What to do when no motivation to study

[SCDP]

So I'm pretty much 2/3 done with this semester and while my grades are good up until this point, probably all A's/A-'s but now I have NO MOTIVATION to study. Got 2 exams coming up this week, a book report in which I have to read a 200 page book and write a 1500 word essay due in like 1.5 weeks.... and I haven't started anything for those yet.

When I sit down to study, which alone is HARD to do, I just look at my papers and want to drop out of college....

I don't know how I will do this for the next 6-7 years...

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[dyesht]

They should have a pre-dental venting/complaining section for SDNers like this.

 

[SCDP]

They should have a pre-dental venting/complaining section for SDNers like this.

They should, I would love to complain every second of every day 🙂

 

[arkenstone]

I had the same feeling last week. It passed. You just have to move with your psychology like a weather pattern--different people have different climates, but we all have stretches of bad weather.

And when you feel that, you start pulling together all the negative points from your past/present/future to rationalize feeling that way. Here's how mine went:

I've already finished my first degree and two years later in back for one more year of prerequisites. I'm really smart, got a full ride my first time around, am kicking butt in these pre-requisites ... but if I'm so great, why am I twenty-five years old with very little money and 6-10 more years of training ahead of me? What have I got to show? and what does the ****ing organic Spartan assignment have to do with any goddamn thing? Then the story just keeps spreading--your family, failed relationships, boring classes, uncertain professional futures...

Then I got through a couple quizzes, crammed for some tests, finished my late assignments, laughed at my friends' jokes, got some good news from my advisor, found some songs I liked ... the weather was changing all trough that. I started remembering that some things are under your control and some aren't. I've made some good decisions and bad ones but when I put my mind to things I can usually take names. I'm still moving forward and have something that could be very good for my future--good school around competent people, good work, options ...

Just put yourself in the position to enjoy the good weather, and try not to let the bad weather derail you. It will still suck and you're not going to want to study, but hopefully obligation will push you through to the other side where you can enjoy things and get ready for the next storm, drought, whatever

 

[SCDP]

I had the same feeling last week. It passed. You just have to move with your psychology like a weather pattern--different people have different climates, but we all have stretches of bad weather.

And when you feel that, you start pulling together all the negative points from your past/present/future to rationalize feeling that way. Here's how mine went:

I've already finished my first degree and two years later in back for one more year of prerequisites. I'm really smart, got a full ride my first time around, am kicking butt in these pre-requisites ... but if I'm so great, why am I twenty-five years old with very little money and 6-10 more years of training ahead of me? What have I got to show? and what does the ******* organic Spartan assignment have to do with any goddamn thing? Then the story just keeps spreading--your family, failed relationships, boring classes, uncertain professional futures...

Then I got through a couple quizzes, crammed for some tests, finished my late assignments, laughed at my friends' jokes, got some good news from my advisor, found some songs I liked ... the weather was changing all trough that. I started remembering that some things are under your control and some aren't. I've made some good decisions and bad ones but when I put my mind to things I can usually take names. I'm still moving forward and have something that could be very good for my future--good school around competent people, good work, options ...

Just put yourself in the position to enjoy the good weather, and try not to let the bad weather derail you. It will still suck and you're not going to want to study, but hopefully obligation will push you through to the other side where you can enjoy things and get ready for the next storm, drought, whatever

Very true. It's just a downward spiral of negativity lol. I guess in the end it always works out. Like even freshman year, I have no idea how I got through it, so many times I didn't want to study, just wanted to sleep, and was like SCREW THIS, but somehow managed to make it through freshman year with a 3.8+ gpa.

But I'm tired of always having this negativity and feel like soon enough I won't be able to push through it and will just end up dropping out.

Because honestly, while I want to be a dentist, I HATE SCHOOL. Always been good at it, never liked it. And with school now actually requiring effort and studying unlike high school, it's driving me crazy!

Maybe I'm just lazy and spoiled but not much one can do to change that now when I was raised that way. Just developing study habits is hard in itself.

