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Losing motivation

I've recently done my year 13 mocks and I have been predicted AAB. But I'm still losing motivation regardless of these decent predicted grades. What can I do to overcome a loss of motivation?

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 1

username6164978

Original post by metricmetric

I've recently done my year 13 mocks and I have been predicted AAB. But I'm still losing motivation regardless of these decent predicted grades. What can I do to overcome a loss of motivation?

I don’t know what subjects you do, but with my A-levels I fought this lack of motivation by immersing myself in the subjects beyond the A-level textbook, and fulfilling my genuine interest in them. This was particularly the case for History, where I’d revised the content so much, and it sometimes felt like a chore to go through the flashcards. Instead, I watched loads of documentaries on the History topics I was studying, and it enlivened the A-level for me again. Sometimes this lack of motivation (I believe) is down to just seeing the content on a textbook page.

Also, look to the future. What are your aims and goals? Maybe take a sheet of paper, and write down your goals E.g universities you’ve applied to, job prospects. This May again increase your motivation, by looking towards your end goal.

Reply 2

Muttly

The pressure to get the best grades is relentless and it always seems parents and tutors are the ones keep banging on about it and on your back. It's hard not to keep hearing relatives talking about doing so well, and it goes on and on. Do you believe it or are you treading time and letting the clock go by without really doing very much?

You work, you eat, you go home, you work, you eat, you go home ...... you work, you work hard and then one day that all stops (yes it does) It stops at the end of your last exam and that feeling is hard to comprehend. Work as hard as you can ever in your life. You will be surprised at what you can achieve if you really put your mind to it and believe you can get 'just one more mark'.

The problem is before then that you really have to dig so deep to keep the head work momentum going. You convince yourself that just 'alright' is ok and the effort of just doing and doing and doing revision suddenly makes you feel stale and tired and fed up. The last year can seem to last forever, and the yawning gulf between now and May next year can seem huge. The subject difficulty level cranks up and it puts a big ask on your concentration and understanding. Are you 'on top' of your current work load? If yes that is good, but get going now if you are not. The trick is to keep revising all of the work you have done already, and then learn every bit of the new stuff. Keep on top of the new subject content, which will end shortly after New Year. Then you can focus totally on all of your revision.

First - give yourself a break over a weekend - two whole days. Don't do anything involving your brain. Get lots of sleep and fresh air. Walk exercise, run, swim, cycle and get the balance back to your brain. Look at your diet. Drink lots of water, eat lots of fruits and veg in all cooking and try and ditch all the processed crap - Burgers, fried chicken, takeaways, biscuits, chips, cake, chocolate etc etc. Now get your revision house in order and create a day by day plan with subjects and revision and how much time you have each day to cover all of the subjects etc etc.

But why should you make the extra effort? You might need just one mark to get an extra grade, particularly if you are close to a grade boundary. Look at the number of days you have left before the exams start. Make sure you learn just one new fact every day for every subject you are sitting. That is the minimum. That could be your one mark grade difference to an A or A* The pain in your head is continual. You need self discipline, determination and grit. No one else has this in bucketfuls. Many of your friends will be only too ready and drop out at the slightest difficulty (do not follow suit). Brutal as it may be, they add to your success - their loss, your gain. But you must never give in. Just one fact learnt one at a time - remember this if the work gets very hard or difficult to learn. You can walk a mile in fairy steps even if it takes forever. But if you never put one foot in front of the other and start the mile you will never get to the end of it. The brain pain goes on, but there will eventually be an end point, and end when you really can stop your head thinking. Keep sight of that time and know that when you do get there you have done everything you possibly can, you have done your best. Nothing more. So now be careful to plan your revision and work schedule carefully. Make sure you plan in down time to relax before you sleep. Make sure you sleep. Walk the dog, the cat, see your family, chill out, make a snack. Eat to feed your system, and get some gentle exercise too. Stay focussed on just doing your best.

And why should you put yourself through this? - Because if you have done the very best you can, and could ever have ever done, and worked as hard as you can - you can never look back with regret and think 'if only I had just' .... and you have lost that time. Never waste your time, not for a second. It is too precious. Having better grades can give you so many more choices and options for the Uni's that will accept you. If you have better grades you have greater options if you need those grades for second, third choices etc. You can rest in June. You might decide not to go to Uni but have a gap year, you can then come back to some good grades as a starting point. The best A level results are a springboard for many other opportunities in life. These results are a benchmark. You can still get to where you want to be with lesser grades, but sometimes the journey can be far harder in a competitive world of applications. More regret a few years down the line for not giving 200% when you could right now. A-levels are probably harder to achieve than a degree. The work doesn't necessarily get harder at degree level, there is just more of it over a longer time frame. As a stand alone a good set of A levels in sciences and maths opens an awful lot of doors for choice in careers.

Don't let the clock keep ticking down staring at it, and you fall into the trap telling yourself there is plenty of time. There isn't - every second now counts when you are revising for the final exams. It is like thinking about a ticking bomb on count down. Use all the revision tools you can. Colours, patterns, songs, letters, past exam papers. Use TSR for helpful advice and revision plans. Stick with this work now for the benefits later down the line in life. Once you have secured the best results you can ever gain (your work), no one can ever take them away from you.

So every day - just one new fact committed to long term memory. Work wisely. That could bump your good grade right into the next level. Keep going.