I'm currently a junior in high school taking 5 AP classes. Lately, I've been really burned out due to the copious amount of schoolwork I've been assigned. I have virtually no motivation to do my homework, and though I'm usually a hard-working perfectionist, these days, I've been slacking a lot. In the past few weeks, I've procrastinated extensively and relaxed more than I've studied. Instead of doing homework as soon as I get home, I chat with my friends and waste time using the internet. Additionally, I've been going to bed far too early, deciding to sleep instead of doing my homework and studying. This is very atypical for me, considering that I used to stay up until the wee hours of the morning preparing for tests. As a result, my grades have been slowly slipping, and though I'm usually a straight-A student ranked at the top of my class, I have a couple of Bs at the moment. Despite this, I still have little motivation to do the homework and studying that I should be doing.

Furthermore, I've found that even when I do study, it seems not to be very effective. I studied a great deal for a recent math test, but despite this, I still did not do as well as I'd hoped. Typically, I have no problem doing well with math, and I usually consider it my strongest subject. It was only after my recent burnout that I began getting lower grades on math tests. Initially, I thought the lower grades were due to my lack of studying; however, even after doing all of my math homework and studying intensely for my test, I did not do very well.
What can I do to regain the motivation to do well in school and to get my grades back up? Thanks for the help. :)

Honey, I have to apologise for being late as well because on top of Key being a diva (eavesdrop on the previous conversation) Sandeul seems to have caught some of the “Onew condition” and has cracked about fifteen eggs on the floor instead of the mixing bowl. Needless to say, Dongwoo isn’t too happy and he’s calling on Sunggyu to give the poor boy a good whipping and I’ve been terribly late to place your order. Call of duty for the only sane person here.

Okay, so you say you’re a perfectionist and hardworking too which makes me feel suspicious that you may have fallen into the trap of “maladaptive perfectionism”. You’re taking many AP classes and you obviously have set high standards for yourself and the copious amounts of homework are probably weighing you down so much that you don’t feel like you can do anything to your best effort. When perfectionists cannot contain attain their goals, they often fall into depression. In you, this is characterised by fatigue and lack of motivation, not necessarily signalling a mental disorder but just some negativity. Maladaptive perfectionism gives people unrealistic ideals which could be strongly influenced by your former achievements and also pressure from your family and friends.

You’ve probably never been mediocre in your life. You’ve probably always known how much potential you were filled with. And now you seem to be struggling so that makes you panicked and worried and maybe even a little bit of a procrastinator. Procrastination is very often a psychological self defence mechanism and the scary thing about it is, it’s often in the subconscious. The reason why you’re sleeping early is because those efforts that you put into studying also implement subconscious fears such as: I don’t want to study because if I do and I don’t get such a good mark, then I’m not going to be perfect anymore. By studying, you’re actually indirectly confronting your fears and the part of your brain called the hippocampus records that fear and channels that eveyr time you sit down to study even if you may not realise it.

“You’ll always do well, you have the capability”. “You were never raised to be mediocre”. “Everyone is human, we accept your mistakes”. Which of these three do you identify with? If you identify with the first two, they may also be factors towards your lack of motivation. The first two are examples of pressure while the last is a self-esteem booster and a show of acceptance. Think carefully about the influences in your life and things that may be making you feel burdened or stressed. Your “bad” grades are merely a reflection of your inner turmoil and not of your actual intelligence so don’t lose heart.

We all wish you the best!

- Love, Onew ♥

(Author ramblings: Okay I’m on the roll today. Sorry for putting off both orders for so long, we just had a huge science assessment and a history essay on Australia and it’s response to communism as well as a philosophy assessment on political philosophy (which includes dealing with a nuclear apocalypse, don’t even ask me why our teachers are slightly crazy) and we’re literally drowning in our homework and whatnot. OH AND WE HAD A STUPID ANALYTICAL ESSAY ON LORD OF THE FLIES. I’m sorry to anyone who is a fan of this book but after criticising the crap out of it, I don’t ever want to hear the names “Ralph, Piggy and Jack”. And unfortunately, I’m not that good with my academics in such a competitive school so I have to try extra hard. My poor co-author has coaching and whatnot so we’re both very sorry for not attending to your needs. Anyways, back to you. Read some online resources on perfectionism because that’s a problem that lots of people struggle with today and you might have heard of the book “Procrastination”. Read it, I highly recommend it. I wish you the best and try to keep positive because you may be overwhelming yourself with re-evaluations of self-worth.)