 

[SM555]

When I have no motivation to study I watch TV and eat spaghetti-o's

 

[arkenstone]

Very true. It's just a downward spiral of negativity lol. I guess in the end it always works out. Like even freshman year, I have no idea how I got through it, so many times I didn't want to study, just wanted to sleep, and was like SCREW THIS, but somehow managed to make it through freshman year with a 3.8+ gpa.

But I'm tired of always having this negativity and feel like soon enough I won't be able to push through it and will just end up dropping out.

Because honestly, while I want to be a dentist, I HATE SCHOOL. Always been good at it, never liked it. And with school now actually requiring effort and studying unlike high school, it's driving me crazy!

Maybe I'm just lazy and spoiled but not much one can do to change that now when I was raised that way. Just developing study habits is hard in itself.

I'll try to not to get too honest here, but I relate to a lot there--the habits, the spoiled/lazy part, etc. Freshman year was rough. I ended up with a 3.2 my first year (thanks, Mandarin) but I have pulled it up to a 3.7 overall at this point. I've been telling myself that lie about getting better study habits since I was in high school, but it never changes. I've always waited till the last minute. I've got a good memory, am good at cramming, and I guess I get a kick out of the last minute pressure.

Maybe the study habits are the things bringing you down. Maybe not. My friends and relationships tended to be the determining factor for me. My first year I was on anti-depressants. Then I made more friends, got a girlfriend, went off the meds, and kept making the Dean's list.

Since graduating I've moved around a lot, and the discontinuity with friends has been the hardest. But now that I'm back in school again, I've met a few other pre-professional kids who have come back to school just like me. Being able to b**ch about professors, talk about where we want to end up, etc... it's a boost.

Hating school sucks. Hating school alongside friends who feel the same way--in a strange twist--almost makes you feel like you belong there.

Again, I don't have a lot of guidance to give since I've still got such bad habits (the other day I left a month of Comparative Anatomy studying till the morning before the test and got a 91%), but a warning: as you get older, the last minute thing gets harder. You will get to a point where you just say 'yes' to sleep even though you're not prepared for the next day.

The best luck I've had at changing those habits is to have something I want to get to after studying is done--something I want to go do without it on my mind.

 

[Weakfart]

I had the same feeling last week. It passed. You just have to move with your psychology like a weather pattern--different people have different climates, but we all have stretches of bad weather.

I must be Minnesota then because my study climate is always ****.

 

[arkenstone]

I must me Minnesota then because my study climate is always ****.

🙂 Well hopefully sunny skies are in the forecast. Here's some tunes to get us up and studying this coming week:

edit: gah this auto media formatting is annoying. I'll put it in a quote box to keep it from eating the thread . . .

http://youtu.be/Oi4Cf6lkDr4
http://paintedpalms.bandcamp.com/track/too-high

 

[2THDDS]

Think about thr trophy wife you will get when you are out of ds.

Whoo. That just helped me. Try it now.

 

[1Overdrive]

When I have no motivation to study I watch TV and eat spaghetti-o's

This guy knows the best-kept secrets right here.

 

[hongbinbaneben]

Watch motivational workout videos on Youtube, lol

 

[SCDP]

I don't know, I just contemplate dropping out soooooo much i feel like it's not worth it for me to go down this path if I'm going to be miserable. Like I'm doing good so far, got a 3.85 cumulative/science and doing good this semester, got all A's halfway through but lately I have been hating school.

I don't really care for the sciences, when I go to my bio or chem classes I just want to take the notes, get out, and just study to get an A, I really don't care about the subject much at all.

I can't imagine what i'll be like when I have to study for the DAT or hell... Boards in dental school(doubt i'll make it that far)

Unfortunately I have no other path I want to take.... and it's either suck it up and be miserable or drop out

 

[SCDP]

Like the outcome of course is nice, having a pretty good job, potential to really make a lot of money, having a nice house and nice cars, vacations, great lifestyle, etc...

but the daunting task that lies ahead to get to that point...

