unmotivated and procrastinator at a level

what are they best ways and techniques I can do to help my motivation and procrastination at alevel. I really want a's but even though I really want to revise I struggle to actually get up and do the work.

heya @sg.0 obviously a lot of us struggle with demotivation and procrastination when it comes to studying - i do and it is pretty normal! it is impossible to be motivated but it is possible to remain disciplined which might help you become motivated over time!

first of all, i recommend this thing called 'habit stacking' - which is where you kind of incorporate your new habits into habits that already exist. perhaps set an alarm to wake up at the time you want to (on the weekends, for example so maybe 8 or 9 am?) this will obviously not come naturally to you, but think of it as this - you want to get top grades and you are going to be committed to this therefore waking up early will help you. create habits that you want to incorporate into your routine but pair these with existing habits!

create a revision plan - i personally recommend planning a week/few days in advance so you know what you are going to do for the whole week and then you plan the following week again on the sunday night for example.
you can lay it out like a to-do list so you can tick off the tasks that you complete and the satisfaction you get from doing that.... *bliss*!! how often do you want to revise a subject and what is your weakest one? how many hours do you also want to allocate to each subject each week? it's up to you, but if you are struggling with this, you can ask me how to do this below.
then once you have this down, you can begin to break each subject down into your weakest topics etc !

for example, i study psych, socio and spanish and a typical day revision plan might look like this:

psychology: stress (the role of stress in illness) - 1hr
sociology: beliefs in society (religion as a conservative force/force for social change) - 1hr
spanish: speaking - work on past speaking stimulus cards - 1hr30


with this in mind, you can begin to structure your day! you can decide work for 2hrs then take a 2hr break; then work for 1hr and take a 30 min break - it is absolutely up to you and you know how long you can focus for! i personally don't like the idea of a revision timetable - i used to do this and rigidly structure my day. however, i didn't like the 'loss of freedom' and if i didn't revise at that certain time, i felt deflated and useless! so with a revision plan, you have a bit more flexibility in your day!

^ this is discipline!

if you want 'little bursts' of motivation, try and find quotes on pinterest or studying videos that will help to uplift you! whenever i lose motivation, i like to watch this video: watch this when you need motivation - YouTube i saw in your other post that you want to go to med school - try and look at pins that romanticise the aspects of going to med school (also can i just say congrats for applying in the first place?!)


in terms of procrastination, it depends if it is your phone, computer or both! when you are doing a revision session, you can use the app 'Flora' to set a timer and start working! if you go on your phone during that time, then the tree will be killed by you ! also during the session, if you don't want to get distracted - you can use 1focus or stayfocusd to block those distracting websites!



sorry this is a bit long - but i hope it helps in some way! if you have any questions, please ask them below!

*also another tip for motivation - create a 'grow your grades' blog/diary where you can let the TSR community know about how your studies have been going! more information here: Grow Your Grades 2023 - 2024! - The Student Room!

good luck,
emmanuella ❤️

thank you so much this was genuinely so useful and I will definitely to your advice. especially the revision time table, I notice whenever I have a timetable I dont stick to it but if I just sit what I want to do for they day I get more stuff done. thank youuu

heya @sg.0 obviously a lot of us struggle with demotivation and procrastination when it comes to studying - i do and it is pretty normal! it is impossible to be motivated but it is possible to remain disciplined which might help you become motivated over time!

first of all, i recommend this thing called 'habit stacking' - which is where you kind of incorporate your new habits into habits that already exist. perhaps set an alarm to wake up at the time you want to (on the weekends, for example so maybe 8 or 9 am?) this will obviously not come naturally to you, but think of it as this - you want to get top grades and you are going to be committed to this therefore waking up early will help you. create habits that you want to incorporate into your routine but pair these with existing habits!

create a revision plan - i personally recommend planning a week/few days in advance so you know what you are going to do for the whole week and then you plan the following week again on the sunday night for example.
you can lay it out like a to-do list so you can tick off the tasks that you complete and the satisfaction you get from doing that.... *bliss*!! how often do you want to revise a subject and what is your weakest one? how many hours do you also want to allocate to each subject each week? it's up to you, but if you are struggling with this, you can ask me how to do this below.
then once you have this down, you can begin to break each subject down into your weakest topics etc !

for example, i study psych, socio and spanish and a typical day revision plan might look like this:

psychology: stress (the role of stress in illness) - 1hr
sociology: beliefs in society (religion as a conservative force/force for social change) - 1hr
spanish: speaking - work on past speaking stimulus cards - 1hr30


with this in mind, you can begin to structure your day! you can decide work for 2hrs then take a 2hr break; then work for 1hr and take a 30 min break - it is absolutely up to you and you know how long you can focus for! i personally don't like the idea of a revision timetable - i used to do this and rigidly structure my day. however, i didn't like the 'loss of freedom' and if i didn't revise at that certain time, i felt deflated and useless! so with a revision plan, you have a bit more flexibility in your day!

^ this is discipline!

if you want 'little bursts' of motivation, try and find quotes on pinterest or studying videos that will help to uplift you! whenever i lose motivation, i like to watch this video: watch this when you need motivation - YouTube i saw in your other post that you want to go to med school - try and look at pins that romanticise the aspects of going to med school (also can i just say congrats for applying in the first place?!)


in terms of procrastination, it depends if it is your phone, computer or both! when you are doing a revision session, you can use the app 'Flora' to set a timer and start working! if you go on your phone during that time, then the tree will be killed by you ! also during the session, if you don't want to get distracted - you can use 1focus or stayfocusd to block those distracting websites!



sorry this is a bit long - but i hope it helps in some way! if you have any questions, please ask them below!

*also another tip for motivation - create a 'grow your grades' blog/diary where you can let the TSR community know about how your studies have been going! more information here: Grow Your Grades 2023 - 2024! - The Student Room!

good luck,
emmanuella ❤️

what are they best ways and techniques I can do to help my motivation and procrastination at alevel. I really want a's but even though I really want to revise I struggle to actually get up and do the work.