Can't get out of this cycle

LegacyUser

Hi

Does anyone else feel fed up?

I can't motivate myself to work, study, do anything basically. I'd rather stay in bed all day and do nothing than get up for college. Actually, even if I wanted to get up for college, I can't get up in the morning at all. I don't know why. I'm just lazy I presume. There has to be more to it than that though. I literally can not physically get out of bed in the morning. And if I do, I can do it for a day or two max before falling back into my old patterns.

I can't study. I have this arrogance that I'll be fine when exams come around but every year I put myself through hell at exam time because I've not prepared properly. I seem to have this subconscious fear of lectures too. I can't get to my lectures. I don't want to go. I love my course. I find it so interesting but I still miss so many lectures/week. I've been able to keep up somehow until now by cramming but I don't think this will work this year. Things have gotten too hard for that.

I want to break this cycle. I can't get out of it. I want more than anything to get into college in the mornings. I don't want to be missing lectures anymore but I don't know how to break this cycle. I need to. I don't want to sail through college and come out with a 2.2. I should be getting a 1st. I know I have the talent and aptitude to accomplish it. It's just the hard work that's missing. I want all the benefits of success without putting in the actual work required to get to that level. It's a catch-22.

I look at students in my course who put so much work in and I can't help but admire them. But I also think what do they have that I haven't? It's not a lack of ambition - I have plenty of that - but I'm missing something. Is it a lack of drive? Again, I don't think it's that either. It's a lack of discipline. Given the choice between something to do and study, I'll pick something else every time without fail.

How do I stop this before it's too late? I don't want to in the figurative (maybe even literal) gutter before I cop on and realise what I've had and thrown away. I'm very lucky to have been given a great education by my parents and I have the fortune of studying in one of the top colleges in Ireland and I will have a fantastic degree at the end of it. I don't want to throw it all away and regret it when I'm older but I can't help but feel that's exactly what I'm doing. And the scary thing is, right now I don't care.

tenchi-fan

Regarding getting out of bed.. go to bed early. 11pm at the latest until you get out of the rut. Get a nice annoying alarm clock and put it the other side of your room. Have breakfast and a shower. It's called routine.

It can be hard to get motivated to study, especially when everything piles up. But 2 hours good study is worth 8 hours of sitting on the sofa with a book on your lap and the tv on in the background. Find out what classmate goes to the library every day and after class say "are you going to the library, mind if I go with you." Some of the good work ethic will rub off - no talking, no messing, don't bring a newspaper with you - just stay there for the 2 hours or so. Don't go with a friend who will start messing or suggest going for a coffee instead.

If you are as intelligent as you say you are these study sessions, even if infrequent, will bring you up to speed. And when you work hard like this in your spare time, it will make you want to miss less classes (the cramming will make you realise just how difficult it is to study when you missed the class!) It will make you a bit more disciplined.

You seem to have a lot of confidence and you're saying "I know i am the best, i know I have intelligence, I know I can get a first." The world is full of people like that - people who have a high opinion of themselves but aren't willing to put the work in, then talk themselves up by saying "wow i passed, imagine if I had actually studied!"

Cheap Thrills!

God OP, I was just like that when I was young. I had plenty of ability and yet I could never bring myself to study or work academically. Like you I was able to doss and then wing it through exams so I just had no motivation to work. I wanted the results but refused to put in any effort. I just couldn't.

I noticed later in life that people with less ability would break their necks studying and get better marks. I think the problem is when you can auto-cruise and still scrape by you take that for granted.

I never changed and even to this day I will only make an effort with things is I absolutely have to. I am very lazy. The disadvantage to this is of course eventually your 'winging it' ability is not enough. It only gets you so far.

I don't think this is much help really, not sure what point I am getting accross other than: don't be like me-A cautionary tale!

Aswerty

When I was in college I did the exact same thing. I know your asking how to break this habit and like Cheap Thrills I can't give you the answer since I ended up coming through my undergrad and a taught Masters with a 2.2 grade. I can however give you my experience if that is any help.

