How do you find energy for work/studies?

[Bodydysmorphia34]

I have major depressions and always found it hard to adapt to a 9 to 5 lifestyle. Now, I've started college again and find it incredibly hard to put energy into studying.

How do you manage to endure college/9 to 5 work??

 

[skaro]

I'm lucky enough to be able to join classes online, and most exams are online aswell, for which I usually just hire someone (like an online tutor) to do them for me. I have 0 energy and am literally running on empty, but uni was the only way I had to leave my shitty eastern european country and finally live alone in a nice place, so it's mainly just for that.

 

[LunaDreamwalk]

i dont, when i go to school i just exist and at the end of the day i cant remember if i did anything, im just on auto pilot and somehow this works.
my friends that have depression are doing the same shit like me

 

[Adûnâi]

1. Online classes are the best. Sadly, the normies seem to hate them.
2. A large part of my classes don't require studying at all because I know everything anyway.
3. The ones that do sometimes have a really neat material to study - so when I learn it appropriately, I'm ecstatic (but my memory is good).
4. The ones that I despise... Now that's worse. I might skip some classes, hoping that it won't lead to my expulsion (but then again, the unknown limits of the allowed grate on my nerves anyway).

I'm a sprinter, not a marathon runner. Even then, after two months, I finally started skipping classes. The best way to make me care is either near one of the deadlines, or imagine this particular day as uniquely degenerate, debauched, epic and glorious - such as not sleeping at all, studying for 10 hours, being in school for another 10, getting all excellent marks, then going to a 12 hour long sleep. Something exciting, edgy, meaningful.

...I'm still yet to do the above, however. Chronic procrastination! But then again, just give me a clear-cut task, and a clear-cut deadline, and I'll complete it.

...Unfortunately, I was too depressed back in 2014 to employ any of these tactics, so I came back to the Ukraine, haha, and now they're somewhat wasted.

 

[R_N]

That ship sailed ages ago.

 

[Nlis2244]

I'm in the same situation. I really struggle to study. I really hope I'll be able to this weekend, but if it will go as usual, I'll do a quarter of the work I set out to do, and I'll postpone the rest for next week.

 

[Celerity]

I put in a lot of breaks, but I would have found such a schedule impossible as a young adult. My effort was very much all-or-nothing then, and I procrastinated a lot. Whatever you do, you need to make studying easier and more rewarding than goofing off.

Pick a public place like a library or coffee shop, preferably a library because you can use their shitty computers that have very limited horsepower to browse the web or play games and which have none of your favorite websites saved. Bring along a nice snack or cup of coffee, whatever it is you like as a reward for showing up. When you get fatigued, take a 15 minute walk. Work until you feel like you're getting diminishing returns on your effort. Switch subjects/assignments/tasks at these points.

This was the best way that worked for me when I really needed to hunker down and study hard, It should get easier over time unless you have a clear hatred of the subject.

I would also look up study methods and actively review material as you go. What you want to avoid is passive learning. Find a way to quiz yourself or summarize as you read. Modern textbooks often come equipped with many ways to do this by listing objectives and offering practice problems.

Finally, when the explanation in your book or the one the professor gives isn't working, search online. It took a lot of digging, but I finally pieced together good explanations for very counterintuitive subjects by doing this. Stereochemistry is, in my opinion, the most serious hurdle for organic chemistry and the one that is most poorly taught. It is much less complicated than later subjects but is given a piss-poor treatment by most instructors. My classmates started off much better than me in that subject and sucked wind by exam time because they got cocky and understood it less than they thought they did.

My go-to study resources are Quizlet for concepts and Anki for images & diagrams you need to memorize. There is a secondary program, an extension, that you can use to blot out labels. If you need to learn the names of bones or muscles, there is nothing better.

 

[KillerIsMe]

Wellbutrin

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm scared of failure and letting people down- so- that motivates me. I was brought up with a very strong work ethic too- so- I naturally feel guilty when I'm not working.

My job is freelance. So- if I f*ck up- presumably, I won't get paid, they won't employ me again and I guess it's possible they could take legal action against me. My freelance job I do at least enjoy- most of the time- so, that helps. Same with uni- they were subjects I enjoyed at least.

I've done a wage slave job I hated for 10 years though. That was much harder. I just told myself I had to I guess. Then, just cried when I got home!

 

[ForgottenAgain]

It's very hard. Currently I'm on sick leave passed by the psychiatrist, that's how much I was handling work.
I have a strong work ethic and I used to be a workaholic so, before the sick notes, I would be sobbing and working (I work remotely). A lot of my self worth is tied to my job and people have high expectations of me so that pressure wouldn't let me succumb past a certain point or I would hate myself.

Having said all that, I'm currently not handling work at all and I'm scared of how it will be when I get back. This past month has been feeling like a year.