How to Study When You are not Motivated

Time and time again, just like everyone else, you are going to experience those days when you do not feel like doing those things or engaging in activities that are most important. In varying degrees, everyone expresses motivation highs and lows; the key question is what to do when the low hits?

If you are a student, and you do not feel motivated to study, we have all been there before. However, while you might feel that there is nothing you can do about it, there are some pointers you can learn from, that could generate or reenact the motivation to begin.

Some little information on the origin of motivation: It has been generally agreed that motivation comes from the pictures we hold in our minds at any given moment. While this might seem subtle and probably not obvious, these pictures determine our effectiveness. If you hold pictures in your mind that you’re tired, stressed, you don’t enjoy what you are doing, you would feel unmotivated to read or study. However, if you hold exciting pictures of your career goals, the person you want to become, and the expertise in your field you would gain, exhibiting expert knowledge in front of peers and your supervisor at the workplace, you would experience a burst of motivation to want to go on.

So, below, let’s outline some steps you can take to get motivated and back to your studies.

1. Understand that you are not alone

If you noticed, at the beginning of this article, there was a phrase which said just like everyone else.

This is literally true.

Right at this moment, there is someone out there, who is going through or experiencing the same lack of motivation that you are having. Rather than beat yourself down for not feeling the energy to keep studying, this should empower you to know you are not alone.

There is also another interesting fact. Every achiever, regardless of their position or achievements right now, can point to several instances where they were unmotivated to do the things that mattered.

So, take a minute if you like, and simply revel in the fact that you are not alone. In fact, you can excite yourself: You are in the minority of those who felt this way, and in spite of that, went on complete the tasks they had laid out.

And if they can do it, so can you.

2. Get a vision board; or if you have one, take a look at it

The use of a vision board is gradually getting into the mainstream, as individuals like Sara Blakely, Jack Canfield and Joel Osteen attest to the efficacy of the vision board to keep them on track toward their vision and goals.

If you have not heard of a vision board, in the simplest terms, it is a board that you post pictures of things that excite you – the vision of the end objective to which you are working toward.

However, do not let the simplicity of a vision board fool you. If you browse, you would see lots of people that are excitedly posting pictures of their vision and goals, and attest to gradually accomplishing these goals.
So, now, your primary reason for studying is to get good grades and have expert knowledge. More so, it is to exhibit this knowledge in the different professional settings after school – among colleagues, your boss, group meetings, speaking in public, and maybe a start-up.

Post pictures of whatever reminds you of the activities you would be doing and engaging in after school. Post pictures of the accolades you’ll get, the results, being happy with your family or caregiver – those that support you in school and your goals. Imagine the joy at a job well done, and a milestone accomplished.

You can put absolutely anything on your vision board; as long as it excites you and reminds you of the exciting objectives to accomplished after your studies. Remember, Imagination is more important than facts.

3. Briefly do something easy and different, however, related to your course of study

With many courses and subjects to cover, it is most likely that because you are not motivated to study in one area, it doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t feel motivated to do something else.

So, get out other books or learning tools that interest you. Pick the Math course, the IT course, anything that’s related to your course of study, and you also have to attend to. If you are behind on your essay or research work, for example, knowing how plagiarism is a thing now, you can get busy looking for plagiarism checker uk online.

Even if there isn’t any relative pressure on the subject you pick, seeing progress in this area would motivate you to replicate that in the area you feel stuck.

4. Change the perspective to how you view studying

If you could view studying as you acquiring the knowledge, skills and expertise in a certain area, you would realise that it would imbue you with the strength to go on studying. This should come from the basic understanding that studying is not to enable you pass a course or get a good grade, but is to enable you function expertly and effectively in your area of expertise (Notice that I used the word expert twice.)

Let’s use an interesting example: How much faith would you have in a doctor or medical student, who says he is having it difficult studying for his course?

And doctors have to study and memorize a large amount of information to be able to deduce the ailment of patients, or the steps to certain surgery procedures.

A friend of mine remarked that he joined a Tesla group on Facebook. One thing he noticed, from reading through all the posts and information, was that most of the people who could afford and thus purchased a Tesla, were in the medical profession. Doctors, surgeons, neurosurgeons, these individuals had gained expertise in their field, and now they were splurging the rewards on the automobile of their choice.

5. Do understand that regular motivation involves ‘developing a new habit’

Lastly, and finally, you just need to grasp that the motivated you stay, you are developing a new habit, and it would become easier sooner than you think.

Have you ever wondered how CEOs and management of top firms stay focused and motivated each day? Amidst the several other reasons, the basic reason is quite simple. They have gotten into the habit of staying motivated each day. Salesman and motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, once said something like, “Motivation is like taking a bath. You have to do it every day!”

So, you can get into the habit of developing the habit of staying motivated. The bonus side is you can take this habit to any other area you show interest, and you’d look superhuman as you effortlessly focus on the task at hand, and stay with it until it gets completed.

So, concluding, you would realise that you are becoming a different person after you study. Most people you hear about, or admire, because of their expertise in their field, also went through the same process.

Also, you can make it even easier to study by studying in a group. Form or get involved in an offline or online group of similar people in your field or career choice. And let the group unity motivate you toward studying to achieve your educational goals.