How Mojo Can Help Studying

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No Motivation To Study?



Can't study? Can't concentrate?  Read this post and find out how you can make studying easier. Many students have asked about having enough motivation to study. I will explain how to get more motivation.  Motivation is a key part of mojo, as I have said in an earlier post. Studying is easy for some, usually those who are very gifted (have a high IQ).  For the rest of us, we need mojo.  And a key ingredient in mojo is motivation. See the image at the right for more detail.


I have been asked and answered similar questions about studying on Quora.  Here are a few:

1.If I had to stay up all night for studying could I still make my muscle workout the next day if I wanted too?
Answered 20190521 as follows:
You could, but you shouldn’t. I once stayed up studying all night and ran the next day with my cross country teammates. It wasn’t pretty. Sure, I did it, but did I gain anything? I was weak and slooow.

Sleep is extremely important for your body to recover and grow. It is also important, by the way, for you to retain what you study. During sleep, your brain rehearses everything that you have studied and puts it into a form that is easy to recall. This effect has been well studied and it should help you do better on tests.

2. What keeps you motivated in your career or studies?
Answered 20190427 as follows:
This is an answer I gave to another questioner. I know of three tools besides your own internal motivation. They are: variety, friends, and rivalry.

Variety - If you are doing the same thing over and over again, it can get boring. This saps motivation. Use variety to help you stay interested. Also, research shows that your muscles will respond better to a variety of stresses.

Friends - There is no more powerful motivator than having told another person that you are going to do something. It helps if you respect and/or admire that person. They might also give you useful advice about workouts, injuries, studying, etc. Making your schedule well-known will keep you on it.

Rivalry - nobody likes to fall behind, and when you aren’t motivated to do your best, think about your rivals working hard. Maybe it will help you get to the gym, or go in the rain, or on a Holiday, etc. The very thought that another person is leaving you behind might be a strong motivator.

3. What is the best exercise to improve my brain power?

Answered 20190106 as follows:
I had a brain injury from a virus. It affected my memory retrieval in particular. I started my recovery by playing words with friends. I then switched to scrabble, the physical game with a board and everything. Since the virus affected my vision too, a physical board was quite challenging. As I got better and better, I started doing crossword puzzles. When I felt I needed more, I switched to online chess middle game problems, sort of a “what’s the best move” type of problem. That’s what I am doing now. You should try any of these, depending on how good your brain power is. If there is one piece of advice I would give you, it is to always compare yourself to yourself at a previous time. Never compare yourself to anyone else.

4. How do you define mental strength? What is the best exercise to improve it? Or is it fixed?
Answered 20190105 as follows:
It is not fixed. Mental strength is partially inborn and partially a function of concentration or focus. These latter two qualities can be improved by getting rid of distractions. Some forms of distraction are external and can best be eliminated by others. Think of a team on which your position is in doubt. You will probably be thinking of what you need to do to solidify the position instead of what you need to do to perform your best. That’s a bad distraction. A sympathetic coach or teammate can help you get rid of this distraction. There are ways to increase mental strength that counter internal distractions. One is to use positive inputs like tapes, schedules, or other assists to get your thinking in line with what you want. But the best way to focus is to get help from another person, like a teammate. This person
can unburden you from some of the planning and other mental work that form the distraction.

5. How do I build stamina to stay alert through exams that are four hours long or more?
Answered 20180602 as follows:
If it were me, I would try a three step approach:

Get enough sleep. This is the most important thing.
Practice and know the material for the exam, but only in small time-chunks.
Do something that is easy for you for up to 4 hours at a time. It might be reading or listening to music or exercising, anything that you find easy so that the time element will get more familiar.

Use these answers to help your motivation to study. If you like to study in the library, an appointment with a friend might give you more motivation to go there.

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