Unmotivated

[NomotivationF]

? 

p.s any tips on how to not fail my upcoming SAC?

[PhoenixxFire]

It’s definitely a thing that people feel really unmotivated at this time of year - according to my school someone did a study at some point that showed that the day that students are the least motivated was a day a couple of weeks before the end of term 2 (I can’t remember the exact date).

At this point just focus on the fact that you only have 2 1/2 weeks left until holidays. Don’t worry about term 3 or exams, just focus on getting through this term. You probably have had or do have lots of SACs at the moment, I know I do, which probably isn’t helping because you don’t have time to relax in between.

I don’t do accounting, but I know generally try to focus on doing things that actually help. Writing notes feels productive, and it will probably help with exam revision, but it won’t help with this SAC. Instead do any practice questions you can find, if you find there’s a topic you’re always getting wrong then go back and summarise that topic, but writing notes on topics you do already know well is just a waste of your time.

Also with it starting to get cold and dark you probably feel less like studying and just want to crawl into bed, make sure wherever you are studying you’re warm and the area is well lit so you don’t get too drowsy.

Also welcome to AN

[Joseph41]

Ok so, been lurking for a while now and I finally decided to create an account. To be honest I don't know what I'm going to get out of this post but here goes.
I started of this year great and full of motivation scoring very high for two of my further sacs and I also got 95+% for my first two accounting sacs. I know I have the potential to do well, and I was aiming for an ATAR of 92+ but for my previous two accounting sacs I have put in minimal effort, scoring in the low 80s  . My next accounting SAC is on Friday, and I haven't even finished writing all my notes, let alone started to study. I'm not sure what has de-motivated me (if that's a thing) so much , and I'm not really sure what to do about it. I know I have the potential to do extremely well, and I know I'm only letting myself down. Has anyone been through a similar situation and overcome it before? If so, how? 

p.s any tips on how to not fail my upcoming SAC?

Hey, welcome to the forums. Glad you made an account!

Largely agree with the post above. The situation you've described I don't think is particularly unusual, even for the really high-achievers (like, 99+ ATARs) who people sometimes assume must study 24/7 all through the year. As PhoenixxFire suggested, this time of year is pretty notorious for a lack of motivation across the board. Like, Term 1 is almost novel - "wow, VCE is finally here" sort of thing - whilst some of that shine rubs off a little in Term 2.

I know that personally, Term 2 was one of my hardest for sure.

Your scores so far definitely add substance to your gut feeling (which is the best indication, anyway) that you have the potential to do really well. Those 95+% SAC scores are extremely impressive. I understand you're seemingly disappointed with the subsequent ~80% SAC marks; I'll say a few things here:

* Whatever you feel is totally valid. Like, if you feel disappointment, or a lack of motivation, or whatever else, that's cool. They're human emotions.
* With that in mind, raw SAC marks don't really mean that much. That's not to say that SAC marks don't matter - just that the raw marks are sometimes deceptive. The reason for this is that it's very difficult to compare SAC marks across schools: schools will have different SACs, and schools mark SACs differently, meaning an 80% on your SAC isn't necessarily an 80% by VCAA's standards.
* You know you have the potential to do well, and you've clearly done well already this year. If you can just get through to the holidays (not too long to go at all), you'll be in a great position to sit back and re-cap your position, motivation etc. If you're getting 80% off minimal effort, we both know you can do extremely well in your remaining SACs.

What are your plans/goals for after high school, out of interest? Why are you aiming for a 92+ ATAR - a specific course?

[Bri MT]

Ok so, been lurking for a while now and I finally decided to create an account. To be honest I don't know what I'm going to get out of this post but here goes.
I started of this year great and full of motivation scoring very high for two of my further sacs and I also got 95+% for my first two accounting sacs. I know I have the potential to do well, and I was aiming for an ATAR of 92+ but for my previous two accounting sacs I have put in minimal effort, scoring in the low 80s  . My next accounting SAC is on Friday, and I haven't even finished writing all my notes, let alone started to study. I'm not sure what has de-motivated me (if that's a thing) so much , and I'm not really sure what to do about it. I know I have the potential to do extremely well, and I know I'm only letting myself down. Has anyone been through a similar situation and overcome it before? If so, how? 

p.s any tips on how to not fail my upcoming SAC?

