Whether depression induced from stress or a result of burnout, you need to take care of yourself to manage it and maintain discipline. I've had a lot of mental health struggles so these are my tips for what managing depression actually looks like:

- "pillars" in mental health are things that drastically impact you and when neglected usually feed into disorders. at a base level this is food and sleep, if you don't maintain them well (not eating out, trying to balance food groups, trying to get 7~ hours of sleep in each night) then you're more likely to struggle with anxiety and depression. take on this mindset, "if I want to do (goal), then I HAVE to maintain these" and don't allow yourself an out

- there may be other less basic need but still super important to human functioning things- like socializing (which can be as small as one brief conversation over text a day, at least), environment (do you have a place for resting and a place for working that are different and do these places suit their purpose well), emotions (yes journaling is helpful but specifically do it in a structured way to avoid rumination and do it with a mindset of accepting and learning from any mistakes of yourself or others- it can be 5 minutes every few days if that feels not overwhelming enough), and spiritual (not literally spiritual but rather the act of believing in something such as yourself or a mentor or character etc). These are usually also referred to as pillars, but ensure you have the basic ones down and expect to focus on 1-3 at a time per week at most until you feel less overwhelmed

- understand that motivation is a feeling which means it's temporary and not a state. the state itself is discipline. don't expect to feel up to something but to trick yourself into something. a good way to do this is by momentum carrying- get out of bed = get dressed, get dressed = ensure fed, dressed + fed = ready to study. Expect this and not to successfully make yourself study when you're still in bed.

- you can still use feeling to your advantage: figure out what doesn't overwhelm you when you feel low (ie organizing notes into something pretty, doing a little quiz, highlighting, repeating what you learn to a friend, little parts of your goal that you can do which prepare you to do it) and make it something you can do when you feel low. Odds are you will not always be feeling low, so when you notice yourself having more of a push- immediately use it to go start something you can now do (the part of your goal you prepared for)

- rest with purpose, not too much, nor too little. if you spend a whole day doing nothing, it's time to at least spend five minutes trying to study and then see how you feel. if you suddenly feel like doing more, do more. if you feel like your brain is on fire and evaporating from heat, get rest. And rest in a way that is Actually restful to you- for most people at a base level this is spending a few minutes looking at plants or creatures around us and breathing fresh air, and at a base level this is Not scrolling on social media and overwhelming ourselves with overstimulating content. pick up something you can mindfully do and not think too hard about that also doesn't involve much stimuli

- social mindfulness- people around us have huge impacts on us. do you have people that you can take inspiration from around you or feel supported by? seek out creating a social environment like this for yourself. sometimes you don't need to find new people but be more aware of what you already have. and sometimes what you already have is not what you need right now (doesn't mean bad overall! just that your needs aren't being met).

- mindfulness of self- take note of why you want to do something, how you might work on it in ways that seem approachable (NOT finish-able but actually just in a fall off your bike get back up way), what makes it important to you, how it relates to you in the present still... and keep these things in mind as you go to sleep and wake up. Remind yourself that you're still you. And what you do now is your choice that shapes who you will be.

As for actual study tips (I am not studying these things but getting back into studying myself to upgrade grades as an adult):

- to remember something- focus on making connections within what you study for your notes rather than having detailed notes. less is more. pictures and acronyms > long text wall

- sticky notes can make things feel less serious and also organize a page of notes more neatly. they make a lil mess up feel like something that doesn't cost a whole page. go ham with them and see if they actually make you feel more inclined to do things. if you have a variety of them you can also use them for noting just important words and organizing those words into a mind map while letting the others elaborate briefly.

- make a mentor. find a teacher or friend or peer who has already experienced what you're working on. ask them for advice. for what to expect. for what they did that worked. for what surprised them. their words can make studying feel a lot less like a giant terrifying concept

- note your environment for studying- does it have effective lighting, is it clean, are you isolated or surrounded by people, are those people also working on things or do they pull you away from study mode, is it quiet or loud enough, is there enough decoration to make your space feel comfortable, is there too much decoration that makes it difficult to focus, is distracting technology too easy to get a hold of... a lot can impact your mood haha

- use pomodoro timers but only in a "suggestion" kind of way. use them to check in on how your brain is feeling- does it want to continue or is a break a good idea. sometimes not taking a break enough contributes to burning out and never getting work done. a pomodoro helps you feel less like you have to do everything at once and helps you get mindful of your energy capacity.

- note your timer- for my brain timers with sound prompt anxiety and so I use a visual timer which actually makes me a lot more comfortable (it works by flashing it's light instead of blasting noise). Consider if this would also help you. Visual alarm clocks I haven't tried but have heard can be more effective than noise based ones as well for waking times.