can't stop procrasinating

[yay]

For some stupid reason i can't seem to make myself do my homework. I'm having trouble focusing. I just hate the thought of having to study/do my hw everyday after school and the weekends. I tell myself that i'm going to fail if this goes on any longer, but yet i procrasinate until the last minute anyways... I know it sounds silly, but it's a real problem
I have no self control, someone please give me an advice. T_T

ughhhhh I HATE SCHOOL!

 

[Tryin]

i know it's not easy but you are getting nowhere by hating school so try to change the way you're thinking about it. try to say "this is interesting. i can do this" instead "this is boring and bleah and difficult and i hate it". try to get fascinated by new informations much of the stuff which seems sooo boring is actually quite interresting when you take a closer look (i know this 'cause i am a student too).
well and much of the stuff which seems sooo boring really is sooo boring but you have to learn it this way or that so why hate it?

good luck

 

[missquiet]

i'm the same way..i can stare at a textbook for hours and not even read it...i mean i'll read the words but i'm not actually paying attention. my mind just tends to wander thinking about other stuff or other things that i "need" to do.. so i end up doing all my school work at the last minute.

Sometimes I'll think of handing in an assignment a day late and think hmm well another extra day wouldn't hurt..until it ends up being a week or more and i just don't bother to hand it in anymore so i've failed quite a few courses cause of this....it's hard but i'm just reeaally trying this year since this is my last chance to bring up my grades and finally finish something.

 

[Quixote]

Don't worry, it used to happen to me all the time, of all the time I devoted to "studying" I think about 70% went into daydreaming, 20% in worrying about unrelated problems, and what was left was usually not enough...
Well, actually, do worry. But not too much :wink:

 

[dzerklis]

i know very well what you're all talking about, since my motto for some time was

Never put off until tomorrow what you can.. put of till the day after tomorrow

:lol: :wink:

 

[Glittergraffiti]

I can relate

Never put off until tomorrow what you can.. put of till the day after tomorrow

Haha :lol: I love your motto dzerklis! While I am no longer in school, I can totally relate because I used to do that. I would sit there with every intention of doing my work but I'd like...zone out or fall asleep or something.

Now that I am married and live in my own place with my husband, I can get like that with housework. I have to force myself to do it. i can't stand the house being a mess, but I wish I didn't have to be the one to clean it every day, lol.

 

[qipuqipu]

I can totally sympathise. I'll know something has to be done, but I'll end up distracting myself with something totally unrelated, almot unable to stop. I still have problems, but I have a few steps I can go through to get me back on track; I hope they'll work for you too.

First, you have to remember to do it - it may sound trivial, but you can easily get so distracted that you'll forget completely about what you're meant to be doing. For this, just keep refreshing what it is that you need to do in your mind; ask yourself every so often what you need and have planned to do. Second, you have to want to do it; and for that, you have to have a reason, preferably one that makes you feel good. So, for your homework, you could say "I want to do well in my schoolwork and be successful"; something like "I have to or I'll fail otherwise" is not as effective. Then, you use the reason to convince yourself to want to do it. You have to think about it and let it affect you emotionally. So, you could perhaps think about how good you'll feel when it's finished in record time, for example - pick anything you want, really. Third, you have to build up motivation. You can want to do something with all your heart and still not have any inclination to do it. For this, you can do various things; I usually do something like closing my eyes and repeating to myself "I want to do this, and when I open my eyes I will fully focus on it until it is done." Do whatever is comfortable for you, and hopefully you will feel a lot more inclined to start and continue until you're finished.

So, there's my method, I hope it helps you. I wish you luck in whatever you want to do

 

[cLavain]

im starting a Procrastination Society...bah i'll do it tomorrow..i was gonna start an Apathy Society but i couldnt be bothered...

:lol: That reminds me of the old joke: "The annual meeting of the Hypochondria Society has been postponed due to illness"

 

[Ddarko]

I made it through college and am now in grad school and I still procrastinate. It sometimes seems like a way of life. I've thought about the subject quite a bit, and even composed a verse to help myself out:

You look for a refuge
From all this tired trudging,
For a place to stand and be,
But right here in this trudging
Understanding gives respite.

In other words, when you refuse to start something it's often because you dread the task: it's boring, you're tired, and those two never work well together. But one of the lessons I've learned is that if you come out of the experience having truly understood and grasped the subject then you feel like you've accomplished something. Take it one piece or problem or page at a time and convince yourself that you will understand what is going on... work through it quickly thinking that the quicker and more vigorously you work the more time you'll have later and the better you'll feel. Take notes, underline, scribble... whatever helps you move through the material quickly and efficiently. My best thinking and research is usually done speedily: when I get fired up about something and begin flipping through my books and papers like a mad scientist... that's when the ideas come all at once and you can put them together most easily. There are two kinds of students: those who are captives to their work because their assignments always hang over their heads, and those who are free from their work because they understand and get things done.

Another helpful note... think of the all the times you sit down and read your favorite magazine or all the posts you've read on internet discussion boards, etc. All that probably amounts to hundreds and hundreds of thousands of words and thousands of pages (or much more). And yet you read it all seemingly effortlessly. Why? Probably because you felt like it was important and relevant at the time; you felt like you would gain something or solve a naggin problem by reading it. But it's the same with school work... the problems may seem more removed, but once you've learned the material you'll realize that it was just as important if not much more important than all those other more "immediate" problems.

 

[ignisfatuus]

But it's the same with school work... the problems may seem more removed, but once you've learned the material you'll realize that it was just as important if not much more important than all those other more "immediate" problems.

Actually, it is important in only one respect: getting that sheepskin to improve your earning power. All the 'learning' one supposedly receives could be distilled into a tenth of the time they make you attend for. Academia is about conformity, and if you don't fit into or accept their standard, you are quickly drummed out or burn out. Hence the ability of some with little ability to advance where others with significant talent leave.

 

[Ddarko]

Actually, it is important in only one respect: getting that sheepskin to improve your earning power. All the 'learning' one supposedly receives could be distilled into a tenth of the time they make you attend for. Academia is about conformity, and if you don't fit into or accept their standard, you are quickly drummed out or burn out. Hence the ability of some with little ability to advance where others with significant talent leave.

I agree that academic success does not necessarily correlate with intellectual talent. However, graduate school is a very different experience from undergraduate education. Even the most talented students are challenged, usually to the limit of their abilities, in a good graduate program. This is because research is on the forefront of knowledge. But even at the undergraduate level I would say that there is opportunity to make whatever you want of your education. Even where talent surpasses the standard, the intellectual opportunities afforded by a good research institution are intellectually limitless. Whether the individual ultimately determines that he/she belongs in academia is another matter, one resting on considerations of personality, passion, interest, and a whole host of complicated factors. Just because the institution isn't right for everybody doesn't mean it's a deliberate attempt to make people conform; nor does it mean academia levels some implicit value judgment against those who don't fit in.