I've experienced various periods of de-motivation throughout highschool and I found that each time the ways I got out were slightly different. Here are some ideas:


 - Used the website habitica as an external source of motivation. Basically you have create an online character and log in tasks that you want to do, depending on the type of task your character might lose health if you don't complete one & you'll gain health, exp, and ingame money from completing tasks.

 - Task escalation. Can't motivate myself to summarise these notes? I'll do 5 multi-choice questions. Maybe after doing that I'll be more motivated from having achieved a small success. If not, at least I will have done something.     This also works with the 5 minute rule: don't want to write that essay? I'll work on it for 5 minutes and if I'm still unable to get invested I'll let it go.

 - Try to achieve a calm/rational state. For me, going into nature and just being on my own there really helps with this

 - Exercise. I'm not a super sporty person but exercise is a great tool for stress management - which is ultimately what a lot of procrastination and de-motivation comes from.

 - Sleep. I really encourage you to look into what makes good sleep hygiene. Sleep plays a significant role in our emotions, decision making abilities, self-regulation, ability to learn and ability to remember. Stealing time from sleep ends up takes more hours away from you what you get from staying up.



You might be telling yourself that you're not that great, you overestimated your potential, everything is doomed now etc etc. If that's the case I also recommend these things:

 - Talk to someone, or if you find you can't trust anyone enough to do that, write the words down.

 - Look up what the worst case scenario that's remotely reasonable is (research alternative pathways etc.). It's probably not that bad

 - If this persists, strongly consider talking to a health professional. Maybe on eheadspace, maybe a school counsellor, maybe the doctors.




Just a small correction here:    You have been working on your notes, which is a productive step. Notes + additional study is great, but notes on it's own is still better than nothing.   I suspect you haven't fallen as far as you think you have. It looks like you've just stumbled a little and will hopefully regain your balance soon

[NomotivationF]

Hey, welcome to the forums. Glad you made an account!

Largely agree with the post above. The situation you've described I don't think is particularly unusual, even for the really high-achievers (like, 99+ ATARs) who people sometimes assume must study 24/7 all through the year. As PhoenixxFire suggested, this time of year is pretty notorious for a lack of motivation across the board. Like, Term 1 is almost novel - "wow, VCE is finally here" sort of thing - whilst some of that shine rubs off a little in Term 2.

I know that personally, Term 2 was one of my hardest for sure.

Your scores so far definitely add substance to your gut feeling (which is the best indication, anyway) that you have the potential to do really well. Those 95+% SAC scores are extremely impressive. I understand you're seemingly disappointed with the subsequent ~80% SAC marks; I'll say a few things here:

* Whatever you feel is totally valid. Like, if you feel disappointment, or a lack of motivation, or whatever else, that's cool. They're human emotions.
* With that in mind, raw SAC marks don't really mean that much. That's not to say that SAC marks don't matter - just that the raw marks are sometimes deceptive. The reason for this is that it's very difficult to compare SAC marks across schools: schools will have different SACs, and schools mark SACs differently, meaning an 80% on your SAC isn't necessarily an 80% by VCAA's standards.
* You know you have the potential to do well, and you've clearly done well already this year. If you can just get through to the holidays (not too long to go at all), you'll be in a great position to sit back and re-cap your position, motivation etc. If you're getting 80% off minimal effort, we both know you can do extremely well in your remaining SACs.

What are your plans/goals for after high school, out of interest? Why are you aiming for a 92+ ATAR - a specific course?

Thanks for the response. I know that sac marks usually don't matter as much, however the cohort I am in I quite high achieving, and I was hoping to be among the top 10 ranking for both accounting and further maths, however I recently found out I'm not even close to top 10 for further but almost in the top 10 for accounting.

