Motivation fluctuates steeper than a rollercoaster. I'm currently in a phase where next to no subject satisfies me. What do I mean by that? Well, I just can't be bothered at the moment. The impending flood of SACs still isn't enough to spur me on. I'm uncertain and scared about the future. Learning is supposed to be fun, yes? Right now, it is extremely tedious, painful and unrewarding and even with my best attempts to cultivate a growth mindset, nothing my teachers say seems to be going in.
Is it just a matter of patience? It's getting really hard for me to develop self-discipline when I would much rather watch TV or YouTube.
Hey, I just wanted to say first of all it really sucks that you're feeling this way about school. I always enjoyed school, from prep all the way until about year 10, but then VCE is not even learning - it's about regurgitating answers that your teachers have drilled into you will create marks. It's so frustrating when it becomes a matter of appealing to the assessors, and bouncing from one SAC to another without pausing to ask
why we are learning any of these things, or without getting to have deep discussions on interesting topics. This can very quickly lead to feelings of disenchantment and frustration.
I also underwent a lot of mixed motivation throughout VCE - I got burnt out quite quickly, and small disputes with friends or family would send me spiralling. Further, I was very busy a lot of the time outside of school (with extra-curricular activities), so it constantly felt like I wasn't studying enough or I wasn't doing enough.
I think that in your case, my advice would be to find parts of your course, or study activities that you enjoy. Perhaps in Psychology you find learning really interesting - make sure that you study hard and know the course back-to-front for the parts that you DO like! Then hopefully, that passion and enthusiasm will carry across into other parts of the course. Further, if you explore different study techniques that you find entertaining, e.g. creating mind-maps, making cue cards, colour-coding your notes, then you'll feel a lot more ready and excited to study.
Moreover, in regards to your concerns about self-discipline, I found it really helpful to speak to my parents, friends, and teachers to let them know that I'd like them to hold me accountable for my study. I told my mum that my phone was distracting me often, and so she would usually ask me if I'd like her to take away my phone - this allowed me to remove distractions without having to practice that discipline myself. Further, I asked my Eng Lang teacher to make sure I handed in a practice analysis every few weeks, in order to keep this skill up during Unit 4. Asking other people for help usually kept me motivated.
Finally, I think that if you are
'good' at your subjects, that often creates motivation as well, because it works in the whole 'positive reinforcement' sort of way (i.e. you work hard, and you get rewarded with good marks). If you feel comfortable, ask your teacher for help in areas that you don't fully understand, or ask what tasks you can do to improve - or more simply, just try to get all of your class assigned work done! I find that even completing what appears to be 'bear minimum', actually leads to a lot of success! Your teachers assign the work for a reason :~)
I really hope that you get out of this rut soon, I've been there a few times too, and I've found that after a little while, my friends and family are always there to pull me out
All the best!