Motivation to studying

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Reply 1

miho_suesue

4

Original post by dontcare42

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hi! I was a super duper lazy student too like a year ago, but right now I've been learning to finish work on time even though I still have some bad days! One thing that really helped me was to start viewing studying as a form of self-care. You and I both deserve great futures--and to attain such futures, we can work hard now.
Also, this is more commonly given advice but it's a good idea to find an environment that you can work hard in. For instance, I always make myself go to the library if I'm feeling unmotivated but I need to study.
Best of luck! I'll work hard too :smile:

Original post by dontcare42

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hi,

I definitely had this problem during my undergrad and also live away from campus/not with other students so hopefully can help :biggrin:

What I've found works best for me is to try and do all my studying during the days I'm at uni for lectures/classes. So I essentially treated uni as my 9-5 job. I'd come to campus for the whole day and in any breaks between classes I would go to the library to work on any assignments or do any reading that I needed to catch up on. This also meant I had the rest of my evenings and weekends free to do whatever I wanted, which was quite nice!

My other tip is to have a very thorough to-do list, whether that's on paper or digitally. I personally found Todoist (https://todoist.com) to be very good - I'd have a list for each module and break it up into assignments/reading, so I always knew what I needed to do and when!

Hope this helps & best of luck with everything!

Natalie
University of Kent Student Rep (PhD Psychology)

Original post by dontcare42

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hi @dontcare42

Sometimes when I am struggling with motivation changing my goal helps!
For me, deciding to sit down and study for one hour, between 4 and 5pm every day, is not very motivating. At 4pm I end up delaying starting, I find myself daydreaming or looking at things not relevant to the work I needed to get done, and stopping 5-10 minutes early.
Instead, I found that setting goals related to actions (rather than set times) suited me better. For example, I might decide to read chapter 4 today, but that can be done at any point. That way if I take a break, I don’t feel guilty. I’m not incentivised to daydream or waste time, but to work as effectively as possible.
Others find that the pomodoro technique works better for them. Others use ‘micro breaks’, or incentivise themselves with little treats for each hour/goal of work (e.g. some popcorn, taking a longer break to watch a move, etc.).
Finding what works for you, and maybe even changing techniques as you develop your studying skills can really help with motivation!

Another thing to try is changing environment, like studying at a library instead of at home, or even changing room (e.g. if you’re regularly getting up to make some coffee or grab a snack in the kitchen, don’t study at the kitchen table!). It doesn’t have to be on campus if you live far away, most places have a public library nearby.

Best of luck getting into the habit of studying!
Ciara
3rd year Agrifood PhD student
Cranfield Student Ambassador

Original post by dontcare42

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hey there @dontcare42 !

I've always found that going out to study rather than doing it at home really helps to be motivated. If you go to a cafe for example by yourself, what are you going to do there except for study if you're by yourself? Studying in a new atmosphere really helps you focus. Stick your headphones in and try studying somewhere different for a change. Another tip I have is to change up the way you study. If you're always just reading articles and taking notes, try and switch it up and learn in a different way for a change. Try out some flashcards or watching YouTube clips on the subject to make sure you're always changing things up because if you stick to the same method you will end up burning yourself out eventually.

Hope this helped!
Lucy - Digital Student Ambassador SHU

Original post by dontcare42

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hi there,
My advice would be is to consider how you study best and go with it! I found it difficult to study initially but when I considered my environment (I found it easier to use the dedicated study space in my accommodation rather than my room) and how I approached studying (I preferred using apps rather than reading a textbook). What works for another student may not necessarily work for you so try out a bit of everything and see what helps you get the most out of your study sessions!

- Sophie

Reply 6

University of Huddersfield

Official Rep

16

Original post by dontcare42

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

@dontcare42

Perhaps it because you are trying to sit down at length every day and to study. You do need to put in the time to study, but if all you do is study you will get bored and pretty demotivated, pretty quickly! It's useful to break up the week with different things you can do to switch off and relax. Maybe that's making time to watch a nice movie, read a book, to cook a lovely meal or to go for a run, but mixing things up a little will help you approach your work with a fresh mind and the ability to process more what you're learning.

