Schoolwork - Motivation!

[Desmond]

Ok, Here's the thing.
5 days left before my Junior year of high school begins.

I had 2 things to do this summer.
One is to complete 300 vocabulary notecards. It's not necessary, but if I don't, I'll have to complete 500 during the school year. (That's about 80 a week.)
I didn't.

The other was to read 2 books.
I just started.

So, this is a terrible, terrible way to start the new year.
All my life, I've been pretty lazy, yet I've been getting by easy, because my classes are fairly easy and I hardly need to focus on my homework.
But this year, I picked all hard classes. The only non AP class I am taking this year is History.

I can usually handle the upper level math and science classes, but English is my worse subject. This year however, I picked English AP, so it will be 100 times harder. Regular English is a joke, a blow off class.

That, and I also have to study for the PSATs, which I didn't even study for in the summer. If I had, it would have been really helpful, because my vocabulary is very, very, bad. The teacher even recommended that I should study, even though you don't -have- to.

But, I blew it off and didn't do anything this summer. I spent the last month feeling a lot of stress that I haven't started, but still, I continued doing nothing, just feeling more and more stress.

I've never had this problem before, because back then, motivation was not an issue. I never had to spend more than 10 minutes a day on my homework. I'm guessing though, with these classes, I would have to devote more than 2 hours a day to my classes.

Even though this is common, it seems almost mentally impossible for me.
So I need some tips on how to motivate myself to do work, and how to not be lazy.
I have a huge problem with motivation, and responsibility.
How did any of you overcome this problem?

[YourHumbleNarrator]

Lack of motivation is comprised of two factors: intention and fear. If you lack a strong purpose and/or you're afraid you can't handle what you're up against, you'll find it nearly impossible to push forward. I'll focus more on the latter since that seems to be where you struggle.

I'm stating the obvious in saying that you seem to lack self-confidence. You've never really been challenged so challenge seems daunting. You're likely experiencing a fear of failure. Just as likely is a fear of success. It can be difficult to tell the two apart but there's a clear focus with either of them. If you're afraid of failure, you're looking forward to a future time where you've made a mess and you can't see how to pick up the pieces. The defining trait is an inability to see beyond the point of failure. There's a tendency to overdramatize what's probably a minor setback until it becomes an insurmountable obstacle. If you're afraid of success, you feel like you're on fire until it actually comes time to do something. It's characterized by procrastination, an inability to concentrate, and a feeling that your best just isn't good enough.

Both are forms of self-sabotage and ultimately both are the same. A fear of failure is pretty easy to get over; you can practically pummel it to death. Stay persistent, burn your bridges behind you (i.e., put yourself in situations where you have no choice but to strive to succeed) and eventually you'll have to get somewhere. Fear of success is much more difficult to overcome as it's far more subtle. It involves psychological self-trickery you may not even notice. Think of an overweight person who's trying to lose some pounds and he swears off sweets only to end up at a mall kiosk with a sticky bun in his hand. I'll guarantee you that half the time that happens he doesn't even notice what he's doing. He finally wakes up around the time that he's holding the empty wrapper in his hand, at which point he quietly lets loose a stream of expletives which would wither a potted plant.

From where I stand, you appear to be like the fatman, and like the fatman you will not vanquish the demons hidden within your rolls of fat until you burn the whole mall down. Or, since arson is a crime (and the government will never accept that you've burned down a school in the name of freedom), until you've addressed what's at the root of your fear.

Does schoolwork simply not engage you, even when it's challenging? Nevermind whether it's easy even when you're in more advanced classes or that you could normally do your homework in ten minutes, does it hold your attention or spark your passions? If it doesn't, are you possibly afraid that taking on increased class loads will lead to an ever more stressful academic career that drags on ever longer because you're "gifted" and thus pressured into doing more? The primary reason someone would be afraid of success is that one success builds an expectation of success and it invites more challenging fare to come your way. In truth, a fear of success and failure can intermix; "If I'm successful this time I'll have to take the next step but when I do that I don't know if I'll be able to succeed then and I'll end up looking like an even bigger idiot becausetherewillbemoretoloseand oh god oh god oh god oh god..." Cue the thud that follows when one collapses on the floor.

Keep these things in mind:

1. Stress is not an external factor. Whenever you feel stressed out, you're the one that's doing it. A shift in your perspective can make it much easier to handle or eliminate it entirely.

2. Motivation is never the problem. If you really want to do something, motivation will come easily. The question you should be asking is what's blocking your motivation. Stress often blocks motivation. Sometimes it can strengthen it, but in your case it's not. Being that stress is what it is, it can't be neutral; if it's not helping you, it's harming you. Don't think it automatically means you've got to get rid of it. A simple change in perspective may be enough to make it a motivating force instead. I'm not going to tell you what will work because honestly I don't know; it depends on you. The point I'm making here is to be flexible. If getting rid of the stress doesn't work, see if you can use it. If that doesn't work, dig deeper to see what else might be eating at you; your stress may not be school related at all. Whenever you're using a strategy that doesn't work, dump it for something else.

3. This is where the "really want to do something" comes into play: intent. Why do you want to go the extra mile with your schoolwork? if the only reason you can come up with is that you're supposed to, you're not going to get anywhere. You will sabotage yourself time and time again until you sit down and take inventory of what's driving you and what you really want. Think of it as you're subconscious' way of getting your attention. See, the unconscious part of ourselves tends to be extremely principled and stubborn. If we're not acting in accordance with our highest good it will do everything it can to get in our way. Fighting it is futile. So put down your gun, untie the hostage and have yourself a heart to heart with the part of yourself that's causing the ruckus.

Best of luck.

[Beuford]

Don't waste time doing unnecessary things. The only homework I really do is assignments.

[StuartPE]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you're not driven to do it, then it's not really what you want to do, is it? Your true passion will drive you, motivation will never be a problem. Don't waste time doing things your heart's not in.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by StuartPE

I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you're not driven to do it, then it's not really what you want to do, is it? Your true passion will drive you, motivation will never be a problem. Don't waste time doing things your heart's not in.

I recommend if you follow this mind set that you find a way to really want to do your school work rather than just abandoning it because you "don't feel like doing it".

[Talkofthatown919]

The way that i motivated myself to do school work was basically to do it as soon as it was assigned to me. Even though i failed 2 grades and went to summerschool. I knew that i could either make something of my life or not. I could look back on my life and knew that there was something that i could've went just a little bit harder at instead of slacking.

[Kaybee]

You have a tough challenge here. I've been out of school a while, but my two sons have experienced what you are going through.

My youngest son seems more like you - breezing through school - only now getting to the point were he has to apply more effort.

You know what....you should come up with a simple strategy. First- you took the summer off. It's a done deal so don't stress over it. It was probably better that you did take time off to refresh yourself the upcoming year.

Now....you know what you have coming up - lots of studying. Start thinking about how you can incorporate study time. Also, if you can, join or start a study group. Who says studying has to be boring or hard? Get with others and make it fun. If you can, relate subject matter to what you know and love.

The bottom line is to take everything one step at a time.

Good luck.

Kim
http:Self Improvement and Motivation: For Those Who Want More
Fuel My Motivation.com