Speaking of my plans after high school, I'm aiming for over 92 as I'm mostly planning to to Commerce + commerce specialist (finance) at Monash University. I haven't thought much about if I don't get the ATAR I want, but I'm assuming there aren't many ways to get into that specific course without the ATAR that's needed

[NomotivationF]

I've experienced various periods of de-motivation throughout highschool and I found that each time the ways I got out were slightly different. Here are some ideas:


 - Used the website habitica as an external source of motivation. Basically you have create an online character and log in tasks that you want to do, depending on the type of task your character might lose health if you don't complete one & you'll gain health, exp, and ingame money from completing tasks.

 - Task escalation. Can't motivate myself to summarise these notes? I'll do 5 multi-choice questions. Maybe after doing that I'll be more motivated from having achieved a small success. If not, at least I will have done something.     This also works with the 5 minute rule: don't want to write that essay? I'll work on it for 5 minutes and if I'm still unable to get invested I'll let it go.

 - Try to achieve a calm/rational state. For me, going into nature and just being on my own there really helps with this

 - Exercise. I'm not a super sporty person but exercise is a great tool for stress management - which is ultimately what a lot of procrastination and de-motivation comes from.

 - Sleep. I really encourage you to look into what makes good sleep hygiene. Sleep plays a significant role in our emotions, decision making abilities, self-regulation, ability to learn and ability to remember. Stealing time from sleep ends up takes more hours away from you what you get from staying up.



You might be telling yourself that you're not that great, you overestimated your potential, everything is doomed now etc etc. If that's the case I also recommend these things:

 - Talk to someone, or if you find you can't trust anyone enough to do that, write the words down.

 - Look up what the worst case scenario that's remotely reasonable is (research alternative pathways etc.). It's probably not that bad

 - If this persists, strongly consider talking to a health professional. Maybe on eheadspace, maybe a school counsellor, maybe the doctors.




Just a small correction here:    You have been working on your notes, which is a productive step. Notes + additional study is great, but notes on it's own is still better than nothing.   I suspect you haven't fallen as far as you think you have. It looks like you've just stumbled a little and will hopefully regain your balance soon

Thanks for the tips, I definitely can see the 5 minute rule working out well for me.

Speaking of talking to a Heath professional, I've definitely thought about talking on web chat on headspace/ websites such as, but I've never really gotten around to it. I know that I've been feeling pretty down lately so I hope I can push myself to do that today.

As of alternative pathways, I'm not really sure there is one to get into the specific course that I want, and I've tried to look for alternative pathways but haven't found one as of yet. I'm aiming to get into commerce + commerce specialist (finance) at Monash Uni, if you were wondering

[Bri MT]

Thanks for the tips, I definitely can see the 5 minute rule working out well for me.

Speaking of talking to a Heath professional, I've definitely thought about talking on web chat on headspace/ websites such as, but I've never really gotten around to it. I know that I've been feeling pretty down lately so I hope I can push myself to do that today.

As of alternative pathways, I'm not really sure there is one to get into the specific course that I want, and I've tried to look for alternative pathways but haven't found one as of yet. I'm aiming to get into commerce + commerce specialist (finance) at Monash Uni, if you were wondering

Hi,

so I found this in the entry requirements section:
"University: To be considered, completion of two single units satisfy minimum entry requirements, but four units are recommended to be competitive for selection, especially in areas of study related to the course in which admission is being sought. Applicants should have at least a 70% average in their studies. Studies must have been completed within five years of intended commencement.

Applicants must complete the VTAC Personal Statement. Information provided receives equal weighting with academic results in deciding the ranking of applicants."
https://www.monash.edu/study/courses/find-a-course/2018/commerce-and-commerce-specialist-b2014?domestic=true#non-school-leavers


so if you don't get in straight from ATAR you could always do a Monash College diploma, then take 1 semester of standard commerce and transfer (assuming your ATAR isn't high enough for direct entry into a commerce degree).


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I'm glad I could help - and that you're trying to take action to help yourself