 

[Blake1e]

I don't know, I just contemplate dropping out soooooo much i feel like it's not worth it for me to go down this path if I'm going to be miserable. Like I'm doing good so far, got a 3.85 cumulative/science and doing good this semester, got all A's halfway through but lately I have been hating school.

I don't really care for the sciences, when I go to my bio or chem classes I just want to take the notes, get out, and just study to get an A, I really don't care about the subject much at all.

I can't imagine what i'll be like when I have to study for the DAT or hell... Boards in dental school(doubt i'll make it that far)

Unfortunately I have no other path I want to take.... and it's either suck it up and be miserable or drop out

Need motivation? Imagine your life if you fail your goal. Then go experience in real life by taking a long walk in the places youll end up in.
I grew up dirt poor living in the projects and attending schools filled with gang violence, drugs etc since I was 4 years old. I had a downright awful childhood. My motivation is clear, I never want to go back to that life nor do I want my children to ever go through what I did. If being poor isnt an issue for you then imagine how much it would suck having to depend on mom and dad, or slave away at some mind-numbing job 40+hrs/wk just to get by. (A few years of suck is nothing to a life time.) Research the many ways being a dentist is awesome.

"""I don't really care for the sciences, when I go to my bio or chem classes I just want to take the notes, get out, and just study to get an A, I really don't care about the subject much at all."""

I empathize with this, and I bet many others do too. It isnt easy to take a genuine interest in something that is so abstract and divorced from any real world practicality that can be gleaned by the avg undergraduate student. (I actually love the sciences, it is only b/c I read a lot in my spare time that I can derive some value from what I learn in class-- mostly things about health.) Undergrad is just a bunch of hoops you gotta force yourself to jump through with little to no reward until you get to the end and finally get that lifetime reward for all your hard work and never have to see another hoop again. Once you get into dental school youll start doing work of value and youll like it.

EDIT: Judging by your GPA, you seem like an intelligent person. So if you really wanted to Im sure you could finish undergrad in 3 years and still maintain at least a 3.5. Major in bio, since d school pre-reqs are included, youll have less classes you need to take compared to other majors. Then stuff each semester 16-21 credits, as well as summer and possibly winter.

 

[arkenstone]

Need motivation? Imagine your life if you fail your goal. Then go experience in real life by taking a long walk in the places youll end up in.
I grew up dirt poor living in the projects and attending schools filled with gang violence, drugs etc since I was 4 years old. I had a downright awful childhood. My motivation is clear, I never want to go back to that life nor do I want my children to ever go through what I did. If being poor isnt an issue for you then imagine how much it would suck having to depend on mom and dad, or slave away at some mind-numbing job 40+hrs/wk just to get by. (A few years of suck is nothing to a life time.) Research the many ways being a dentist is awesome.

I can attest to that as a motivation, but only from the other side. I was well-taken care of growing up and majored in music my first go round. It was only after I graduated and I realized what it's like to move around living on minimum wage for two years that I started getting serious. I saw people, met people, rented from people whose lives I didn't want, and suddenly school seemed like a gift from heaven.

Do I wish I was a famous film composer? Or heck just a successful real estate agent? Sure. But I've learned where my strengths lie, and it's in school if nothing else. So the educational rites of passage to become a healthcare professional seem pretty good right now.

Of course I knew all those things three years ago. OP probably does too. But it took concrete experiences to get me motivated.

 

[SXCoronado]

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[arkenstone]

Any relation? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Arkenstone or Dash Arkenstone from Horse the Band? Lol both musicians, so just wondering.

No relation, but I love David Arkenstone's track "The Island Road." My handle has more to do with the Hobbit though.

 

[Rdhdds15]

I am in the same exact shoes as you. I am taking classes I don't even need lol and I wanna drop them so bad. I have no motivation I wonder how I will get that back when I start dental school hopefully.