motivation

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Hi everyone : ) I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how i can motivate myself to do my schoolwork and not to goof off. People always tell me to think about university and use that to motivate myself, but to me that always seems really far off and abstract. If you have any tips, please reply! thanks : )

Google blue waffle. You will never use the internet again.
Problem solved

I have this same problem too. I just feel like I want to give up.........

Im college right now, how i can motivate, thinking in what?, in a Phd or what?

I do struggle motivating myself, the only thing i find can work sometimes, is seeing some youtube videos about motivation, it last for a bit, but is something, sometimes when i see the movie "The pursuit of happiness", and i see the scene when the fathers talk to the kid about not letting anyone stop him, i got motivation for at lest the entire week.

But right now, im just letting myself into the whole, right now im trying to get medical attention so i can get some ritalin, because my adhd i cant study.

I cannot help. Actually, if you find a way let me kow. I never had problems doing my homework. But that is because I loved school and loved doing homework. My Aspie daughter, on the other hand, dislikes doing homework. I have tried a lot of things and nothing seems to work. I mean, she usually does her homework, but she dislikes doing it snd always tries to delay it ad long as possible. Today we had a huge fight because she told me she never did a homework she was supposed to deliver on Friday. She just did not do it. She had a lot of excuses, though. Like if that helped.

What have you tried so far?

What areas of your life DO you feel motivated to do?

What stops you from doing your work?

Sorry no tips.
At the moment I have no motivation, but that is due to stress and PTS difficult family life etc.

Normally I have no problem motivating mysels, especielly if it is something that I have to learn, the more difficult the better (don´t know why?). It is muche easier when being "in the flow" then it is not nice to be disturbed, it takes time to get back.

Normally I just sit down and say to myself "now I learn/read this".
This is not very helpful, is it

I've tried threatening myself, motivating myself with university (which everyone recommends me to do), scheduling myself and even taking adhd meds. So far scheduling myself works the best but i still have a really hard time getting started and staying on task.

That's great, you have already learnt a lot about what works/doesnt work for you.

If everyone else's recommendation of motivating yourself with university doesn't work for you, then you don't have to do that. We are all different. Also, have you decided upon what career you would like to do? If not, then I am not sure how using Uni as a motivator would help..

Besides, in the meantime you need to do a bunch of stuff that might not even have anything to do with your uni and career path, as there is a bunch of school work that you just have to do regardless, yeah?

So scheduling yourself works, that's an awesome start

But you still find it hard to get it started, and stay on track.

Can you run me through what happens for you when you try to do some school work? (for example, you might go to go on the computer to do some work, but then get distracted by your email, or facebook, etc, next minute 3 hours have gone by and you don't have time anymore, etc).

What happens to shift your attention away?

Also, what words go through your head as you go to approach your school work, and what types of feelings do you experience (i.e. "urgh, I so don't want to do this work, it's boring, it's too much, I don't even know what I am doing, etc" accompanied by a heavy feeling in your chest).

I go through phases when I want to do all my homework when I get it, and I tell myself i can't play whatever video game I'm playing at the moment until I finish. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't quite work. Mostly, I'm just terrified of teachers telling me off for not doing homework (they're strict about it at my school, it's not going to just "slide" and get forgotten by them), so I always DO the homework, just rather closer to the lesson/hand in day than it should be.

So first i set up all my work and organize myself. then i sit down and try to start working. A lot of times when i get home from school i'm so tired that i go on the computer and then i can't get off it and i lose track of time. Other times i start my work and then i get distracted. Probably because it just seems like a lot and there is so much other things i would rather do (but motivating myself with doing those things afterwords doesn't help). I don't even play video games or anything i just go on flickr or research random things and i then i can't get back to work. when i'm trying to do work when i'm not at home i have a hard time because i get used to doing my work in my normal spot. so i'm kind of stuck.

One of the problems with being on the spectrum is executive functioning issues, which definitely includes organisation, focus, and time blindness.

It is SUCH a struggle, I totally relate.

So, what I hear you saying is that

(a) you are tired when you get home from school, which leads to getting stuck on your computer to unwind... This is an example of time blindness. We have issues having any idea what time it is or how much time has passed. We also get very stuck on our perseverations and special interests... Especially when we need to "drain our brain" from the day.
What other ways can refresh yourself without going on the computer?

(b) You're not motivated by a delayed reward. I don't find that motivating either. For me, I need the reward WHILE I am doing my work. Which isn't ideal, but at least it gets me doing my work.
What ways can you reward yourself WHILE doing your wok?

(c) Changing location doesn't help.
What ways could you set up a new "work world" for you outside your home?
I have a netbook which I take with me to my Son's taekwondo. It is a 50min class. I put my iPod on to drown out everyone around me, and I do a solid 50min work. I work this way MUCH better than I do at home where they are many distractions - plus, if I do work on my home computer in my home environment, it is also in the same place where I relax. They cross over and it gets tough to stick with my work. Whereas at taekwondo, it is only for my work. Also, it is more appealing than sitting in the parents area bored and on the verge of a meltdown from all the noise (i.e. it actually is PREFERABLE for me to do work).

Another technique that works is short bursts, using a timer. Sit down and put 30min on a timer. Promise yourself you will work hard for 30min. This works VERY well for me. I also have used this with my Son when he eats (he has ADHD-PI). He used to take at least an hour to eat his bfast, but the timer only allows him 15 mins, which he accomplishes, surprisingly!
You might find you are so into your work that you want to keep working after the timer goes off. Or if not, you have at least done 30 min of solid work!
You could then time yourself for a 30min break, too, and then repeat the 30min (or maybe less this time) of your work again.

It's great that you are working out ways to combat this so early! I struggled through Uni with all of this because I was diagnosed very late with my AS.
Good luck!

thanks, those are some good helpful ideas : )
If I'm not asking too much, do you have any ideas of how to unwind different ways and reward myself while working?
I will definitely try the location one!
thanks!

Good questions which are generally best coming from you, as you know yourself waaay better than anyone else.

All I can is tell you what I try to do. Sometimes I find just taking a nap can help (with an alarm set). Or even just lying in my bedroom with all the lights off and just letting my brain drain in peace. For me I find watching TV/movie can help to relax me too. I need to make myself do stuff that doesn't then invigorate my head even further (like googling).

My reward while studying was never a healthy choice so I am hesitant to say it lol But I used to eat. Repetitive things - like chips, popcorn, m&ms, etc. I believe they also helped with the neurotransmitters in my brain to get me to focus better too. It also kept my hands/brain occupied while still allowing me to do my work. However, this was all before I was diagnosed, and I had no idea, so I just did whatever I could to get by. Not a good habit to get into, unless you can find some healthy food that you enjoy

What kind of reward would you consider giving yourself AFTER having completed some study? Is this a reward you could give yourself WHILE you are studying in some way?