The Student Room Group

Stuck in a rut

I'm getting into a bit of a rut at uni. I missed maybe two lectures/tutorials the whole of last term, but this term I've started skipping quite a few. It's mostly because I'm tired and haven't finished reading the books concerned so know I won't get much out of it, but I know it's a bad habit to be getting into. I feel like I'm getting stuck in a rut though. My brain's tired, but I've got another month until easter and I need to keep working :frown: I hand in my essays on time and all of that but most of the people I'm here with work very hard and I'm starting to feel slack.

Any tips on how to re-motivate myself and get back into my good habits? I feel like I need a fresh start and something just to give me a boost mentally. Anyone found any solutions?


Thank you.
Reply 1
I wanted to reply, so at least someone had tonight, but I don't know how much help I can be.

I've always been ridiculously lazy at uni... always doing the bare minimum to scrape by. I get motivated when the deadline gets near enough to cause a sweat! :biggrin:

If I find a particular topic/subject, or even module interesting, it's easier to start work on that. It's always better to do something you enjoy. If you have a lot of work it might help to start with the one you enjoy the most, or hate the least. :wink:

I got into the kind of ruts at A-level and wouldn't go for weeks at a time. It gets harder and harder to get out of the longer you leave it, so if you can force yourself to get back into it, the sooner the better.

Maybe meet up with some friends off your course to go over some of the work you've missed. If there's an exam or essay coming up they'll probably want to go over it again anyway.

You could try getting away for a weekend or something. Just a couple of days escape from the normal routine could do you the world of good. You could go back home, or to see a random friend somewhere, anywhere. And hopefully start afresh when you get back.

Sorry I couldn't be more use... hopefully someone is just about to post below me with something constructive...
Reply 2
Yes, as Zurich said, once you're behind it takes an awful lot of work to catch up again. I don't know how popular this would be with you but... how about setting your alarm clock an hour earlier, and reading for an hour to try and catch up on the books at least.

Your brain is probably feeling tired because it knows how much you've got to catch up on, I think the best way to go about this is to try and break everything down into chunks. Manageable chunks, and realistic targets. Once you start achieving these targets and getting back on top of things, I'm sure your motivation will return.

One of the most important things is to get yourself into a reliable sleep pattern, with no excessively late nights, and make sure you relax before you go to bed so that you can actually get a good nights sleep instead of a disturbed one, which is likely to happen if you're worrying about things when you go to sleep.

Be determined. Again, I agree with the working together suggestion - working with other people definitely increases your motivation, so I'd definitely give this a go.

If you have space between lectures, pop to the library or something, just, whenever you feel yourself not really doing anything constructive, go to a different environment and read your books.

Try not to miss any more lectures - even though you're behind, by being there, you'll pick something up at least.

Hope some of that maybe kinda helps? Hope you manage to get into some sort of routine. Good luck x
dazednconfused
I'm getting into a bit of a rut at uni. I missed maybe two lectures/tutorials the whole of last term, but this term I've started skipping quite a few. It's mostly because I'm tired and haven't finished reading the books concerned so know I won't get much out of it, but I know it's a bad habit to be getting into. I feel like I'm getting stuck in a rut though. My brain's tired, but I've got another month until easter and I need to keep working :frown: I hand in my essays on time and all of that but most of the people I'm here with work very hard and I'm starting to feel slack.

Any tips on how to re-motivate myself and get back into my good habits? I feel like I need a fresh start and something just to give me a boost mentally. Anyone found any solutions?


Thank you.


Sounds very very familiar....i mean why are we all on this forum right now!!!??
All i can say is you aint the only one, and that laziness isnt always what it seems, weird though it sounds, being lazy can be a stressed/anxiety state. At the same time, the most relaxing thing can be plunging yourself into work..but whats essential is you stick to whats manageable--don't start thinking abot everything you havent done, or how the mountain is too big to climb, just do it bit by bit, a sense of productivensess/achievement comes with that, the bits you miss, try and clear up with your tutors, and bit by bit you'll get it together..also ..make sure you keep a time to work, and a time to switch off, and not too many social hassles..time to relax and be on your own.....any help?
Reply 4
Sounds very familiar...don't have any useful advice to give that hasnt already been mentioned...just wanted to say I have the same problem...which is why I'm sat here writing this instead of getting showered and changed for college...really cant be bothered to go in...again!
To re-motivate yourself, you should think of the consquences on what will happen if you don't do well and stuff like that.