gimme some motivation

Just scribble. Above all, don't worry about how to start the essay. Just start somewhere in the middle.

Feh. I had to write this essay 10 years ago. What's happened since then to make it interesting? Or relevant?

congratulations What's happened since then to make it interesting?

well i don't know, seeing i was 12 years old 10 years ago and didn't know dick about the treaty.

Or relevant?

you are a dick. stick to what you know best - that is, being a pervert.

Ugh, my motivation is gone. I'm in the middle of taking my ARE (Architect's Registration Exam), a seven-part exam that will make me a licensed architect. I've taken three sections so far and gotten the official "PASS" results for the first two, still waiting on the third (it is usually anywhere from a 4-9 week wait for results). Anyway, in the middle of studying for my fourth exam right now, to be taken November 4th, and I'm just feeling so overwhelmed and stressed out by the process that I am rapidly losing motivation. Spent about 18 hours studying this past week but performed horribly on a practice exam last night, so I'm finding it really hard to keep forward momentum.

What do you do to keep motivated?

Too much for a Monday morning?

find somebody that has passed the exam themselves, compare yourself favourably to them in terms of intellect.

That's a brutally long series of exams, my sympathies! I find breaks are really necessary, is it just hard to pick it right back up after last night? Maybe spending the morning doing something else will help you get back into it later.

Well luckily my full-time plus job gives me plenty else to focus on during the day, so I'm hoping I'll be ready to tackle it again tonight... just feeling so unmotivated by the whole struggle right now.

The only other person I know going through this likes to play it off like he doesn't study at all, which I know isn't true - but he always downplays his efforts and makes it seem like he is rolling right through. Frustrating to judge compared to how he's doing, because I think we are pretty similar in terms of intellect.

are you getting enough sleep? trading an hour of sleep for an hour of studying can sometimes deprive you of the benefits of both

Probably not, but I think I just don't get enough sleep in general. I haven't changed my sleep schedule at all, but it's never been easy for me to sleep more than 6-7 hours a night.

Make sure you're getting two or three meals a day, too. When I'm in studying stressland I sometimes forget to do that, and doing that makes all the world's difference. Keep around food that's easy to do & makes you feel good.

Also maybe talk to a friend who thinks you're smart and that you'll pass no problem! That sounds kind of horrible but sometimes it helps to have someone say they believe in you.

also, take heart! you've officially passed 2/5ths of your exams, and that is no small accomplishment. burnout happens, but maybe it would help to think of how you felt about & what you did in preparation for those first two tests. is there any behaviour or attitude that is missing now? anyway, it seems you're well suited to the challenge, just don't let a little discouragement throw you off your stride. you got this.

Yeah, this all makes sense, its just so much harder to believe in it when you've studied your ass off and really blown a practice exam.

well, it's a practice exam -- surely you can go over your results to see what you need to focus on. think of it as a tool to help you prepare & identify where you need to focus -- which it is! -- rather than a judgement on your ability or smarts.

^ i mean, absolutely

just keep it positive and don't take mistakes too personally -- you can learn from them.

not to be too much of a happy cliche life-coach but believe me when i tell you the critical voice in yr head that says "you can't" is a total asshole. try not to listen to him.

As soon as I finished the practice test I went through all the ones I got wrong and really studied them, but what I also realized is that of the like 28 questions I got wrong, 14 of those weren't even covered in the study materials! Which is how the ones I've passed have been, they throw in tons of random questions to test your "wide range of knowledge". That's why I'm feeling disheartened today, having trouble preparing for the curveballs. As far as the actual material presented, I know that stuff inside and out.

i could prob get some stuff done today

that would prob be a good idea

You can do it. If you don't, it won't get done. There's the basics.