Maintaining momentum

[Hawthorne]

I have a bad habit of starting my semesters off really well and losing steam after the second exam or so.

The most obvious problem is that I don’t attend class regularly and it’s especially so this semester since most of my classes are taking attendance.
Which I find utterly ridiculous for upper-levels but that's a digression.

I’m not looking for organization and study tips. I do those well enough.

Willpower is where I’m falling short and I can only give myself so many kicks in the ass before I start getting sore.

Advice?

 

[á´…eparted]

Be consistent, even if you don't want to.

I am not well wired to have consistent energy levels. They fluctuate rather wildly actually. What I've found that helps me stay on my game and consistent, is to just do it.

It sounds really stupid, but it's essential. As an example, at the end of the day when I do my last task, I want to just cut and leave. Every day that urge is there. However, I stop myself and say "no, take 15 minutes to organize things, clean up and put out things for tomorrow. You KNOW it's good for you and helps in the long run." I fully know this, so I do it. In the grand scheme of things, this is a drop in the bucket as far as motivation goes, and it does A LOT to fix things.

If you find yourself trying to justify not doing something that needs to be done, that means you NEED to do it. Justification, excuses, or looking for reason to not have to do it are one of the biggest sources of the problem. The second I start looking for those, I stop myself and say "ah, I am trying to talk myself out of it. No more, I am simply going to do it.". Use it as a warning sign to know when you can't duck out.

It's not easy. I do hit walls where I really can't do something I need to do. However, being consistent with small things, makes it SINGICANTLY less likely that you'll freeze on something major.

The most obvious problem is that I don’t attend class regularly and it’s especially so this semester since most of my classes are taking attendance.

You've actually answered yourself here. You have identified the problem, and identified what needs to be done to resolve it. Simply: go to class. Make yourself.

I can hear hints of you looking for someone to talk a way around it so you won't have to. You must. You must go to class and do what is expected of you, and what you expect of yourself. When to find those urges to not go, fight past it, and really fight past it. Sometimes, I'll audibly say "FUCK IT", stand up, and just throw myself at what needs to be done, sort of on autopilot. Starting things is the hard part. Once you make a habit of forcing yourself, it stops becoming forcing, and becomes a habit.

 

[Mademoiselle]

Study yourself.
Have a daily or a weeky list to tick off, and every month gather the lists to measure how good you were.
It's fun doing so, you'll feel like you're managing yourself, you're aware of what you're doing and you'll unconsciously improve yourself.

(The calculation is simple, just get the numbers of times you studied * 100, then devide it by the number of times you had to study, the number you get is a percintage shows how well you did)

Hope it helps ya.

 

[Hawthorne]

Thanks for the advice [MENTION=20829]Hard[/MENTION] and [MENTION=22782]Mademoiselle[/MENTION].

Demoting priorities (with justifications and excuses) and lack of routine are the two biggest issues for me. Lists and bullet journals are already staples in my life but they're very patchwork so I never get that sense of pride from sustained productivity.

There are a lot of problems wrapped up in this that need to be detangled. In hindsight, it might've been better to make a general thread on apathy and willpower without the career and academic bend.

 

[Amethyst]

Make simple goals for yourself. Like "This week, I will go to every class four days in a row!" I'm one of those people who hate following routines, but I know they help me and if I don't do them (like now, going to the gym every day is a priority, even if it's just walking for a mile) I know I feel like shit later and then it becomes a seemingly endless cycle of apathy and regret. I'd rather struggle through class or to the gym every day than feel like that.

 

[Frosty]

I'll try to offer advice, but I really have this problem as well so we'll see.

With me, I am usually able to justify to myself why I don't need to go to class, come up with alternative reasons- make deals with myself, ect. But this kind of thinking is bad I think, as it leads to similar thinking in everything. Pinging between two choices, talking yourself out of ever really choosing, and convincing yourself that the compromise you are making now will mean that those other options forever stay open- just doesn't work- you may allow it but the world works independently of you and it will continuously move farther and farther away unless you try to grab hold.

It isn't even about weighing the pros and cons of a decision, as either side will have opportunity costs- it is about accepting that you can't win without losing.

So practically, every time you think about skipping- and never ever allow yourself to do so(I personally still have this issue... All the time)- if you are like me this will only promote your mindset- pick yourself right back up and remember and think about what you are really doing.

I could say, parcel it out. Continuously compromise, do what I do. Speed through everything you don't like- get minimum grades to pass, and spend time on what you really enjoy. But unfortunately... It revolve right back

 

[Yama]

As everyone else said, and I agree, one of the worst obstacles is talking yourself out of it and trying to come up with self-justified excuses not to do something that you truly, internally, know that you need to do. I still have a problem with this--I will never not have a problem with this--and it's really hard to teach someone to just "develop willpower". It's a strategy, and you have to learn it.

Tell yourself why you're doing something, and remind yourself constantly. Try to think in the bigger picture, if you can. Instead of "I'm going to class because they take attendance", you could think, "I'm going to class because I'm paying thousands of dollars for that damn chair and so you're damn right I'm going to sit in it!"

I, personally, like to think about how by getting things done now, I'm making my life easier in the future. If I assemble my backpack and set out clothes the night before, I have more time in the morning to get ready and move at my own natural pace. If I get my homework done during the week when possible, I'll have more free time this weekend to do whatever I want. And then when that time comes, and I'm playing video games on a Saturday instead of doing yet another 40-page dry as hell academic reading, I think to myself, "You're the best past me. Always lookin' out for me. You know what's up." And I revel in the rewards that I reaped for myself.

A little bit of an anecdote: In 8th grade, I did not care. About anything. I joked with one of my friends once that "my F is a better F than your F." I was failing every class. It wasn't because I wasn't smart. Hell, it wasn't even because I was lazy. It was just pure apathy and a lack of willpower.

The solution that changed me? Finding my drive.

I did not find that drive by myself. I did not have to go out looking for it. In my case, it punched me straight in the face and woke me up.

The principal and many of my teachers pulled me aside and had a sort of intervention-style meeting. I was told that if I did not improve my grades, I would not be graduating in a few months.

This was eighth grade! I was sure as hell not about to get held back and watch all of my friends move on to a completely different school and leave me behind. Within one week all of my F's had skyrocketed to C's. I graduated on time, with my class.

This did, however, also have a negative impact on me. I went overboard with my drive. I was so impacted and shaken up by the potential negative effects that to this day, I'm still not at an equilibrium. My obsession with perfectionism has been so extreme ever since entering high school after almost being held back that I will cry over a B. I will think to myself, "Why even bother doing something if I can't do it perfectly?" That's dangerous thinking that threatens to bring me right back to square one. But I recognize this, and manage to keep my willpower in check.

My sister, who struggled academically, once asked me "how I did it." When I asked what she was talking about, she said she was referring to the anecdote that I just shared here. My response was that I just had to develop the sheer willpower to crawl out of the hole I had dug for myself. There is no way to force someone to develop willpower if they are unwilling. There is also no way to tell you how this willpower will manifest, as it is different for everyone.

I would take everything one step at a time. Try to find your drive. Mine was more obvious: I didn't want to get held back. But now that that's no longer a threat to me, my new drive is something more along the lines of "making my life in the near future easier by getting my shit done today." Yours may be different, it may be the same. I'm not sure. In the end, you're the only one who will be able to figure that out, if you find it useful. But when you do, it will be a helpful tool for navigation.