5 Simple ways to make yourself study when you don’t feel like it

Wow, the story of my life.

Even though I really enjoyed reviewing material once I got into it, getting myself to initiate the task took all but a miracle. If you can relate then don’t worry I am here to help.

Although mediocre students don’t care,  type-A students often condemn themselves for not wanting to study and for not being in the mood all the time, and I am here to pat you gently on the head and tell you that it’s okay.

I was a high-performing student, but I wasn’t always in the mood to study, and that’s okay because I found ways around that.

1.   Get enough sleep

This will sound silly, but if you want to be in a position to study, then you need to be getting enough sleep.

Unless you are pulling an all-nighter, then if you aren’t well slept then tonight is not your night. Turn off Netflix and YouTube and go to bed. Sleep well, wake up the next day, and try again.

Everything I share here is from my own experience as a student ad I can tell you for sure that when I was sleepy I would read the same sentence a dozen times and not understand it. That is your brain’s way of telling you that moment just isn’t it.

Make sure you get enough sleep. If you have already slept enough, then try these other ways to get yourself in the scholarly mood.

2.   Time blocks

This was my favorite and worked almost all the time.

Use time blocks to help you study when you don’t feel like it. How does it work?

I’m so glad you asked. I use an app that I absolutely adore called Forest. Not only that, but I set a timer, and it basically commandeer my phone.

This means I won’t get any messages or beeps or dings from social media. You can set the timer for however many minutes you wish to focus for and when you complete successfully without touching your phone your tree will have grown you keep focusing and using the app when your time block and in no time you will have a forest of your focusing efforts.

Lol, am I the only one who is in love with this app? Probably, but either way, you need to time block. Sometimes just starting out with a 15-minute session is all it takes to get some bulk reading done.

3.   Set semester goals

This is another one that I used from time to time. I would look at the semester goals I had set for myself and remind myself why I was bothering to read in the first place.

Wanting to read isn’t easy but I would look at my quiz results or my midterm exam script and feel like a fire was lit inside me and that gave me the strength to study.

If you don’t yet set semester goals, read these posts:

5 Reasons Why Smart College Students Set Semester Goals

5 Important Types of Goals for College Students

5 Simple Goals to set at the start of every Semester

4.   Review your career goals

If that doesn’t work, then perhaps you will be better motivated by your career goals. Where do you want to work know that you will have a ton of competition, they will have better grades than you, is that what you want?

I have seen career advisors not placing enough emphasis on this, however, there will be interviews with GPA cutoff marks. Top firms cut off at 3.50. If you are gunning for one of them, then you know what you need to do, study!

5.   Get an accountability buddy

If all else fails then consider getting an accountability buddy this isn’t your best friend necessarily, this could ideally be someone who performs very well. You know they have the stamina to study for long and study with focus.

They won’t talk to you while you are studying, they will study because it’s study time and their focus will rub off on you… sooner or later.

At the end of the day, our job as students is to study, and we all have to do our job, it’s that simple. These tips have worked for me, and I am sure they can work for you if you are willing to try.