I am sure there is some lesson about procrastination in this some where... I really need to pick up my socks. By next semester I need to raise my GPA a bit I wanna try studying abroad next year or the year after. I am thinking maybe University of Bristol for it

^^why are you taking Islamic studies anyway?

are you going to join the CIA?

I AM THE CIA... well maybe.. I took it for an option :(

I remove myself from my room. This typically involves heading to the library. Being at my computer in my room necessarily entails too many potential distractions, and there's something about being surrounded by books and other people studying that is motivating.

Then I put on my noise-cancelling headphones and tune my iPod to something ambient and at a low volume. It eventually becomes white noise which leaves me alone with my thoughts

You may ask why the hell I'm soon going to start an engineering degree.

Curiously enough, I've asked one of my muslim friends for a copy of the Qu'ran for Christmas. I think it's important to learn about the worldview of millions of people, and there is some fascinating history behind it. Sadly, I've never had the chance to hear anything much about it.

Back to the question of motivation, we've just had the last lesson of the year and were given a gigantic paper to do for the last two hours. Everyone else slipped out after five minutes, and I'd usually have followed, but for some reason I stayed and finished the damn thing on my own.
When trying to work out why I did that, I thought that possibly getting into the right mood for work can help enormously: I know it sounds horrible, but working as soon as lessons are over is a lot easier than coming back to it later at night, since you are still in "work mode", as Tony Hancock might say.

@RVCA I am going to try that some time I could see myself getting into that, could you recommend me some ambient for it?

For me the second I am even aware of any kind of meta cognitive thoughts I am ****ed. I have to simplify my thoughts down to a very binary level to become motivated.
If I even think I need to be in a work mode, I instantly am not. Its because my focus shifts from the assignment to judging whether I am in a work mode or not and ironically if the thought ever passes my mind I can't work. Its quite annoying actually like little things can slip in my head from time to time and can make me lose concentration.

I find the one thing that helps relieve this is just applying the basic logic that if I don't do this, its not like its going to get done. "If I don't study this, I am not going to know it, If I don't do this assignment it won't be graded".

Worrying about my state ALWAYS 100% of the time leads to me making excuses and procrastinating. No matter my state or mood there is always atleast something productive I could be doing. Sometimes that means slowing down my learning to adjust to how awake etc, as long as it is something mentally stimulating enough to get me out of my own head and avoid meta-cognition.

I have always sucked at studying, usually it just involves me disinterestingly going over old notes I took in class, or if I'm feeling particularly motivated I'll make a study guide, then go over that in disinterest. Fortunately I haven't smoked my amazing memory away and have found that a good hour of going over notes before the test along with what I have already retained is enough to get a mid to high B or low A if lady luck contends to smile.

Writing papers is a different story, I usually use RVCA's method of removing myself from a place of distraction and listen to ambient music on low volume (Tim Hecker's Ravedeath 1972 (2011) has gotten A LOT of listens this year). I use to go to a coffee shop that doesn't have an open WiFi network, but back in October I decided to learn how to do some basic level hacking and cracked their WEP key so now I can get online there. Fortunately my school decided to change up their wireless networking over the summer and for whatever reason, Linux based computers can't access their network, which works for me so now if I need to write a paper I just do it at school.

Yeah, Ravedeath 1972 works great for studying. Some other good study artists are Windy and Carl, Grouper, Aphex Twin's ambient albums, The Caretaker, William Basinski, Arvo Part... hell, I even use the Echoes of Nature series from time to time

Still my number one favourite "sit down and write a paper" album has gotta be Black Earth (2002) by Bohren & der Club of Gore. I have written more papers in the last 2-years to that album than any other album in my entire music folder.

it depends on which translation - i used to have an Anglocentric one which was more poetry than religious text

i recently got one translated by an Arabian Muslim scholar and it's lightyears better, i had a much better grasp of Islam then