I just finished my Masters 2 months ago, I did the Masters since coming out of my undergrad the job market was at its worst. In my course I found that I found it very hard to go to lectures and study for exams. Like you I'd end up spending the day watching TV or something similar. I always knew I should have been out at lectures or studying but couldn't bring myself to do it. I often felt like the entire education system just wasn't suited to me. On the other hand I found I could spend a lot of time doing an assignment that I would score well in. It seemed that assignment based learning was the only way I could ignite my work ethic.

My Masters was one year long, in the first semester I managed to get to about 60-70% of my lectures and did my assignments well but I ended up getting a poor average. In the second semester I went to 1 lecture and then just did my assignments but did extra work for them to cover the stuff I didn't learn in the lectures. In the second semester I averaged 8% higher when pretty much not attending college than when I did. I found through my undergrad that my results were not that dependent on my lecture attendance but whether a module had a more hands on nature or not. I suppose I lean to the idea that lecture and exam based learning is a pretty useless tool for some people.

The only advice I would give is to just start being productive regardless of what it is you do. I find productiveness is contagious, once your being productive in one part of your life it can push over into other aspects. So maybe get out and start doing regular sport, exercise, hobbies or activities and you might find you have a bit more get go when it comes to college work.

LegacyUser

Thanks for the advice/cautionary tales.

Thing is, I know all this. I want to do a masters - it's going to be so hard to get into one with a 2.2 grade and that's what I'm heading for now. Teachers used to tell my parents in school that I should be top of the year if only I applied myself. I don't know why I don't or can't seem to do it.

It feels sometimes that I'm like a kid that messes once the teacher's back is turned. That because there's no real consequences for not attending lectures, I find that I "don't have to go". Ironically, in one module we have this year, the lecturer vigorously takes attendance and I have missed maybe 2 or 3 of his lectures in total. It's as if once I can get in trouble for missing lectures I make sure to not miss them. That if I can get away with it, I will. The fact that there's no supervision is a disadvantage for me. I find it encourages me to doss and not work - not that I need much encouragement in the 1st place!

As regards taking up a sport or other activity, I don't know. Sometimes I feel that I can't take up something new. That it will take up too much time, time that I should spend studying even though the chances are that I will actually study are slim. I have a feeling sometimes that anything I do in college has to be related to my degree. That anything else is too time consuming and a distraction. I know this is stupid, I realise 5 weeks later that I had so much time to play this sport, or learn this, or whatever.

I really don't think I can ever break this rut sometimes. It seems hopeless to try as well, I think we are what we are and it's not possible to change.

magneticimpulse

I cant help...im meant to be writing in my thesis, thats already 2 weeks overdue and im reading your thread hehe. I was a weak student but i did work hard. I think i fell into the category of working over hard that nothing went in or i got easily distracted.

I got through college only because I enjoyed studying with friends. I found my final year difficult as none of my friends got into 4th year and I was in a class of people who were mainly women (im female) and were quite protective off their work. So i did badly working by myself...i did go to the library everyday and made notes and re-wrote all my lectures into smaller notes...but i didnt enjoy it as much as i enjoyed discussing info and quizzing my friends. Was a real shame as i was 2.1 borderline 1st throughout degree and final year 2 written exams pulled me down. Furthermore, I got the highest in the class in written assignments...but was useless at written exams.

I went and worked for 3 years and now back in university after 4 year post grad...and it SHOULD be finished this week. Right i better motivate myself to finish my thesis haha. But even if you get a mediocre degree, go abroad for a year or 2 to get work experience...then you should be accepted onto a university post grad. I think if you feel your grade will be weak, definitely go abroad for the experience. What you lack by not having a 1st, you will gain by completing studies in another culture, especially if it involves another country with a different language.

Sorry i cant help as im in the same boat, sometimes you just accept that you are different. But you have to just get in some sort of routine. If its a bad one, accept it. I cant get up before 2pm in afternoon...but then between 2pm and 9pm at night thats 7 hours of work...so although a bad routine, in 7 hours you have to fit something in. Study with friends and quiz each other, discuss the course work etc.

Copy previous years exam papers and answer all questions then predict whats left to come up on the course.(thou dont base the final exam solely on this).