As the end of the year approaches, it gets harder and harder to maintain any semblance of work ethic. I suddenly can no longer find the drive to finish the problem set, keep studying for that important test, or burn the midnight oil and revise a paper. Any work that does happen to get done doesn't feel like my best. It feels like, and often is, a second best effort thrown together haphazardly at the last minute. But I know that it still matters, even if only to me. I need to keep my habits intact, and not fall prey to the ever present temptation to slack off and not do anything. So I keep doing my work, grudgingly perhaps, but I continue to do it.
I really can't find an answer for why it's important. I know what school I'm going to next year. I already have accepted my scholarships, and so long as I don't fail my courses, I'll keep them. I'm struggling to find a reason why I continue to kill myself over homework every night. Maybe it's just habitual, maybe I feel this need to finish it no-matter what. Maybe it's the motto my parents have drilled into my head ever since I was a little kid, "Finish strong." Somewhere I can't consciously control, I want to go out on a high note after making it through 5 years at this school. I must just feel this need, because I can't explain it.
Even the easy stuff is hard to find motivation for. "Why do I have to write this blog/read this essay/write this paper?" is a question I'm always asking myself. And in moments of weakness when I can't remember an answer, I'll quit and stop whatever it is I'm doing. But at some point I'll figure out I really do have to do it. I'll stay up late and pay for that weakness that didn't let me finish it in the first place.
It has been easier in the last few weeks, as backwards as that sounds. I guess the end is so close that it gives me a reason to do the work that I have to. I suppose a goal is all I need to finish strong.
I wonder why I even come to school anymore sometimes since most of my teachers have become really chill so I don't even do anything...but then I realize that it is just my nature, similar to what you described. According to my countdown, we only have to hang in there for 43 more days and then we finally graduate!
ReplyDeleteI've always been terrible at "burning the midnight oil." My father's motto is that "nothing good happens after midnight." This applies to schoolwork and parties -- both should be completed before the witching hour.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I understand your lack of motivation. And I hope you don't fail all your classes, because that would be sad.
I run into this so many times it's not even funny. I wish I had your motivation to finish though. I often find myself unable to answer why exactly I'm doing my homework, great post.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a senior, but as summer creeps nearer and nearer, I find myself wanting to work less and less. A lot of it has to do with the weather. We still have a good month of school left, but it already feels like summer outside! It feels like I should be out playing, lounging about, relaxing, doing whatever I want on a hot summer day! But, instead I have to study and work. Bleh. Can't wait until school is over.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand. Sometimes I stare at my homework and try to calculate the minimum amount of effort I could put into it and still get a passing grade. Then I end up doing the whole thing anyway, except at the last possible moment. I'm worried that senior year has established bad work habits.
ReplyDeleteI'm hearing this sort of sentiment from so many students in their blogs and/or essays these days. It's hard, especially as the weather gets nicer. But I don't think difficulty with getting motivated now means that you'll have trouble with motivation once you begin college. You can recharge your desire to give school work your whole effort, and it will be a new situation with new and exciting challenges. You just have to be sure to use what will at first seem like a lot of "free" time wisely.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely having the same problem. I find I can only put forth the effort to do one thing a night, which is a problem. I still have to keep up my grades and whatnot so I can try for good schools. But as time goes on, I am just doing whatever I can to make it until the weekend, and ultimately, the summer.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean. I've been struggling as well but what has helped me in the past two weeks is looking deeper into college. Learning more about the places I can be next year and exploring the different opportunities I'm going to have next year that I have never had before has helped so much. I can't explain why but when you have more motivation for the future, it helps you find motivation for the present. Stay with, only a few more weeks to go!
ReplyDeleteGreat job :)
I have many of the same problems as well. When the inevitable weeks come where you get assigned 3 papers and have a bunch of tests. I always try to considers my assignments by day. I look at what I have to do for the next day, not the whole week. Nevertheless I often have the same attitude as you. Sometimes it helps to just relax for a couple of hours once you get home and then you might have more motivation for doing work. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteP.S. If you want some encouragement check out the countdown in the lounge.
I always have this problem whenever I am in the middle of a grueling week. My parents drilled the same motto with the added exception of, "Finish strong, just be strong for the entire project". Often times I just figure out how little effort I need to put in and do that. Perhaps I should break that cycle?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I totally get what you are talking about here. I think everyone at Uni is so grade oriented that when we get tired we all start trying to calculate the minimum effort we can put in and still get an A for the semester or whatever. I always feel so ashamed when I think to myself "I can probably afford to do poorly on this test and still get a decent grade on my report card." What's even worse is when I start to think that the work I'm doing is pointless, because I'm actually entire capable of not doing something if I decide it doesn't matter to me.
ReplyDeleteAt least right now I'm feeling pretty motivated to, as you say, "finish strong"
Only a few more weeks, people!
I think at this point in the year everyone is getting lazy and losing their motivation, that's just how it always seems to work. Right now I know there are a number of things that I need to get done, but I keep putting them off especially the little things. Just try your best to rough out the last few weeks of school.
ReplyDelete