If you wait for the motivation to study, you'll often wait a long time. Motivation more often comes from getting started and seeing that it's working, or from understanding what the subject has to do with your own life.
That second idea has been tested. In one study, high school students spent a semester writing short pieces about how what they were learning in science connected to their own lives, while other students summarized the same material. The students who expected to do poorly in the course became more interested and got better grades when they wrote about the connection to their lives. For students who already believed in themselves, it made no clear difference.
Choose your path based on why your motivation is missing:
- It feels pointless: write down what the subject has to do with your life.
- You know why, but you can't get started: decide when and where in advance.
- You lost it after a setback: start with five minutes.
- Connect the week to your goal if you want to go further.
A first step today: write three sentences about how what you're studying right now could be useful in your life, now or later.
If you wait for the motivation to study, you'll often wait a long time. Motivation more often comes from getting started and seeing that it's working, or from understanding what the subject has to do with your own life. This article looks at what one study says about that second idea and explains why wanting isn't enough. It then offers four paths based on why your motivation is missing.
Motivation comes after you start
The usual way of thinking is that motivation comes first and action follows. You wait until you feel like it, and when that feeling doesn't come, the book stays closed. But for many people it works the other way around. The urge to keep going shows up once you've been sitting there for a while and things start to click.
That means the hardest part of a study session is the first few minutes, and that's where you need help. You can read why wanting isn't enough to change a habit in motivation isn't enough, and why we put off exactly what we should be doing in procrastination.
When the subject feels pointless
Another kind of missing motivation is when you can't see the point. Why do I need to know this? It's a fair question, and it can be answered.
In 2009, Hulleman and Harackiewicz randomly assigned 262 high school science students to two kinds of writing assignments over one semester. Half wrote short pieces about how what they were learning connected to their own lives, such as something they'd seen at home or something they wanted to do later on. The other half summarized the same material. On average, the students wrote about five of these pieces over the semester.
For the students who expected to do poorly in the course, it made a difference. They became more interested in the subject and got better grades, roughly two-thirds of a letter grade on the American scale. For students who already believed in themselves, the difference wasn't clear. The study was done at two schools in a small American town, so treat it as a finding worth testing, not a law.
The key point is that the students had to find the connection themselves. Hearing a teacher say a subject is important isn't the same as writing down why it matters to you.
When you know why but can't get started
Sometimes the reason is clear, but the session still doesn't happen. Thinking more about why rarely helps then. What helps is deciding when and where. In 2006, Gollwitzer and Sheeran reviewed nearly a hundred studies on plans like "when it's four o'clock and I get home, I'll sit down at my desk." People with plans like these reached their goals considerably more often than those who had simply made up their minds.
You make the decision once, in advance, and don't have to make it again when something more fun comes along. You can read how to build these plans in if-then plans.
Four paths, based on why your motivation is missing
It feels pointless. For you if you can't see the point of the subject. Write a few sentences about how what you're learning could be useful, in your life now or in what you want to do later. Do it again whenever your class starts something new. First step: write three sentences today about what you're studying right now.
You know why, but you can't get started. For you if you have a clear goal but keep putting off your study sessions. Decide on a time and place in advance, and write it as a sentence. First step: write "when … I'll sit down and …" today for tomorrow's session.
You lost it after a setback. For you if you got a bad result or missed a few weeks and then stopped. Start again with something so small you can't say no to it: five minutes with the book. You'll find more about getting back on track in getting back after a setback. First step: set a timer for five minutes tonight and open the book.
Connect the week to your goal. For you if you want to go further, and it's the most demanding path. Write down what your studies are meant to lead to a few years from now. Then, every Sunday, write one sentence about how the week's sessions are getting you there, and what next week should focus on. First step: write down your goal today, in one sentence.
If it isn't just motivation you're missing but the energy for almost everything, and it has lasted for several weeks, it may be about something other than your studies. Talk to someone you trust or to a doctor or other health professional.
A first step today: write three sentences about how what you're studying right now could be useful in your life, now or later.
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