{"id":812,"date":"2020-11-18T12:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T18:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/?p=812"},"modified":"2020-07-17T12:29:27","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T17:29:27","slug":"how-to-keep-learning-when-you-have-low-motivation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/2020\/11\/18\/how-to-keep-learning-when-you-have-low-motivation-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Keep Learning When You Have Low Motivation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve all been there. You need to study, but the motivation just isn\u2019t there. Most people would say you need to cheer up and find the reasons to study. You have to think about long term goals, and envision them. You have to understand how hard work today converts to your happiness tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>But if you tried to do this, you know it barely works. You may get the motivation you need for a couple of weeks, but once studying becomes routine again, the motivation is gone.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not the only way you can go about learning, however. Here\u2019s how you can learn with low motivation.<\/p>\n<h2>Sleep well<\/h2>\n<p>Often, students ignore sleep to study more. If you ever tried to get an A, the odds are you were cramming the whole night before an exam at least once. But that is not the best way to learn.<\/p>\n<p>In fact,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2005\/06\/050629070337.htm\">sleeping well increases your memory<\/a>. But that\u2019s not the main thing you should be looking for in sleep. According to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sleepfoundation.org\/articles\/how-lack-sleep-impacts-cognitive-performance-and-focus\">National Sleep Foundation<\/a>, lack of sleep decreases your focus. Creativity and ability to form new neurological links suffers as well.<\/p>\n<p>Since you study best when you are able to associate new information with the information you already know, having a good night\u2019s sleep is crucial.<\/p>\n<h2>Diet<\/h2>\n<p>No, this doesn\u2019t mean you have to try intermitted fasting again. Besides, it doesn\u2019t even work. What this means is there are specific foods you can eat to boost your ability to study.<\/p>\n<p>Omega-3 fatty acids are not the superfood many journalists want them to be. Despite this, they\u2019re really good for you. Take foods rich with omega-3, and you will\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/15939839\">fight anxiety<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/2136947\">improve your eye health<\/a>. Salmon or sardines are a great choice for such foods.<\/p>\n<p>Another food you want to eat is chocolate. There\u2019s evidence that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/23810791\">dark chocolate is good for cognition<\/a>. Have a piece of chocolate, and you will focus more.<\/p>\n<h2>Have a coffee<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s no secret that drinking coffee makes you more alert. There\u2019s plenty of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/12404081\">scientific evidence<\/a>\u00a0for it as well.<\/p>\n<p>This beverage is what drives the world forward, so you should join the club if you want to study better. Make sure you don\u2019t indulge in caffeine for too long, or you may be getting the negative side effects instead of positive ones.<\/p>\n<h2>Squat<\/h2>\n<p>You probably have seen a weirdo who leaves his chair to exercise at least once. Bad news, you have to become that weirdo.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s becoming a standard practice for businesses, and even\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cake.hr\/\">HR software<\/a>\u00a0nowadays may include exercise breaks for employees.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/education\/2016\/jun\/18\/how-physical-exercise-makes-your-brain-work-better\">The Guardian says<\/a>, the benefits of exercising include better memory, and better alertness. So, if you\u2019re not feeling like studying, all you need is just a dozen squats.<\/p>\n<h2>Focus on the process<\/h2>\n<p>The problem with long-term motivation is that you will reap what you saw in four years. You have to do the boring groundwork now. This runs contrary to the way our brains work.<\/p>\n<p>There are two options for how to break this vicious cycle. You can either boost your willpower to deal with the problem or fall in love with the boring groundwork.<\/p>\n<p>Learn to enjoy the process of studying, and you\u2019ll have fewer problems with concentration.<\/p>\n<h2>Join a community<\/h2>\n<p>The easiest way to love what you study is to talk about it with someone except your teacher. Find a community of people who study the same thing, and you are half way to success.<\/p>\n<p>Talk about what fascinates you about the things you learn and how you can apply them. Once the discussion starts, you\u2019ll be very much interested in continuing the study.<\/p>\n<p>If your motivation is to have fun studying, you don\u2019t need to try and follow your long-term goals.<\/p>\n<h2>You don\u2019t need long-term motivation<\/h2>\n<p>Long-term motivation is a rational thing. We, humans, don\u2019t always act in a rational way. If you want to get to your long-term goals, find irrational ways to reach rational ends. These 6 are a great start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve all been there. You need to study, but the motivation just isn\u2019t there. Most people would say you need to cheer up and find the reasons to study. You have to think about long term goals, and envision them. You have to understand how hard work today converts to your happiness tomorrow. But if [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-post"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/07\/November-18th.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":814,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions\/814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}