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why can't i do work???!?!??

Kev

Lifer
i can't force myself to do work at all. i have been like this since sophomore year in high school (now a college junior). i have an 8 page proposal on god knows what (havent even looked at the assignment yet), and a midterm on god knows how many chapters in my textbook.

but i think there is some subconscious sense that i have that won't allow me to do anything until the absolute last minute. i know that i literally just won't be able to start any of this until sometime tomorrow morning. anyone else suffer from this complete lack of motivation?
 


<< i can't force myself to do work at all. i have been like this since sophomore year in high school (now a college junior). i have an 8 page proposal on god knows what (havent even looked at the assignment yet), and a midterm on god knows how many chapters in my textbook.

but i think there is some subconscious sense that i have that won't allow me to do anything until the absolute last minute. i know that i literally just won't be able to start any of this until sometime tomorrow morning. anyone else suffer from this complete lack of motivation?
>>



All the time! I guess you just get used to doing it.
 
i share your complete lack of motivation, but i wasn't always like that. i'm just in my last quarter of college, merrily coasting. 🙂
 
Try blocking the anandtech forums so you can't go there for a few months 🙂 That should set you strait.
 
dude, i'm the EXACT way. i hate it, but i can't not do it.

i'm also a junior in college. my final exams are next week. i don't even know when my finals are for any of my classes, hell, i don't even know if i have finals in all of my classes or not.
 
maybe you can get yourself some ritalin....legally of course. Can't you get tested at your school for any learning disorders? It doesnt mean your retarded...just some people have a hard time concentrating. I have a very slight case of attention defict disorder myself I think. I never used it as an excuse but thinking back now, I wish I would have actually gotten tested...
 


<< Think seriously about what you want from your life and then figure out how to pursue your goals. >>



This can backfire when you realize you will most likely never reach the goals you want to, and instead of spending your time failing, you can spend it goofing off.
 
I just had my final in my Psychology of Human Motivation and Emotion today. Great course. A lot of the stuff I learned seemed intuitive, like in any other psych course, but a lot of the stuff we learned was very revealing as well. I couldn't diagnose your situation without more details, but, like myself, you probably suffer from a lack of intrinsic motivation with regards to the work your doing. Intrinsic motivation is motivation that stems from an innate desire to do something for the pleasure of doing it. External motivation is when you are compelled to do something because of an external force. For instance, perhaps the midterm is in a class that you find really interesting, in a subject that you would like to learn more about on your own time. Maybe because of this you resent being tested, which interferes with your normal procedure of conceptual learning by memorizing facts to do well on a test. Or perhaps you don't care about the class at all, and hence have no reason to study for the test besides not wanting to fail. Either way, the test represents an external control, and external controls, while increasing external motivation, tend to decrease internal motivation. This is why you procrastinate, because these two forces are in conflict, until finally at the last minute the stress induced by procrastinating causes the EM to win out and make you study.

btw, I'm not a psych major but I really got a lot out of this course. It was taught by a guy who's a huge name in psychology...Ed Deci. Wrote the textbooks for the course and everything.
 
LOL! Oh man, you're not alone. What is it with college juniors?.. Because I'm one too (Tarleton State University, TX). I have a final this Thursday- haven't laid a finger on the books. I have two make-up exams, ten make-up Excel assignments, and THREE finals... ALL next Tuesday- haven't even started. I even accidentally slept through my Accounting class today at 1:00pm and missed the review for the final, which might help going to, seeing how I'm failing the class right now. Now I'll have to put on my best face and go beg the prof for a review sheet tomorrow morning.

...however...

I had a meeting with my advisor for two hours on Monday and I found out that if I take 15 hours this summer, 18 hours this fall, and 15 hours NEXT spring, my butt is graduating this time next year. That was a HUGE motivator to me, and I'm seeing bits of newfound determination to do well now. Especially seeing how I'm going to try to go after an MBA or Masters after this, and the school I want to attend (Texas A&M University's Lowry May's College of Business) looks at your last 60 hours of undergraduate work...

Best thing to do, go to bed. Get on a good sleep schedule. Early to bed, early to rise. Eat well and take care of yourself. Half of life is just showing up, I've learned. 🙂 When you feel good, you do good. Best of luck- we BOTH need it.
 
I think over the last 10 school days I've managed to fail 4 midterms. I tried so hard. It's so discouraging. Sometimes I want to go home and tell my parents not to waste their money on me anymore. I feel like I'm failing them. I'm only a sophomore in college, we'll see how things turn out.

CK
 
I am the same way... right now I should be in bed, but this is much more interesting. I always have the best intentions, but can't actually get anything done. Maybe it is because I don't find the material interesting... Part of it is that I'm just burnt out. I feel that I need some time to do nothing at all.

One recommendation... Make friends with someone who is highly motivated and ask them to keep you going with your work. Maybe you could work with them. When I have someone to work with, I always manage to get much better work done.

Ryan
 


<< Try blocking the anandtech forums so you can't go there for a few months 🙂 That should set you strait. >>


When I *really* need to study, I have my roommate change my AT password and give him strict orders to not reveal it to me until after my test has passed 🙂
 
It's called self control. It's called not being lazy. It's called not finding excuses not to do it. The only person you can blame is you -and, likewise, the only person that can actually help you... is you.

Screw your balls on tight, boy. Own up to your responsibilities if you don't want to be a couch potato for the rest of your life. It's quite simple, really. You either (1) choose to do, or you (2) choose not to. Simple as that. Right now you're choosing not to. Congratulations.

nik
 


<< It's called self control. It's called not being lazy. It's called not finding excuses not to do it. The only person you can blame is you -and, likewise, the only person that can actually help you... is you. >>



Man, I'm so lazy that after I read that I needed to take a nap.
 


<< << It's called self control. It's called not being lazy. It's called not finding excuses not to do it. The only person you can blame is you -and, likewise, the only person that can actually help you... is you. >>



Man, I'm so lazy that after I read that I needed to take a nap.
>>



HAHA!

FFMCobalt - Instead of ending your posts with "Nik", you should be ending them with "Prick".
 
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