So here's the deal:

I am bored with a class that I am in. The class is Federal Government and is required for all majors in the state that I reside. I am so freaking bored with it that I honestly don't care how well I do since they will pass non political science majors with a D or above.

I am struggling to motivate myself to do the work because it is so freaking boring to me. For example, I have to write a summary about a 48 page chapter in a book about politics in the 1700s-1800s in America. I started this assignment today at 10:30AM which was about an hour after I got up, yet I can't motivate myself to finish no matter how hard I try. I finished reading the book about 4 hours ago and took a few breaks throughout the day, yet I still haven't finished. It is a struggle for me to concentrate and keep myself motivated to finish.

I am honestly bored with just about any type of class that doesn't pertain to either computers and technology or business. I have zero interest in learning anything that I am not either passionate about or that doesn't benefit my goals in some way.

Still though, I have to figure out some way to motivate myself, only because right now, I am dependent on college resources to survive. How do I do it?

[reb569]

Motivation. That's a tough one. At times I struggle to get motivated to do things and have found that if I listen to music with my headphones I can kind of push myself into a zone where the motivation kind of follows along. I even work on classes that I am doing about website accessibility at work with headphones on, however there it's more to avoid the distraction of my co-workers.

You have demonstrated an excellent grasp of written language in your posts, so the key is how do you turn on that talent with something that you just are not interested in?

I would start (and maybe you've already done this) by writing down bullet points of the main ideas of the chapter. Then expand and flourish each one a little, then put them together in a coherent paragraph or paragraphs. So, I guess what I'm saying is, take a more mechanical view of what you have to write instead of your normal way of writing, which I'm assuming is similar to mine. You normally just start writing and it just comes out. That works when you are interested in a topic, but not always when you are not.

If you haven't already, give it a try.

Hang in there.

Originally Posted by reb569

I would start (and maybe you've already done this) by writing down bullet points of the main ideas of the chapter. Then expand and flourish each one a little, then put them together in a coherent paragraph or paragraphs. So, I guess what I'm saying is, take a more mechanical view of what you have to write instead of your normal way of writing, which I'm assuming is similar to mine. You normally just start writing and it just comes out. That works when you are interested in a topic, but not always when you are not.

If you haven't already, give it a try.

Hang in there.

Honestly, this is a brilliant idea that I am going to try next time. I already submitted the papers tonight so I won't be able to use this tactic on them. I will be doing this on any future papers though.

Thanks.

[Perna]

Another thing I use to do with papers is slant it toward whatever I was interested in. Have you read/seen the book, The Victorian Internet? https://www.amazon.com/Victorian-Internet-Remarkable-Nineteenth-line/dp/162040592X challenge yourself to figure out a way to present the material in a way that would interest other people like you :-)

But I understand your problem; even though I was a history major, so it should be up my alley, I had Parris Glendening (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parris_Glendening) as my Government and Politics professor at the University of Maryland back in the 1960's, got a "D" in the course from boredom and wouldn't vote for him for dog catcher! Sometimes you just grimace and bear it like you did. Give yourself credit, you did what needed to be done (whether you liked it or not :-)

Originally Posted by Perna

Another thing I use to do with papers is slant it toward whatever I was interested in. Have you read/seen the book, The Victorian Internet? https://www.amazon.com/Victorian-Internet-Remarkable-Nineteenth-line/dp/162040592X challenge yourself to figure out a way to present the material in a way that would interest other people like you :-)

But I understand your problem; even though I was a history major, so it should be up my alley, I had Parris Glendening (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parris_Glendening) as my Government and Politics professor at the University of Maryland back in the 1960's, got a "D" in the course from boredom and wouldn't vote for him for dog catcher! Sometimes you just grimace and bear it like you did. Give yourself credit, you did what needed to be done (whether you liked it or not :-)

Good point.

Even though my professor makes things a bit more interesting in class, it still doesn't change the fact that I'm bored with this subject. I am especially bored with the historical portions of this class because I genuinely don't care about history all that much.

I'm a tech guy and an aspiring entrepreneur; history does little to benefit my goals and aspirations in life.

If I get a C in this class, I will be happy at this point. I would rather focus all of this extra energy into my other classes that I deem more important to my goals.

[reb569]

Originally Posted by DarknessIsMyFriend

Honestly, this is a brilliant idea that I am going to try next time. I already submitted the papers tonight so I won't be able to use this tactic on them. I will be doing this on any future papers though.

Thanks.

I hope it works for you!

[Perna]

Originally Posted by DarknessIsMyFriend

I'm a tech guy and an aspiring entrepreneur; history does little to benefit my goals and aspirations in life.

