How can I motivate myself to study even if I’m not interested in education?

Education ain’t my cup of tea. I’ve completed schooling without any enthusiasm, I dropped out of college and joined again. Unlike others I’ve no talents, hence I can’t dropout so I’ve got no choice but to continue this tedious journey only to get a job.

1. To finish your assignments during the week

Identify what’s preventing you from finishing them during the week and address the underlying problem

1. a)lack of time?
   - can you carve out more time to complete assignments? look at your time management, at stuff you do during the week that could be cut back, cancelled, change to another day, etc.
2. b)lack of energy/tiredness?
   - can you increase your energy/reduce tiredness during the week or one of the days to enable you to finish your assignments?
   This is a tricky one and I suspect it may be the hardest one to address, requiring a whole different approach to your work/study week, because all your good motivation, or time management go out of the window if you feel like you’re flogging a dying horse.

1. c) bad time management strategies/lack of motivation/everything else?

- if you have time and energy to complete your assignments, but you are not, because of all sorts of other excuses, rearrange your environment to make you do it.
- get up earlier to start earlier
- work at the time of day/place when you have fewer distractions
- make yourself sit at the desk until you finish (I know of people who lock themselves in their office so getting out of the office is a longer process, hence getting up and leaving is not an easy action; etc.)
- use timers (like POmodoro technique), etc. etc.

2. How to effectively utilize short breaks - principles:

- disengage from the activity you are engaged in (so don;t use your breaks for doing something else related to studies)

- leave your desk/study space

- don;t engage into anything absorbing, whether intellectually, physically or emotionally, so you can easily get back to your study without focus switching cost (so don;t make important phone calls/respond to important emails, don’t start an argument with your flatmate, etc.)

- best if you could move around: walk around, do some easy stretching/breathing exercises, do an easy house chore, make yourself a hot/cold drink, have a snack

- do something that would make you feel good (simile, laugh) - light talk with a friend/family member, watch a funny short video etc.

3. Rewarding yourself

This is tricky. When rewarding yourself for completed work, you need to be careful. Typically rewards are of extrinsic nature (money, praise, little pleasure such as chocolate etc.), and extrinsic motivation, although may work at a time, will loose its effectiveness and can also lead to a reduction in intrinsic motivation.
more here: Motivation

My suggestion then would be to try and ‘reward’ yourself in an intrinsic way, so focusing on your progress towards mastery, autonomy or noble goal/purpose. You can chart your progress towards them, give yourself a star, a pat on the back, celebrate your next step etc. Try to keep your focus on your intrinsic motivators to study as much as you can.

I hope it helps