What motivates you to be diligent?

Question

I'm home-schooled. I am on yahoo answers a lot rather than doing school. I can't focus. I'm trying but my mind is wandering and i don't want to look at my assignments.

What motivates you to do this stuff? T_T

Answer 1

I also. I'm struggling to catch up but the problem is that I WON'T switch off the computer. Unless you need the computer, switch it off and put the plug somewhere harder to get it. Also, try to do it in chunks: just sitting down and trying to do one assignment in a whole session is really hard and you need intense focus for it. Try rewarding yourself: if you do an hour of study, you can have (x amount of time) on Y! Answers. Force yourself to get off because as you practise this you can go harder on yourself and soon whizz through your study.

Answer 2

Well, I do the Abeka Academy video program. And what motivates me is the fact that if I don't get my school work done on time, I have to pay $50! I think that's enough to get anyone motivated...

Answer 3

I trick myself in to doing my work.

Put yourself in a position where it's too boring to do anything but your schoolwork.

Try making another user account on your computer that's just for school, and give it a lot of restrictions. (For example, block Yahoo Answers.) Put a password on your unrestricted account. I've done that. For me, the act of having to log out, log in to another account, and enter a password, makes me remember that I should be doing my work.

If your problem is getting distracted by say, your DS or your iPod, give those to your mom so you have to ask for them.

To really do well, you need a place that's just academic. Look at some of the great minds of history, let's take two guys named Tom: Jefferson and Edison. Both of them had studies and libraries, places where they just went to think and work. In the modern day, people with home businesses have two computers.

There's this idea that there's a certain kind of person who would love nothing more than to diligently complete worksheets all day, who never gets distracted, who never gets bored. That person doesn't exist.

I was diagnosed with ADHD, and though I don't believe in it as a disorder after some completely failed treatment attempts, I do have that personality type. I have a lot of trouble getting focused, but once I get started, I'm fine as long as I don't lose my momentum. Break your work down in to manageable pieces, even if they seem too small. Reading textbooks in five page intervals works wonders for me. Instead of being intimidated by the fact that my history book is over a thousand pages long, I focus on five pages at a time and see my weekly assignment slipping away...10%, 20%...done.

I'm not an athlete but I find that when I go to karate class or run (like I'm supposed to >_>) I feel better, have an easier time focusing, and an easier time falling asleep. The disadvantage is that I hate doing it, but 20 minutes a day can make a big difference. Get a set of 5-pound weights and find a workout online that looks doable. Run one day, lift the next, and so on. Don't push yourself too hard; you're not trying to be an Olympic sprinter. Just get your heartrate up, get sweaty...then go home, take a quick shower, and get that slippery English essay done.