A Lack of Motivation

Winter has never been a good time of year for me. Everything I do feels like drudgery. The cold makes me more lethargic and sleepy and life can seem purposeless. Schoolwork I might have enjoyed earlier in the term is reduced to a need-to-do status, and any hobbies that I have take a backseat to all the other responsibilities that arise. My days’ work seems to consist mostly of miscellaneous tasks, homework, and self-care activities like going for a jog or making dinner. My motivation to do anything more than what needs to be done is gone.

By the end of the term I’ve generally developed a certain level of disinterest in my classes. Perhaps I’m still interested in the subject material, but I’ve become annoyed with the schedule or bored with the homework assignments. At the beginning of the term I can look past disinteresting or frustrating aspects of a class, but by the end of the term they become unbearably obvious. So, at this point in the term my life revolves mostly around finishing my homework as quickly and efficiently as possible, and then using the left over time to clear off the rest of my to do list. My days are monotonous and uninspiring for the most part, and most mornings it’s difficult to find a reason to want to work on my homework. I do it only because I have to.

The cold weather outside this time of year only makes things worse.

To get past my lack of motivation, I try to come up with a personal project that I can look forward to working on at the end of the day. Having something like a project that I want to work on helps me feel more motivated to finish my homework, and knock off my other to-do list items. I have something I’m working towards, and the sooner I get things done, the more time I have to work on my project.

However, coming up with a personal project as a method of motivating myself to finish my homework has backfired on me in the past. If I’m really excited about working on my project, I sometimes end up staring at my homework assignment, daydreaming about my project rather than finishing my homework. To eliminate this problem, I now set a designated time to work toward or a set of tasks to complete before I can work on my project. The whole point of having a personal project is to motivate me to finish my homework, not to make homework more difficult.

With the end of the term approaching, my lack of motivation remains a constant in my life, as does my case of wintertime blues. But the end of the term is nearly over, which means a new beginning; the next term is right ahead. I just have to make it through a few more weeks. During those weeks I can take small steps on a project of my choosing, something that I’ll really enjoy doing. So even when the sky is dark at five o’clock, or the weather outside is frightful, I can continue working on my projects; both school and non-school related. And I can enjoy the fact that I’m doing something that I want to do and that I have the chance to follow my interests.

Lydian Shipp

Webzine Team Member