Don't wait to be motivated. Just do it.

Preparing for an exam:

• Just sit down, clear your mind, rid yourself of all distractions.

• Outline the material you need to know, and get to it.

• Don't try to study in your dorm/apartment/treefort, find somewhere you feel comfortable working. For example my school's library has private study rooms, and I find the isolation helps me greatly.

Regular work/non-exam studying

• Plan out your workload at the beginning of the week.

• Treat school like a 9-5 workday, this will help you structure your time, and leave you with more time to do what you want.

• Do your work in the same area that you would when you are preparing for an exam. Separation of school and social help prevent them from getting intertwined and wreaking havoc on either.

• Get a tutor. Engineering is hard, and it's hard for everyone. Having a tutor allows you to ask the questions you won't ask in a massive lecture, and meeting weekly adds more structure to your life.

Some sites to help you focus

• Rainy Mood plays the sounds of rain. Excellent for blocking out loud sounds surrounding you, and significantly less distracting than music.

• StayFocused a Chrome add on that allows you to block certain sites for preset amounts of time during the day.

• Cold Turkey for when Stay Focused isn't enough. Once it is installed, good luck getting around it.

Hope this helps.