How to get motivated to study (even when you don't want to)
You open your notes, look at them for a while, and pick up your phone. It doesn't mean you're lazy, and it doesn't mean you need a better pep talk. Motivation isn't a mood that shows up on its own. It's something you can build in small ways, and research has a few useful things to say about how.
Why waiting to feel motivated doesn't work
Most of us treat motivation like the weather: some days it's there, some days it isn't, and all we can do is wait. Psychology paints a different picture. Self-determination theory, one of the best known ideas about motivation, says people stay interested when three needs are met: feeling some choice in what they do, feeling able to do it, and feeling connected to other people.1
That's helpful, because all three are things you can change on an ordinary Tuesday. You can't order yourself to feel excited about chemistry. You can give yourself a small choice, an easy win and some company. The seven ideas below all come back to those three needs, plus one more: having a reason that feels like your own.
1. Start before you feel ready
Many people find the feeling comes after they begin, not before. That's more of a common experience than a lab finding, but it costs almost nothing to test. Pick a step so small it feels silly: open the book to the right page, or answer one question. Then give yourself permission to stop after five minutes. If you keep going, great. If not, you still started. Our guide on how to stop procrastinating has more ways to make starting smaller.
2. Find one link to your own life
"When will I ever use this?" is a fair question, and answering it yourself seems to help. In a classroom experiment, ninth graders in science classes wrote short pieces about how what they were learning connected to their own lives. For students who expected to do poorly, this raised both their interest in science and their grades.3 The effect was mostly in that group, so it may help most when you're feeling least sure of yourself.
Try it before you study: write two sentences on how today's topic touches something you care about. Statistics and your favorite sports team count. So does history and an argument you had with a friend.
3. Think about who it helps
Some studying is simply boring, and no trick will make flashcards thrilling. A set of four studies called "Boring but important" looked at exactly this. Students who saw their learning as a way to help other people or make the world better stuck with dull tasks for longer. In one study, college students spent about twice as long on each practice question before an exam. In another, a short one-time exercise lifted ninth graders' science and math grades over several months.4
Keep the size of this in mind. The grade change was small overall, and larger for students who were struggling, at about 0.2 grade points for those below a 3.0 average. Still, it's a nice reminder that "I want to be a nurse who actually helps people" can carry you through a dull afternoon better than "I need a good grade." An exercise focused only on personal interest didn't give the same boost in that study.
4. Set up a win you can reach
A big review of research on university students compared 50 different factors linked to grades. The strongest was performance self-efficacy, which means how well you believe you can do.2 That's a correlation, so it doesn't prove that confidence causes good grades. Doing well also builds confidence. But it fits something many students feel: it's hard to care about a task you expect to fail.
So don't sit down to "study biology." Sit down to "learn these ten terms," then test yourself and see that you can. Small, finished tasks give you proof that you're able to do this. That's the feeling of competence from earlier, and it's much easier to build from a short list than from a whole textbook.
5. Write your progress down
A review of 138 experiments with nearly 20,000 people found that checking your progress helped people reach their goals. It helped more when the progress was written down or recorded, and when it was shared with others.5 Most of those studies were about health goals like exercise and diet, not studying, so treat this as a good bet rather than a sure thing.
You don't need anything fancy. Tick off each task, keep a line of crosses on a calendar, or text a friend what you finished. Seeing a row of small marks is a quiet way of telling yourself the work is adding up. It's also a big part of building a study habit that sticks.
6. Give yourself a real choice
Even when you have to study, you can usually choose how. Pick which subject goes first, which room you sit in, or whether to use practice questions or flashcards. These choices sound tiny, but they speak to that first need: feeling that the work is yours and not just something being done to you.1 If you tend to argue with your own schedule, try deciding the night before, so you sit down already knowing your first move.
7. Study next to someone
In a set of experiments, people worked alone on a hard puzzle, but some were given small cues that they were working on it together with others. They never actually collaborated. Even so, the people who got those cues stuck with the puzzle longer, enjoyed it more and did better.6 The feeling of being in it together was enough.
That doesn't mean group work is always better. A chatty study group can eat your whole evening. It's the sense of company that seems to matter, which is why quiet setups work well: a library table, a video call with the mics off, or a friend doing their own work across the room. This is the idea behind body doubling.
When it's more than low motivation
Everyone has flat days. If you've lost interest in most things, not just school, or you feel low, anxious or exhausted most of the time, tips like these may not be enough, and that isn't your fault. It's worth talking to a doctor or a counselor. The ideas here are study tips, not a treatment for anything.
How Focusland helps
Focusland is a cozy iPhone app built around a few of these ideas. You pick a room, sit down at a little table next to other cats, and type the one task you're starting into the task box. Then you choose a 25 minute, 50 minute or no-timer session, with short and long breaks in between. Ticking off tasks gives you a record of what you did. Finishing a session earns coins that open new rooms and keeps your daily streak going, and if you need to stop early, Hold to Give Up keeps your streak safe. It won't make flashcards thrilling, but it can make sitting down feel a little nicer.
Common questions
How do I study when I have zero motivation?
Don't try to feel motivated first. Pick one tiny step, set a timer for five or ten minutes, and allow yourself to stop when it rings. Lowering the bar is often enough to get moving.
Why can't I make myself study?
Usually the task feels too big, too pointless or too likely to go badly. Try shrinking it, finding one reason it matters to you, and setting a goal you know you can reach. If this goes on for a long time and comes with feeling low, talk to a doctor or counselor.
Do rewards help you study?
They can help you get started, especially on dull tasks. Try to pair them with a reason of your own, so the reward isn't the only thing keeping you there.
Is it better to study alone or with others?
It depends on the person and the task. Reading and memorizing often go well alone but side by side with someone, so you get the company without the chatting. If talking keeps taking over, agree on quiet time and save it for the break.
Sources
- Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
- Richardson, M., Abraham, C., & Bond, R. (2012). Psychological correlates of university students' academic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138(2), 353–387. doi.org/10.1037/a0026838
- Hulleman, C. S., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2009). Promoting interest and performance in high school science classes. Science, 326(5958), 1410–1412. doi.org/10.1126/science.1177067
- Yeager, D. S., Henderson, M. D., Paunesku, D., Walton, G. M., D'Mello, S., Spitzer, B. J., & Duckworth, A. L. (2014). Boring but important: A self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(4), 559–580. doi.org/10.1037/a0037637
- Harkin, B., Webb, T. L., Chang, B. P. I., Prestwich, A., Conner, M., Kellar, I., Benn, Y., & Sheeran, P. (2016). Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 142(2), 198–229. doi.org/10.1037/bul0000025
- Carr, P. B., & Walton, G. M. (2014). Cues of working together fuel intrinsic motivation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 53, 169–184. doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2014.03.015