Generic lacking motivation/procrastination issues post

[ryaneverestsucks]

Hey everyone,
I hate to make this post as I'm sure it has been done 1000 times already but I feel as though I would get more valuable advice if I made a post in regards to my own situation. I'm a pretty good student overall, averaging 95 in economics, 82 in accounting, 80 in English, 89 in music and 77 in further maths. However I am beginning to lack motivation to do well in VCE (besides economics) and often find that when I sit down to study at home, I end up scrolling through my phone or watching YouTube videos. 
I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to how to create a spark and bring back the motivation I had at the start of the year, as well as any handy tips to avoid procrastination.
Note: I've never had to study much at all to receive good marks, however I want to find the motivation to study regardless of my understanding of a topic.
Any and all help advice is much appreciated!!

[sweetiepi]

Hey!
I'll reply in detail tomorrow, however I'll give some generic links to get you going for the time being.

- Organisation tips (because todo lists are amazing for urgency)

- General beating procrastination tips

- Some old motivation/study tips I gave last year

- More time management and motivation

[ryaneverestsucks]

Hey!
I'll reply in detail tomorrow, however I'll give some generic links to get you going for the time being.

- Organisation tips (because todo lists are amazing for urgency)

- General beating procrastination tips

- Some old motivation/study tips I gave last year

- More time management and motivation

Thank you so much! I will give these a read soon and look forward to your reply tomorrow 

[Joseph41]

Hey everyone,
I hate to make this post as I'm sure it has been done 1000 times already but I feel as though I would get more valuable advice if I made a post in regards to my own situation. I'm a pretty good student overall, averaging 95 in economics, 82 in accounting, 80 in English, 89 in music and 77 in further maths. However I am beginning to lack motivation to do well in VCE (besides economics) and often find that when I sit down to study at home, I end up scrolling through my phone or watching YouTube videos. 
I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to how to create a spark and bring back the motivation I had at the start of the year, as well as any handy tips to avoid procrastination.
Note: I've never had to study much at all to receive good marks, however I want to find the motivation to study regardless of my understanding of a topic.
Any and all help advice is much appreciated!!

Hey hey.

This sort of thing has definitely come up before - no doubt. But that doesn't mean it delegitimises the question in any way. At least you know that other people struggle with this, too (which is definitely the case haha).

Those are some nice averages! Like, really nice. I think at this point it's probably best to ask yourself a few questions:

1//. Why do you think you're struggling for motivation now more than the start of the year? Burnout? Lack of direction? General malaise?
2//. Do you have something you're working toward?
3//. When you sit down to study, do you genuinely intend to study?

The reason I ask that last question is that a lot of students fall into a bit of a study trap. If you feel like you should be studying but don't really want to deep down, it might be the case that you go to study superficially, but don't really intend to study deep down. It's definitely happened to me. Like, I'll sit down with all of my books and highlighters and whatever, but I'm actually way more interested in the footy, or Facebook, or almost literally anything else lol.

If you're struggling with your phone/YouTube etc., I feel there's a fairly easy fix: detach yourself. I mean, at least easy in theory hahaha. For me at least, there's a ridiculously strong correlation between effective studying and not having my phone on me - or having it on silent in my bag or something. When I was at school, I left it in my locker all day (#safety), so I wasn't distracted by it at all. At home, it's a bit of a different story, but perhaps you could give it to a family member/friend and don't let them give it back to you for a certain period of time.

It might be difficult initially. I've actually been thinking a lot recently how dependent on my phone/laptop I am. Not dependent in the sense that I strictly need them to survive, but dependent in the sense that when I'm not doing anything, I automatically go for the phone/laptop. And they're my first point of call when I'm in a procrastinatey sort of mood. So when I remove those distractions, I'm absolutely, unequivocally more productive.

But yeah, what would you say to those questions?

[sweetiepi]

Hey everyone,
I hate to make this post as I'm sure it has been done 1000 times already but I feel as though I would get more valuable advice if I made a post in regards to my own situation. I'm a pretty good student overall, averaging 95 in economics, 82 in accounting, 80 in English, 89 in music and 77 in further maths. However I am beginning to lack motivation to do well in VCE (besides economics) and often find that when I sit down to study at home, I end up scrolling through my phone or watching YouTube videos. 
I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to how to create a spark and bring back the motivation I had at the start of the year, as well as any handy tips to avoid procrastination.
Note: I've never had to study much at all to receive good marks, however I want to find the motivation to study regardless of my understanding of a topic.
Any and all help advice is much appreciated!!

Okay here comes a more in-depth post from me

I'm going to echo what J41 asked and ask a similar (I mean exactly the same) question. Are you working towards a goal course? If you do, you could write it down on poster paper/A4 sheet and stick it somewhere you'll see it a lot. That'll (hopefully) give you some incentive to study.
Also, if you are one that must listen to music whilst studying, I'd highly recommend making a set playlist and once that's playlist is on, you can't change the song/play on your phone/surf Youtube. Alternatively, you could use 'Youtubing' as a reward for studying for a set amount of time.

