Lacking Motivation and Miserable

[EssentialAspiration]

Okay, I'm in my final year in high school in the UK, after that, off to college. That's the plan. However, to get in to college, I need to get good grades.

Ever since primary school I've been told I'm "naturally smart" so I did very well in my SATS which landed me in high school with very high targets of A's.

I believe that if I put the maximum effort into all my work and exams I will succeed and achieve my targets.

But I hate it. I hate it all. I've spent the last 2 hours staring at a screen of Geography coursework that's around 6 months overdue because I just can't do it. I have all the support I need and more and I should be able to do it but I just don't want to.

This is the same problem in all my subjects. I do my work in lessons, I'm not a distraction to anyone, I'm no problem child, I have basically no problems in life.

Except this. My lack of effort in to my work makes my life incredibly hard and upsets me on a daily basis and I know what I need to do but I just can't do it. Everytime I try to revise. or work at home or anything like that I'm really angry and sad. People like me. I'm a nice, happy, helpful, uplifting person. I pride myself upon that. But this is really bringing me down and I don't know what to do anymore.

I've made this account on this website, I don't know what I want to hear from people or if I just need to vent or what. But any help is appreciated I guess.

Thanks.

[SethfromMI]

I don't know what you want to hear either. you have to force yourself to do the work, your very best work, whether you want to do it or not. otherwise, you may set yourself up for a less satisfying life

[Descene]

I already made up a list of my techniques for another thread, but I want to make sure to post here because I can relate a lot and I hope I can help. I know it's frustrating, because I'm in the same situation that I'm incredibly smart yet I'm about to hit alert 3 at my college (alert 4 is dismissal). I'm depressed which is always something that is severely debilitating just in general life, but especially in academics.

Why "can't" you do it, your Geography? "Can't" in quotations because you definitely can, and I don't mean that in a condescending way but simply that you have the ability in you, but there's something that's formed a wall between you and your work and that wall needs to come down. What is running through your head when you think about doing the work? I'm thinking things like "This is a lot of work," "I would rather be doing x," "What is the point when I'm already failing?" etc. Identifying these thoughts is the first step to changing them.

I'll address that concept, of staring at the screen for 2 hours. How I'd tackle this is first breaking the work up into small parts. You don't have to do any of it yet, but just split it up into simple tasks. My favorite technique is the "5-minute rule," in which you tell yourself you'll work for 5 minutes and stop afterwards. Starting is the hardest part of doing homework. I almost always keep working after the five minutes, but honor what you said and stop if you want to. Do the five minutes again in a little bit. If you still have problems, you can try going into a different room of your house or going out somewhere like the library or a coffee shop. I can't get work done for the life of me at home.

Here is my full list of tips (http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3009269&postcount=7) I made up for another thread.

[maniamsmart]

Motivate yourself. Set a goal, get to that goal, and reward yourself with something. Do that over and over, and it should get a little easier. This is the method I use. But the person who posted above me seems to be an expert in this so follow the advice :D There seems to be some really helpful content in the thread that was linked.

[NeuroTiger]

I'm sure you've already had a goal but I do think you should take things more lightly and not get all stressed at it. Do a mini time table to try to meet deadline.

[randomuser123]

Pressure is something that anyone who has to perform highly has to deal with. Private schools tend to be far worse (or better depending on your opinion) at creating pressure to succeed and be the best you can be, however being at a private school is by no means the only way to pressure yourself into working.

I think if you truly know what you want, and you really want it, then you will develop the drive needed to get there (if you are capable of doing it). At any school, if you want to achieve highly, you must be willing to spend a lot of time working.

Personally I don't see the point in working for five minutes at a time, since you can't get into the flow of whatever you are doing, I am guessing in your case it is an essay. Usually I like to sit down and work for 1-3 hours at a time.

I acknowledge that I don't have half of your stress because I have always known and been told, that with a reasonable level of work (not that much) I am intelligent (7 A*s and 3 As at GCSE) and can pretty much do whatever I choose with my life. I go to a very high performing school, but it was not easy to get into that environment. I had to work for 8-10 hours a day during all of my holidays and weekends to prepare for the exams to get in, since we were expected to be at a level 4 years ahead of where we would normally be for most subjects.

I certainly agree that the state school system in the UK is severely flawed, since it does not encourage a good work ethic, and force/pressure work (for those who are not responsible enough to work under their own steam). In my opinion, our education system needs to be improved dramatically.

A lot of people are saying that you shouldn't get stressed, but for me, stress is what makes me think and work - so not being stressed it pointless. It doesn't lead to a hugely happy existence, but if you want to do well - it is often the only answer.

[CharlieHorse]

This is EXACTLY me. Schoolwork just makes me miserable. I hate it. I hate it so much that I'm on the verge of giving up. This issue has ruined my chance at a career, graduating, going to college, and just life in general. This issue increases and feeds off of depression and now everything in life seems pointless.
The worst part is that nobody understands. They all encourage you to muster up the courage and motivation and energy to get that essay done or whatever. They don't realize how much I would rather die than do another fucking school project. They don't realize how depressed and angry I am at all this. And they make you believe you're the problem. I've wasted my whole life in school. But it is necessary. Education is so important. School is the problem, not education. It's all fucked up. Want to bake a million pizzas? I assure you, not every pizza will need to be baked for the same amount of time.

I'm not sure why I thought this would help. Maybe if you need someone to relate to, I'm definitely here and willing to talk and help.