i can’t bring myself to study or do the homework for my exam on wednesday. avolition is just too strong. i can’t look at the notes, i can’t do the homework. totally unable to initiate, yet im so far behind and have so much left to do. what should i do? this is going to hurt my gpa if i don’t get good grades on the second of the six 100 point exams which make up our grade this semester. the material is not impossible for me to grasp, i just cannot initiate studying. what should i do other than “just study!”? is there a med for this?
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I can only tell you the method I used in high school and college:
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Read ahead. I spent a few minutes/ hours reading the chapter that the next lecture was about. Just read. If you don’t understand something, don’t worry, just keep reading. When you hear the lecture it will probably explain what you didn’t understand.
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Take notes during the lecture. Written notes, not tape recordings. Rewrite them neatly as soon as you can. This helped me the most. You’re going through the material that you’ve already read, heard the lecture, and you are going through it again a third time by writing it out at your own pace.
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Start the semester strong. By doing the best you can early, it gives you some leeway later on when everyone else is cramming for finals.
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Find a place to study that suits you. If you need quiet or can block out the background noise, find a place that suits you.
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Don’t get sidetracked by too much information. There was no Internet when I was in school, I went to libraries. The Internet can give you 100 times more information than 100 libraries can give you. Don’t get sidetracked.
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Don’t panic.
You have four more tests to go. If you do less better this test, you still have time to raise your overall grade. What are you studying? I was in the sciences and math.
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Do sth and saturate your mind by fav musics or sth fun, after saturation you will be longing for study,
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Just break it into little pieces. Instead of looking at the all assignments that need to be done, just try setting a goal of reading half of a chapter and then go do something else like have a snack or walk out side for some fresh air for 25 minutes. Then come back and set a goal of just working on 10 problems and that’s it. Then maybe watch TV for 20 minutes and tackle another half chapter.
Then maybe put down your schoolwork for a few hours and take a nap or eat lunch and maybe clean the kitchen or run an errand. Make sense? Looking at everything you have to do at once can be overwhelming but spending 15 minutes or half an hour at a time might be easier.
And of course the other way of doing it is just to do the work in chunks of time. Just set a goal of a spending 15 minutes reading than maybe take a break. Than come back and maybe work on the homework for an hour and then rest.
One of my favorite sayings that might apply here is, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”.
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Maybe give yourself some sort of reward for doing it?
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Something that helps me is first giving myself a break and acknowledging and accepting that at the moment its difficult for me to start studying or initiate doing anything. This doesnt mean that its impossible for me to initiate in the future, but helps me be a little less hard on myself when I need to get something done. Also, something that helps me is questioning the usefulness of a thought in helping me accomplish getting my work done helps. So, if I am thinking of how disappointed I am, this will not be likely to help me move forward.
Self-compassion is really important, especially when you are struggling. You can do this!
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I’ve been browsing the forum all night, I have the notes open in front of me but haven’t started the homework. Am so far behind. The exam is on Wednesday, I intended to start studying at 5pm today, never got around to it. It seems there is no hope for me, I’m definitely going to do poorly on this test.
What is the subject?
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Getting started is the hardest part! Sometimes I really have to force distractions out of the way to get my work done, even if this means walking away from my computer when I don’t need the computer to do it. Like the others have said, little rewards and breaks help, too! I know what helps me is to set daily goals for studying (so maybe read or review your notes for an hour a day but start earlier?).
A lot of it is really just forcing yourself, unfortunately.
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Statistics 151515
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Statistics is the one class I got a “C” in. It kicked my butt, but I did it online. Bad idea.
I like the idea of rewarding yourself. I understand avolition, but it is critical to find something that WILL motivate you. A special food like a candy bar? An inexpensive treat like a new song for your phone? Something relaxing like a hot bath with candles and soothing music? Whatever it is, promise yourself the reward after x amount of studying. Do your studying, then start over with another reward. (If you are using candy, please use snack size candy so you don’t end up gaining 10 lbs. from studying!)
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The “what is the probability of getting a red ball from a bag of balls” kind, or the bell curve, standard deviation kind? Statistics came up lot in the science and math courses I had.
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There is something in what you say. A study showed that people did better at learning when there was background noise. They figured that the brain blocks out distractions and it makes you more focused on your work.
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I wouldn’t advise it but I always wait until the last day to do my hw. That however has to change as I am doing my capstone project this quarter. IF I wait until the end I’ll be writing a long ass paper too late. It’s a shame that the minimum to pass is 80%. I’m super stressed.
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I’m only taking one class this semester and still struggling to do it. I think I’m going to drop out as I can hardly handle even this.
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