Been in that exact situation. I used to do that everyday in Year 10.

Does your school have a counselor? It might sound daunting but try it. I got forced to go by my coordinator; I was sceptical at first but it helped immensely. In a world where your parents are Asian and everyone else is too busy working to hear you, talking to someone who can listen is worth every ounce of potential embarrassment/shame/whatever. No one is going to judge you for going to counseling; if they do, they're not worth your time.

Trust me, as someone who's been through this. I lost about half a year's worth of my productive life, but that was Year 10 so it didn't matter. The stakes are real now, so you can't afford to dawdle.

[Apink!]

1. Go to the local library.
2. Stay there until you finish your set tasks for the day.
3. Walk out and feel accomplished.
4. Repeat.

This is literally me 5 days a week.

Lol, that's what I used to do last year, that's until during the exam period, where everyone came to the library for a little chit chat and then I stopped going because it got too noisy...

[vobinhood]

This resonated profoundly for me. Been in that exact situation. I used to do that everyday in Year 10.

Does your school have a counselor? It might sound daunting but try it. I got forced to go by my coordinator; I was sceptical at first but it helped immensely. In a world where your parents are Asian and everyone else is too busy working to hear you, talking to someone who can listen is worth every ounce of potential embarrassment/shame/whatever. No one is going to judge you for going to counseling; if they do, they're not worth your time.

Trust me, as someone who's been through this. I lost about half a year's worth of my productive life, but that was Year 10 so it didn't matter. The stakes are real now, so you can't afford to dawdle.

A similar thing happened to me mid-last year. I felt incredibly pressured because of a number of reasons. I was balancing work three times a week, school musical rehearsals twice a week, debating, swim training 3-5 nights a week, along with eight subjects (two of which were 3/4s). Consequently, I burnt out. Bad.
One day I went to school crying uncontrollably because of my incredibly heavy work load, leaving me unable to process my own emotions. Thankfully, my YLC saw me and took me to the school counselor. I can say that agreeing to get help was one of the best decisions I've made in my life. My experience with the school counselor was refreshing. It put me at ease - something I desperately needed to be and avoided for so very long. The experience helped me prioritise, focus on my studies again and just become mentally and emotionally stable.

 It was like talking to a friend who was solely there to get you through your tough time and get yourself back on your feet for school. If you feel like that's what you need right now, I very much encourage you to go!

[strawberries]

Just give up, you don't need year 12. It's a useless program and won't help you reach a good career. There must be some alternative right?


Did you disagree with what I just said? If you did, then there must be some source of motivation within you. Think about it, your future (sort of, I guess) depends on what you did yesterday, what you did today and what you will do tomorrow. It is this one year, only 235 days left, that your career depends on. Please, for me, for your own good, pick up your game and do not let VCE get to your head, but rather get to VCE's head, and make the system regret that they ever signed you up!

Come on, your signature "Dream - Believe - Achieve"

First of all, have a dream, have a goal. When you do, believe in it and more importantly believe in you. Now, it is only a matter of time, until you achieve it. 

I actually kinda don't disagree with your first paragraph though :/
but then again, what you said is true, although I know my work habits now may affect my future, but ugh

This resonated profoundly for me. Been in that exact situation. I used to do that everyday in Year 10.

Does your school have a counselor? It might sound daunting but try it. I got forced to go by my coordinator; I was sceptical at first but it helped immensely. In a world where your parents are Asian and everyone else is too busy working to hear you, talking to someone who can listen is worth every ounce of potential embarrassment/shame/whatever. No one is going to judge you for going to counseling; if they do, they're not worth your time.

Trust me, as someone who's been through this. I lost about half a year's worth of my productive life, but that was Year 10 so it didn't matter. The stakes are real now, so you can't afford to dawdle.

Yeah my school does. But I'm scared though. I don't know if I can trust them though cos I heard kids at other schools who have had counselors break confidentiality.

Sometimes when I talk to my friends about my weekend and stuff I'm like "I barely got any work done" and they're like "how the f*** can you be like this? it's vce and your goddamn future"

But thank you for replying.

[zyzz101]

The stakes are real now, so you can't afford to dawdle.

this should be sufficiently motivating.

