How do you motivate yourself to study at home?

[Belgerath]

As title

Things have gone to hell in my personal life, getting divorced, moved out of my home as i cant stand the bitch yet still paying a fair bit of the bills until the courts sort it out etc...

But I'm totally lacking motivation to study, granted things aren't exactly a bunch of roses atm but any tips on how to self motivate ?

 

[old.Tohtori]

I'd say getting divorced is an improvement

Too soon for ex-wife jokes?

Ok, well, you can't really motivate yourself if you lack the motivation. This means, just do it. You can't magically gain a "need to study", because if it's boring, it's boring.

Nose to books and get to it.

Shutting down the computer helps.

 

[Overdriven]

Actually dealing with this myself. Got a few things coming up this week I've really not prepared for, so I'm doing all the work/studying now/before it happens. Really can't be bothered with it (IRL circumstances aren't helping me either) but I realise it has got to be done. (Sadly a lot of mine is programming, so I have to be at the PC to do it -_-)

All you can do is really sit there and do it (Prefrably being able to smoke and drink coffee at the same time.. -_-)

 

[Fweddy]

What they said. Don't think about it. Don't ask yourself if you have time to study or if you feel like doing some, just start studying and then it will be too late to talk yourself out of it.

 

[Macey]

Best way Ive found to do it is to set yourself small time goals with a reward at the end. So when Im studying/writing essays etc, I do an hour of work followed by 30 mins of watching tv/playing a game etc.

Minimises the boredom, and it pushes you to work a bit more cos you have something to look forward to when youve got it all done.

Just sit yourself in a room with no distractions whilst youre doing the studying part or it will all fall apart and youll have no chance.

 

[chipper]

depending on what you need to do when i was studying and struggling at home i went and sat in a library ( it had a little study area) was quiet no distractions and had the books i needed (was no internet then )

 

[Chilly]

theres no secret mate. just pull your finger out and do it.

 

[Milkshake]

Yeah, how about manning the fuck up and getting on with it.

Honestly, if it were meant to be easy, people like Chilly'd be getting degrees. Crazy :S

 

[Chilly]

~hides his bsc in computer science~

 

[russell]

Best way Ive found to do it is to set yourself small time goals with a reward at the end. So when Im studying/writing essays etc, I do an hour of work followed by 30 mins of watching tv/playing a game etc.

Minimises the boredom, and it pushes you to work a bit more cos you have something to look forward to when youve got it all done.

Just sit yourself in a room with no distractions whilst youre doing the studying part or it will all fall apart and youll have no chance.

I agree.

Make yourself work for a bit -then have a break and surf/listen to music/ have a cuppa/ for 10 mins. Then get back on it. Its a pain in the arse and I sometimes lose the will to live, but I think about the reasons for doing it -better life, Ill show Mr Russell that I can do it etc. Once I get going I usually find that I can get stuck in.

You have alot going on, so that makes it harder. But onwards and upwards and all that crap

 

[Chilly]

failing that, get hold of some ritalin off the black market. MAKE SURE there are no other distractions when you pop some of it. disconnect your router, wireless, pc, whatever you absolutely dont need to do the work and get all your stuff out ready. suddenly its 9 hours later and you can barely blink cos you've been concentrating solidly

The wonder of modern pharmaceuticals.

 

[`mongoose]

as a professional slacker I feel your pain

How I did it was simple enough.

Get a selection of good tunes for the stereo or walkman and set it on low - low enough so you can hear it when it's silent everywhere else but not so high that talking to someone wouldn't drown out the sound.

A drink of your favourite non-alcoholic beverage (Coffee is mine) and some biccies.

Pen, paper (unless you're one of those lucky buggers with photographic memories) and books. Then just hit the books and take notes as you go.

Below is quite topic specific. I did a Geography degree so my exams were all question based with essay response answers. As a result I took the following approach:

Focus on topics at a time. I assume you're studying for exams/tests. Just figure out your study strategy -
which topics are you taking into the exam?
What good materials do you have for each topic?
Do you have past papers?
Have you got essay plans for each topic on a series of questions?
Break each topic down into the following;
Theories - include juicy quotes (make sure you can demonstrate a good grasp of the underpinning theories of each topic you choose)
Case Studies (ready to back up or illuminate your discussion)
Plans and examples (so if a topic comes up you have a broad idea for discussion ready to be molded to fit the question)

The above will help if your brain works like mine. I have a very accurate short term memory so cramming gives me best results. This is good because I'm bone fucking idle and never had any real desire to get a first or a 2:1. I wanted a 2:2 because it met my goals (Decent average honours degree to open doors later on in my career). Getting to 60-65% in an essay is considerably easier than unlocking the next 5-10%. We're talking diminishing returns

My study plan revolved soley around getting that. 60% in exams (already had 60% in coursework) get through on the average grade. Minimum of fuss maximum bang for buck.

That may or may not help you. Be honest with yourself - how much do you want the qual, what grade do you need.

Remember this. You don't have to study. You're choosing to study because you want the rewards that come with it. You can not study, blank the course and it's not the end of the world, there will be consequences though. often switching it around from "I have to do this" to "I choose to do this" helps.

Don't underestimate the power of thinking positively. I won't go all mumbojumbo but alot of the self help and study techniques regarding thinking in certain ways and telling yourself positive things can and do help. It's not all happy clappy psychobabble bs.

I hope I've helped - if not just ignore me

M