Another way to boost that spark in your subjects is to have a look around on news sites for your subject areas and see what is making news. Generally you'd find that you're reading an interesting article and you can make sense of it because you understand some of the concepts underlying it. Therefore, hey presto! You're studying, but in a different way! You could also find some quirky ways to study, such as making a song or a poem about a concept you learn in economics or accounting, to associating a song to the blues minor scale (excuse my lack of knowledge in the music department, I did music up to year 10 ahah), to sticking tidbits of info onto postits and sticking them all around the area you're studying in.

When you do study, do you stay in the same place all the time? Last year, if I felt that I needed to study, however I was also feel a bit restless/unmotivated to actually do study, I'd move temporarily to a different spot. This temporary location change would give me a clear mind and a new focus to 'get me in the zone' (is that a thing? I'm not too sure, haha) for study. 10/10 recommend from time to time.

Hopefully this helps a little!

[AnnieL]

Hey everyone,
I hate to make this post as I'm sure it has been done 1000 times already but I feel as though I would get more valuable advice if I made a post in regards to my own situation. I'm a pretty good student overall, averaging 95 in economics, 82 in accounting, 80 in English, 89 in music and 77 in further maths. However I am beginning to lack motivation to do well in VCE (besides economics) and often find that when I sit down to study at home, I end up scrolling through my phone or watching YouTube videos. 
I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to how to create a spark and bring back the motivation I had at the start of the year, as well as any handy tips to avoid procrastination.
Note: I've never had to study much at all to receive good marks, however I want to find the motivation to study regardless of my understanding of a topic.
Any and all help advice is much appreciated!!

Hey, this is definitely something that most people will struggle with at some point! Sometimes the best thing to do, and definitely advice that has been given to me that I have taken on board, is to start with the small things first. Sometimes doing something you know you can knock over quickly, even if it isn't the most immediate thing, can help get you into a pattern to keep going with other work and motivate you to get other stuff done!

[K888]

Hey everyone,
I hate to make this post as I'm sure it has been done 1000 times already but I feel as though I would get more valuable advice if I made a post in regards to my own situation. I'm a pretty good student overall, averaging 95 in economics, 82 in accounting, 80 in English, 89 in music and 77 in further maths. However I am beginning to lack motivation to do well in VCE (besides economics) and often find that when I sit down to study at home, I end up scrolling through my phone or watching YouTube videos. 
I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to how to create a spark and bring back the motivation I had at the start of the year, as well as any handy tips to avoid procrastination.
Note: I've never had to study much at all to receive good marks, however I want to find the motivation to study regardless of my understanding of a topic.
Any and all help advice is much appreciated!!

+1 to what Joseph41, insanipi and AnnieL said about this, but I'll add my two cents about a few things. Just wanna say first off, you sound exactly like me in year 12 haha. Like sure, I wanted to do well, but did I have any motivation to study? Not really. Even now, studying a course that I absolutely love, I struggle for motivation to study.

In terms of stopping yourself getting distracted, put your phone on do not disturb mode, and put it in your bag, or a drawer, or in the kitchen. Then close all the tabs on your laptop that you don't need, make sure you know exactly what you need to do, and allot a certain amount of time that you'll study for - I've heard 50 minutes is a pretty good one, but maybe you'd prefer 30 min blocks. I say that 50 minutes is good, because then when that time is up, you can give yourself 10 minutes of free time. Then repeat the cycle - 50 mins of study, 10 mins break. And just keep plugging away until it is done!! This is when to do lists are great - I think most people love being able to cross something off a list, so write down what you want to achieve in a study session/on a night, and then work methodically through it.

I think ultimately, you can never rely on motivation to drive you to study all the time. It's a fleeting thing, and the people who succeed do so because they have the self-discipline to sit down and make themselves study, or make a timetable of when they'll study and stick to it strictly (the latter never worked for me personally). Self-discipline is honestly one of the most important attributes you can have in life, in my opinion. And you'll be surprised at how much of it you have!!

Oh, and I think Joseph41 may have mentioned it when talking about intentions to study - and I don't want this to sound harsh, but if you know you're not going to actually study, then don't bother opening your books and all that, just focus on watching TV or doing whatever and having some leisure time - having a break from study for a night or two isn't the worst thing in the world

All the best!!

[ardria]

I think ultimately, you can never rely on motivation to drive you to study all the time. It's a fleeting thing, and the people who succeed do so because they have the self-discipline to sit down and make themselves study, or make a timetable of when they'll study and stick to it strictly (the latter never worked for me personally). Self-discipline is honestly one of the most important attributes you can have in life.

This.

[ryaneverestsucks]

Wow thank you all for your replies I thought this thread died off, my bad!
You have all provided extremely valuable tips I can't thank you enough! 
I'll make sure to write to do lists, put my phone in a different room as I study, and make sure I have an actual intention for what I specifically need to study. And with this I will build self discipline which will come in handy during October and November 
Thanks again! 

[Wales]

Wow thank you all for your replies I thought this thread died off, my bad!
You have all provided extremely valuable tips I can't thank you enough! 
I'll make sure to write to do lists, put my phone in a different room as I study, and make sure I have an actual intention for what I specifically need to study. And with this I will build self discipline which will come in handy during October and November 
Thanks again! 

You should try take up meditation. I find it genuinely clears my mind when I study and allows me to more effectively absorb information. 20 minutes a day is all that's needed.