Name: Not motivated? How to actually ENJOY studying
Uploaded: 2024-10-31T11:45:40.000Z
Duration: 10 min 35 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

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Going to school can be exhausting, and sometimes we just don't have the motivation to study hard.

To-infinitive

But if you found some way to enjoy your studies and find joy in your work, then you will never procrastinate again.

I went to Columbia University, and growing up I took hundreds of exams and studied thousands of pages of learning materials.

And I'm pretty confident to say that if I didn't enjoy studying, I never could have made it.

Don't get me wrong, there are so many days that I just don't have the motivation to study, and there are subjects that I found really hard to study because I just have no interest in them.

But eventually, I do always find a way to enjoy studying them and get good grades.

So in this video, I'm going to share with you some actionable tips that not only can help you start enjoying studying, but also get better grades.

So sometimes when we don't feel like studying a particular material, then our mind automatically starts daydreaming and very disengaged in the context, because that's our natural reaction to feel better and get less bored.

But actually, you should do the opposite.

The more you engage in your studying, the more you will enjoy it.

The slowest time I've experienced are in classes where I'm actually not listening to the lectures.

My mind isn't focused on whatever the teacher is talking about, just waiting for the class to end.

Similarly, the worst study sections that I have are usually the ones that I don't know what to study.

I sit down, kind of think about what to do, maybe start reading my textbook.

But after a couple of minutes, I got distracted by a text message.

So I get on my phone for like 10 more minutes.

And I was like, oh, shoot, now I have to study.

Then thinking, oh, this is too hard to read.

Eventually, after almost an hour and feeling like I have done nothing, even though I just studied.

So those are the times that I end up feeling like, oh, I'm so not productive.

And on the other hand, the best studying sessions that I've ever had are usually the ones that I sit down knowing exactly what I'm going to do, immediately getting to the deep focus mode, and then just very engaged in the studying session and actually get the job done.

Even though sometimes I may not study as long, but I usually end up feeling like very productive and accomplished.

These are usually the sessions that energize me afterwards.

The more randomness in your studying session, the more lost you will feel.

Also, you were more likely to be distracted because you just don't have a clear vision what you're supposed to do.

So plan out exactly how long or what task you're going to do before you actually start your studying session.

If every single studying session that you feel very accomplished and energized, long term, you will actually really enjoy studying.

On the other hand, if you always have like the worst feeling, then you will end up like not wanting to study.

Create a study environment that you love and associate studying with the things that you like.

So whenever you're about to study, romanticize it a little bit, listen to music that you really like and get yourself a fun drink that you really enjoy and keep your environment very clean and just aesthetically pleasing.

For me, I love to go to this one coffee shop and get one of my favorite, their signature latte.

And I have this favorite spot, which is like sit in front of a window.

And my view is like a small area of grass.

And whenever I look up, I can see people walking and sometimes people walking their dogs.

It just makes me feel so happy and content.

So next time when you looking forward to get that latte, you're also kind of looking forward to study.

If you have studying in the same spot for too long or like for so many days in a row, you can always change your location because first of all, you change location.

You have to take a small walk and a walk is always better for your productivity.

And also different environment that kind of just bring a different energy to yourself.

So you have a more fresh mind, which always just helped me so much.

So I always love to go to different libraries, different study spots on campus and different coffee shops now.

The secret to make studying more engaging and fun is drum rolls, flashcards.

I talked about this multiple times on my channel, active learning and active recall.

More specifically, it's one of the most effective way of learning.

Active recall just means that you actually need to make an effort to think about it and retrieve information from your mind.

Examples are like flashcards and quizzes and practice questions.

It also really makes study more fun and engaging.

It just helped me memorize faster and better in the long term.

My only complaint is that sometimes it takes me way too long to make the flashcards and it's very hard for me to find flashcards online that related to my study content.

So I was very excited to found this study app and I'm so excited to share with you because I just think it will be so helpful.

It basically can help you make flashcards and then multiple choices questions or even scenario questions in just a couple seconds.

You can just upload your lecture slides for your notes and then boom, it just generated a bunch of flashcards and questions for you.

I can't imagine how much time this will save me if I have discovered this in college.

In answering every 10 questions, you will see your tree grow, which is just so cute.

You can use Wistolia completely for free and it also has premium plans that allows you to use it more often with more content.

Upload your lecture slides and let me know how it goes for you.

And thank you so much Wistolia for sponsoring this video.

It's also very motivating to see your friend sitting next to you is also working hard.

If you guys ever start a discussion on whatever you're learning, that's always the best way to learn something, which is teaching each other and discuss with each other.

So next time if you're like lying on the bed and you don't feel like studying, just text your friend and see if they're down to meet at a library or like a coffee shop.

So you guys can study together because all you need is that like initial motivation to get you off the bed and like go outside and study.

So meeting with a friend is a great way to do that.

So when we are not motivated to study, sometimes it's because we're focused on the wrong thing.

Because lots of time we probably only focus on, oh, I'm studying because I need to pass my next exam.

But instead of thinking about your studying for the education system, think about studying as something that you're doing for yourself.

You're studying because you're devoted and invested in your future.

Suddenly it just feels lighter and less draining.

I know this is kind of like a cliche thing to say, everybody knows, oh, I'm studying for myself and not for other people.

Like if I study better, I'll have a better future.

And actually it's very powerful to have this mindset shift.

There's this paper shows that if someone found very bored in a classroom setting, there are three options for them to choose from.

The first one is just rethink about your situation and remind yourself the importance of the subject.

And the second one is ask the teacher to give them more interesting tasks.

The third one is just switch tasks and do something else that make you feel less bored.

And surprisingly, the results shows that the students that just rethink about their situation actually found more joy in their studying than the other two group of students.

And if you foresee yourself getting bored at something, then you actually feel more bored.

On the other hand, if you foresee yourself having more fun at an event or at a class, you will actually end up having more fun.

So please stop telling yourself, oh, I don't want to study.

I hate studying when you're not being motivated.

Just when you have those thoughts, just take a moment, take a deep breath and remind yourself, I don't actually feel this way.

Whenever you see someone you admire that they're working so hard and they're achieving their goals, it makes studying feel less like a chore, more like I'm stepping toward my own success, just like my role model.

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Not motivated? How to actually ENJOY studying

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