[cosine]

To be honest, I used to feel exactly like you during the summer holidays. Every second day I would doubt myself and go into this deep depression mode where I would isolate myself from every single person/thing. I would lay in my bed all day doing nothing.

It was tough to get over, but I did. You are just going through a zone, trust me. You will get over it and get back on track it's just a matter of time, so do not give up yet. Head up, and remember that VCE is just a game, and to every game there will be tough times, you win some you lose some. Don't give up.

[keltingmeith]

Yeah my school does. But I'm scared though. I don't know if I can trust them though cos I heard kids at other schools who have had counselors break confidentiality.

Sometimes, you have to take a risk.
If the counsellor is worth their accreditation, they won't break confidentiality (unless they believe you or someone else is at serious risk of harm, because mandatory reporting). However, until you've experienced their confidentiality first hand, it will be hard to trust them (I can tell you from personal experience). You don't have to tell them about how the death of your dog 5 years ago has prevented you from ever getting close to anybody, just the small things. Tell them you're having trouble keeping focused. Tell them you lack motivation. Tell them you just want some help trying to keep motivated.

If you're still unsure, remember this - the stories you've heard are from *other* schools, not yours. You can't let their bad experiences with different people affect what you choose to do with your people.

[Adequace]

Yeah, I agree with everyone above to see your school counsellor. An anecdote from me, last year I was stressing out hard on picking my subjects especially debating if I should take physics and CSL 1/2. It was nice talking to someone about it, he also taught me how to play the ukelele, lol.

[99.90 pls]

My experience with the school counselor was refreshing. It put me at ease - something I desperately needed to be and avoided for so very long. The experience helped me prioritise, focus on my studies again and just become mentally and emotionally stable.

Exact same experience for me; I was in a pretty deep hole because of my gaming addiction. Sounds stupid but I was spending 7 hours a day (on school days) gaming (in class, at home, in bed) and not even touching my bag when I got home. Life was shit because of teachers calling home saying I hadn't done homework, I stopped going out as much and eventually just laid in bed all day. Counselor helped me get back on track and enjoying life again.

The counselor won't break confidentiality unless s/he believes you are at significant risk (i.e. if you say you're going to kill yourself). You've nothing to lose anyway, so just do it!

[Adequace]

Exact same experience for me; I was in a pretty deep hole because of my gaming addiction. Sounds stupid but I was spending 7 hours a day (on school days) gaming (in class, at home, in bed) and not even touching my bag when I got home. Life was shit because of teachers calling home saying I hadn't done homework, I stopped going out as much and eventually just laid in bed all day. Counselor helped me get back on track and enjoying life again.

The counselor won't break confidentiality unless s/he believes you are at significant risk (i.e. if you say you're going to kill yourself). You've nothing to lose anyway, so just do it!

Damn, I had a massive gaming addiction as well. I'd spend a minimum of 10 hours playing Maplestory or League, thankfully my dad banned me from touching the computer in the weekdays. I'm glad I finally matured to realise it wasn't worth it.

[KYtho]

I think sometimes - and this worked for me, I'm not sure if it will work for you or anyone else - is to forget motivation. Not completely ditch motivation, but enough so you will stop telling yourself: 'oh ok here's homework and a bunch of shit I should do but hey, I ain't motivated enough sooo I'm just going to binge-watch Breaking Bad'. Because we become too reliant on motivation and then that reliance makes us weaker when we aren't motivated, which is actually a lot, especially for students. I reckon sometimes its just about actually just doing it, even if its completely mind-numbing painful shit, and just doing the work without overthinking. Motivation is fleeting, but discipline is stronger.

[grannysmith]

Something I learnt from the great Thushan: make work a habit.

If it becomes habitual, it comes naturally. If it comes naturally, you're doing the work without even thinking. Therefore if you're not thinking of what you're doing, you win. #smashVCE #getATAR #nothinglessthanmed

YES THIS SHOULD BE A SOURCE OF MOTIVATION

[strawberries]

Did nothing today either OMG

SACs are like in one week #ownfault

[sjayne]

Did nothing today either OMG

SACs are like in one week #ownfault

The day isn't over yet! Turn off your laptop. Get out your books.  And if all you do is read then do that

[Deshouka]

Did nothing today either OMG

SACs are like in one week #ownfault

Stop procrastinating on ATAR notes and do some work!