First off, thereās this neat quote that I honestly need someone to read to me literally every day of my life:
Itās a fickle and unreliable little state that isnāt worth your time.
Better to cultivate discipline than to rely on motivation.
Force yourself to do things, to get out of bed, to go the gym, to work harder and smarter; force yourself to do stuff when you donāt feel like doing anything.
Motivation is fleeting, and itās easy to rely on because it requires no concentrated effort to get. Motivation comes to you, you donāt even have to chase after it.
Discipline is reliable; motivation is momentary.
The real question isnāt how to keep yourself motivated, itās how to train yourself to work without it.
If you donāt mind my unsolicited advice:Ā
I donāt know how you usually study but I find it really helps to change things up. I always despair because I remember how well I stuck to a schedule during the semester and then I lose all that structure and flow when I take a break (which is important too but always sets me back). So for example if I had been using my desk during free time when I was on break, my brain now connects my desk to leisure time, which means it helps if I study at the library/kitchen table/anywhere else. This might also be worth a shot in your situation because that way you donāt go back into chill mindset and keep a mental divide. I hate studying at the library normally but I find it does work for refocus. Once Iām kinda back with a solid one to two hours per day I find I can move my study back to my work space at home.
Also, I will let my friends know when Iām supposed to be studying for a class that we both take and then if they hit me with questions that I canāt answer (because obviously I didnāt do work), this will kinda kick my ass into gear as well. (I am fueled 50% by spite and 50% by the fear of embarrassing myself.)Ā
I probably donāt need to tell you to minimize distractions but if you really cannot focus consider maybe asking a parent/sibling/roommate/friend to physically take possible distractions away from you. You can always stare into the void instead of doing work even with a forest timer running, but I find it does get a little boring after a while ;)
For me, it works better to ease back into it with a subject or topic that is either not too hard or genuinely interests me. So if the prospect of linearly going through your material seems boring or daunting, maybe get started with a more interesting chapter, watch a related video on youtube or documentary (but definitely be careful with that lmao).Ā
And finally, I will sometimes do little tasks that arenāt particularly fun but relatively easy and that you can cross off the to do list as well, like the dishes, taking out the trash, etc, to get more into a productive mindset and gain momentum.Ā
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