Uni weeks go quickly and you might feel that you haven't learnt anything, but you might have learnt more than you realise. Of course, you need to add to what you are learning in your lectures and seminars, but remember this is not about reading every single book on a topic. It's just making sure that you understand what you have been taught and that you go over areas that are a bit confusing. If you have an interest in a particular area, it's the freedom to find out more and to grow your knowledge.

As you live some way from campus and on your own, it sounds like the library might be a good place to get some solid work done, but try to give yourself a reasonable time to stay there. So maybe after your lectures or seminars, after you have eaten something or grabbed a drink you could do 2-3 hours at the library and then head home, where you could then give yourself the freedom to catch up with people on the phone, to clean, cook, do laundry etc...

Or if the weather is not great or the journey home can take time, perhaps it's giving yourself time to relax when you get home before trying to do some work. Maybe it's aiming to get two or three things done and then stopping. If you are struggling to work in the evenings, it might be setting your alarm earlier in the mornings and getting some work done before uni or getting up early on a day that you don't have uni.

Whatever you choose to do, I think the main thing is finding a way to balance your time between working and resting.

All the best,

Oluwatosin – 3rd year student – University of Huddersfield

Original post by username6403191

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hi there!
I can completely understand as I found it really difficult during covid to apply myself!

Like some others have said, I found treating it like a 9-5 job really helped me as it made me a little more accountable! I also found studying for a max of 2 hours at a time was best for me as I struggled to concentrate for longer than this!

Apps like Flora are great for holding yourself accountable to study and I find ToDoist great for making lists for different things !

I hope this helps!

Rebecca, 4th Year UCLan

Reply 8

University of East Anglia UG Student Rep: Danielle

Official Rep

8

Original post by username6403191

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hi

First of all, you're not alone in this! It can be so hard to find motivation, especially for prolonged periods of time. I'd personally try not to put too much pressure on yourself to do copious amounts of studying at a time. Little and often might be something to consider - if that will work with your particular academic needs? Little goals might help along the way such as:

- I'll read this text in the morning and that text in the afternoon
- I'll make notes of 3 key points today
- I'll write 200 words today

etc etc etc!

It might also be worth seeing if your university offers any academic/learning support. Sometimes getting started is the hardest bit, and once you've done a little bit, it can help you build some momentum and get into a flow to do even more! Don't be too hard on yourself :h:

good luck!

Danielle :smile:

Film and Television Studies

Original post by username6403191

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hi @username6403191,

We just wanted to check in and see how you are getting on?

Getting the motivation to study is very hard and you are not alone in this feeling. Do you have any services academic/pastoral available to you from your university? Usually lecturers have office hours where students can drop in, you are usually welcome to use them even if you want to talk about something non-academic but on the topic of studying e.g. what would help when it comes to revising X module that the lecturer teaches in.

I hope this helps and you have been getting on well.

Alia
University of Kent Student Rep

Original post by username6403191

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hi,

I think we all go through phases of finding it hard to find the motivation to study but here are some tips I've found that have helped me motivate myself.
-Make a study timetable and try to stick to it. Allow a certain amount of time for each subject and be strict on yourself to follow it
-Try different study techniques such as the Pomodoro technique which has a structured study routine and allocated break times that have been proven to work and provide optimum studying. I've personally used this technique and it really helps as you know you need to work hard for 25 minutes but then have a fixed break to reward yourself for all your hard work.
-Have something to look forward to after you have finished studying. This will hopefully motivate you to work hard and then you'll be able to enjoy yourself knowing that you have worked hard during the day.
-Regular breaks are very important, so don't stress yourself thinking that you need to study all day every day as you realistically will burn yourself out.

I hope this helps and that you find some of these tips useful!

Mary,
London South Bank University Student Rep (3rd-year Children's Nursing)

Original post by username6403191

I’m an adult returner and although I’m studying full time I’m struggling to find motivation every day to sit down at length and get into the study materials.
It’s the start of term and four week have flown by already, I have hardly learned a thing.
Advice for lazy students? How to apply myself, I live alone so no other students to encourage me, and I’m some way from campus.

Hi there,

unfortunately, sometimes I find that I need to go through the pain of just making myself do the work with the long-term benefit in mind. A great way for me to do this is to just keep up communications with course leaders and engage with the content as much as possible. Keep yourself accountable with deadlines etc.

I'm sorry that I can't help more but even by asking, you're trying! Keep up with it!

All the best,

Jaz - Cardiff student rep

Motivation to studying

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