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Just so unmotivated

Discussion in 'Coming Out Advice' started by Silver Sparrow, Nov 17, 2012.

  1. Silver Sparrow

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    I have no desire to do anything anymore. Lately, my grades have been dropping rapidly, and I don't care anymore. I just have no desire to do anything.
    Umm... background...I don't know where to start...
    I'm retreating into a lot of... bad habits, let's just say. I can't get my work done, even if I want to, because I just can't focus. I'll sit down to write an English paper and next thing I know I've spent hours watching YouTube videos. That's actually what just happened, and I'm getting fed up with it.
    Any advice for getting more motivation and energy?
     
  2. canuck

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    I don't think there is any way to really force yourself be motivated. Dropping grades and potentially failing out of school would do it for me. Are you even interested in any subjects anymore? IT almost sounds like there was something that happened in your life that had a pretty big effect on you. Maybe you just need a break from some things.
     
  3. caramba2654

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    I know what you need. You need rewards. You need to talk to someone about that and try to work out something like "If I go above average on my next test, I'll earn 100 dollars". Or something like that, depending on your situation or what you want.

    Other thing that should work is to make a strict schedule. That way, when it's homework time, it will be homework time and no other time. By doing that it'll make your life pretty much easier, specially if combined with the rewards I told you above.

    Try doing that and post the results. Hopefully it works for you! :wink:
     
  4. Thandrami

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    The exact same thing is happening to me to. At the start of this semester I was fine but towards the middle I just stopped caring. I don't attend classes half the time and I slack on homework. If I do end up doing homework the same thing happens I'll wind up on youtube or facebook and spend hours on them
     
  5. Ticklish Fish

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    Same for me this semester...
    I never have or feel much of a reward in high school but temporary grades...
    It's like people need money to be satisfied and I need grades >_< except now grades are not doing it for me.

    Maybe reward yourself with youtube videos?
    "If i get through to wednesday I'll spend an hour watching youtube?"
     
  6. teluphone

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    Exactly what i'm doing right now.....but it goes like "study mega hard for 4 hours and youtubing and ECing for 2 hours"....theres no consistency for me atm
     
  7. caramba2654

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    Nah, it usually goes like "If I spend 3 hours watching Youtube, I'll get bored and maybe do homework".

    I'm going to study today, no exceptions. At 5:00 PM I'll get my school stuff and dive in them. Or at least that's what I'm planning... .-.
     
  8. Colours

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    Sounds familiar, I procrastinate a lot. But to me it doesn't feel like it's due to a lack of motivation...

    I had a talk about it with my mentor in college, he said procrastinating is a typical trait for my age. As if it's a fact and can't be helped. I was hoping he could help me with it, but that's all he said.

    For me I noticed it really depends on my personal situation. If there's a lot going on in my life, I just can't get myself to get anything done.

    At the start of this year I was happy, mostly because I was in a relationship. I felt so motivated and felt like I could take on the world. But soon enough we broke up and I lost all motivation to do anything when I wasn't at college. Procrastination got really bad again.... still is actually, because even though we broke up 2 months ago, a lot of other stuff is going on.

    I don't know what to do about it anymore. I've tried about every possible solution and everytime it'll work for a few days and I'll fall back into the same pattern. Especially since my mentor said it's very typical for my age, it makes me feel like it's useless to try and do something about it. .-.
     
  9. Eleanor Rigby

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    You know, that sounds pretty much as the symptoms of a depression. Procrastinating is one thing, but if you're getting to the point where your grades drop and you don't care, maybe that's more serious than just teenagers bad habits.
    I would suggest you to bring your lack of motivation for anything to your doctor and maybe also to take an appointment with your school/college counselor.
     
  10. BudderMC

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    ^ I second depression, I went through the same thing in my first year and started hitting that a couple of weeks ago again. Try talking with your campus health department and see what they can offer you.

    Besides that, make sure you're taking care of your health. Grades are important, but if you aren't getting any fresh air and aren't eating properly (for example), that's going to impact how much energy you have. Similarly, if you need to, take a proper break for your mental health. Set aside a couple of hours with the intent of relaxing or doing something fun. You'll feel less guilty about it since you "shouldn't" be doing doing something else at the moment. At least, I find that works for me.

    Setting goals and working towards them. It could be a time-based goal (i.e. I'll study for an hour, the break for 20 minutes), or maybe completing an assignment, or a set of problems. Make sure you reward yourself (as others have said). Additionally, don't bite off more than you can chew: if you make your goals unrealistic, you may end up not completing them and just feeling worse.

    And finally, your school probably has resources in place. Take some time to examine what your options are, even if that means talking to profs about extensions on assignments or something. You won't get your hand held, but people also don't want to see you fail.

    (*hug*)
     
  11. IllusiveRannoch

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    same thing happened to me in mid year semester before i found this amazing place. I'd procrastinate a lot (still kind of do, not as much) usually waiting until the last couple of days before assignments were due before actually doing them. Then once i started doing them, I'd end up watching things like 'It Gets Better' vids on youtube, & end up turning in some assignments late or unfinished. i barely passed, but it was very much worth the help w/ self acceptance.

    one thing i found that is more helpful for me is that if i end up pushing myself, i become even less motivated. so i try a different approach, as in trying to dissect the immediate thing that's in the way, & see why it needs to be dealt with, & how to go about it. the issue of 'when' is perhaps the biggest killjoy :frowning2:. but once it's done, the feeling that I finally did something is a huge sense of relief (!!)