But the writing well, especially in a "foreign" subject you don't now find interesting will benefit you later in life. I learned computers/technology from the ground up starting in the early 1970's and that's "history" but has benefited me greatly in my life; I just couldn't see how back in the "beginning". You just never know what you'll need in your tool kit; I missed out on being a programmer back when programming was something to be because I was lazy with my math in high school and college, didn't have enough/the right algebra because I didn't like it and didn't see the need for it since I was a history major :-) I get to the 80's and Pascal (instead of Cobol, which I started with) and could have enjoyed programming. . .

In 20 years you may need to know how local politics works, the history of what's going on so you can save your multi-billion dollar company; if you don't know the history, how government and politics works, you end up being. . . Donald Trump. Yes, he's President, but. . .

Originally Posted by Perna

But the writing well, especially in a "foreign" subject you don't now find interesting will benefit you later in life. I learned computers/technology from the ground up starting in the early 1970's and that's "history" but has benefited me greatly in my life; I just couldn't see how back in the "beginning". You just never know what you'll need in your tool kit; I missed out on being a programmer back when programming was something to be because I was lazy with my math in high school and college, didn't have enough/the right algebra because I didn't like it and didn't see the need for it since I was a history major :-) I get to the 80's and Pascal (instead of Cobol, which I started with) and could have enjoyed programming. . .

In 20 years you may need to know how local politics works, the history of what's going on so you can save your multi-billion dollar company; if you don't know the history, how government and politics works, you end up being. . . Donald Trump. Yes, he's President, but. . .

I don't deny that knowing the basics on how the government works is important; I just don't see a point of doing all of the historical aspects of this class too. Writing an essay about a 48 page chapter in a book regarding an event that holds no relevance towards my interests is not something that I can justify spending time on when time is a precious commodity for me that I possess little of.

Some might argue that those that don't know history are doomed to repeat it as the saying goes, however, one doesn't need a history lesson to know not to do things that people and civilizations did in the past; one only needs to have basic critical thinking skills and common sense enough to see patterns in their behavior and how it relates to others so that they don't make the same mistakes that they or other people made in the past. The important historical events and people was taught to me in middle and high school.

So sorry but I can't justify spending this much time on something like history. Learning about the how the present-day government works, however, could be useful to me.

[Perna]

You don't get critical thinking skills without practice. Practicing on subjects you don't care for (my mantra, "do what needs to be done, whether you like it or not") and realizing that the people before us usually did not pay attention to/see the patterns because they were busy doing what they wanted because they enjoyed it more and thus fell under the spell of being too skewed in their thinking toward their subject; the ENRON and other idiots weren't "dumb", they were just too caught up in their own immediate interests. I believe that sometimes being "forced" to look at other subjects can be personally useful, even if I don't see how at the moment.

It's nice to be able to turn our head toward something other than our own interest; but focusing on current interests gets to be an unconscious habit, like any other, and you'll miss history's lessons, despite critical thinking skills and common sense if you haven't ever been taught to look at history. History is an important discipline, deserving of honor, whether it is your discipline/interest or not?

Originally Posted by Perna

You don't get critical thinking skills without practice. Practicing on subjects you don't care for (my mantra, "do what needs to be done, whether you like it or not") and realizing that the people before us usually did not pay attention to/see the patterns because they were busy doing what they wanted because they enjoyed it more and thus fell under the spell of being too skewed in their thinking toward their subject; the ENRON and other idiots weren't "dumb", they were just too caught up in their own immediate interests. I believe that sometimes being "forced" to look at other subjects can be personally useful, even if I don't see how at the moment.

It's nice to be able to turn our head toward something other than our own interest; but focusing on current interests gets to be an unconscious habit, like any other, and you'll miss history's lessons, despite critical thinking skills and common sense if you haven't ever been taught to look at history. History is an important discipline, deserving of honor, whether it is your discipline/interest or not?

I get what you're saying and I do respect the logic behind your words but it still doesn't make me care.

I am honestly becoming more and more tempted to drop out and focus on building business related knowledge, relevant tech knowledge, and social skills instead of all of the things that school is teaching me.

I would rather spending my time learning things that I'm either passionate about or that I find useful and spending my spare time having fun than doing things that bore me. Life is too short to be bored and miserable.

[reb569]

Originally Posted by DarknessIsMyFriend

I get what you're saying and I do respect the logic behind your words but it still doesn't make me care.

I am honestly becoming more and more tempted to drop out and focus on building business related knowledge, relevant tech knowledge, and social skills instead of all of the things that school is teaching me.

I would rather spending my time learning things that I'm either passionate about or that I find useful and spending my spare time having fun than doing things that bore me. Life is too short to be bored and miserable.

I'll just throw this out there. The uninteresting subjects will decrease over time and before long most of your classes will revolve more around your major rather than the general ed requirements. I urge you to stick with it and at least finish your first year. You may find that you have a different outlook on it then. If not, take a break from it and do some self-training, someday you may want to go back and finish your degree.

Good luck with whatever you do!