Why do I find it so hard to study? I feel so lethargic and get tired after 30 minutes. What do you suggest I can do to help myself?

Studying seems directly related to motivation. If it’s hard to study, it could be motivational. If it’s really a question of why doesn’t your studying pay off (more study = better grades), then some of the other answers directly concern study habits and methods.

Since no one has broached motivation yet (other than tangentially — distraction), I will talk about it.

I was an undergrad for a long time — 74–85? or something like that. I tried about 4 or 5 different majors kicking around for something that grabbed me. Studying was hard in some subjects and easy in others. I discovered that Shakespeare, Russian, Calculus, Advanced Physics were hard; Biology, Composition, Poly Sci, Sociology, and Computer Science were easy. I ended up in Math/Comp Sci. I flunked Calculus the first and succeeded the second (or third?) time.

The difference was when I finally found what I wanted to study, everything became easier. School is not just classes. It is a place that you learn to socialize, to interact with peers and teachers on an adult level (i.e., not like high school). You learn to become responsible. And by the way you learn whatever it is you are supposed to be studying.

If you have problems studying, then maybe you aren’t ready to study. Doesn’t mean you aren’t learning things. I dropped in and out of school for a decade because I wasn’t ready. But I loved learning things, so I kept coming back.

I am 60 now. While it took a long time for me to get a profession (tech writer/interactive designer/executive manager), I have had a very good career. If you are in school because you think you should be in school or because you think the job market is terrible or any number of reasons other than you want to learn something, you will have motivational problems because your heart isn’t in it.

You should study smart (as other answers point out), but you should also be motivated. There is no crime in taking your time. It might be more costly to stay in school and do poorly at something you don’t really like than to come back to school later and do well at something you finally like.

I wrote all this thinking college. Yikes — if you are in high school. All the same applies, but you have to just tough it out and remember, high school ends. You can get into a college, junior college, etc. with less than stellar grades. And once you figure it all out, you can transfer to where you want to learn