Has anyone been in my shoes? Major Procrastination problems. Need to catch up..

College Life
1

Let me start off by saying all throughout my life my family praised me for the smallest little things I would accomplish. Taking something simple apart, fixing computer passwords, computer wifi issues, hooking up electronics, fixing cars, etc…

I went from a slacker high school student (2.75GPA) (21ACT) who thought they could slide their way up to the top, to where I am now and have experienced all of the things to get me to where I am now- A depressed college kid (depressed about the fate of his future) who has been in remedial math classes/ switching around his major- just to find myself back where I started originally 2 years ago (Mechanical Engineering). Which is rather depressing because I’m passionate about the subject of associating my career goals to space exploration or electric vehicles.
And I know they’re fields full of people that are a helluva lot smarter than I am, when they were in my spot on a timeline.

So now I’m struggling in Calculus 1- realizing I have an awful algebra base, and Chemistry 1- realizing I just don’t catch onto whats going on in the class. I’m slithering by right now and in risk of adding yet another semester to my bachelors degree.

I have other life things going on…
my mother was recently diagnosed with cancer, my father and I have been trying to figure all of that out together this semester.
I have a girlfriend whom which I love very much, but is very clingy.
I have an obsession with cars and try to make time to mess with them (yet I know I should spend my time focusing on school with this free time)
The biggest issue of them all- I procrastinate extremely badly, as I’ve been noticing lately and I don’t know how to remedy this issue.

It’s hard for me to realize I need to sit the heck down and get to work and become the engineer I want to be… If I could get this study habit on track, actually get math fixed in my understandings, I would go onto a much higher STEM degree. But right now I can’t see that working for me!

But when it comes down to studying or practicing homework, I start cleaning the house, car, or messing around on the computer.

I know I’ve got issues. I identify them and realize them, yet I can’t seem to solve them to the point that will allow me to get on track!
I’m trying though. I will be leaving this hell hole of a community college, and will be transferring into a tech college 3 hours away in the Spring semester of 2018… so hopefully this will mitigate my distraction problem… I just don’t know what else I should be telling myself or trying to do to change my habits and allow me to succeed at what I want out of life!

Has anyone been in my position before? Please advise me!

Go easy on me, I haven’t surfed that much on here yet, this is my first post. Discovered the site and am willing to try anything at this point that will help me!

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I have a music/car obsessed college (he is into tuning his genesis coupe) kid who is in engineering who can procrastinate. He’s super smart and all through high school, he didn’t have to put in a lot of work. It came easy for him. Our school focused on retention so a lot of the smart kids got left behind to their own devices and not challenged. Took the SAT one time after the PSAT totally cold for both and scored 2110/2600 both times and was done. He could have given it another shot to be NMS or NMF but commended was good enough for him. He has scored a lot of neat things because of his talen/skills/smarts but in some things, he then gets distracted because there is just so ,much to do and learn right this second and he procrastinates to what he must do. His elder brother is super disci[lined and he bought younget bro a book called Make Your Bed by William McRaven. Impressive guy. Look up his speech on youtube. https://www.utsystem.edu/chancellor/biography,

Part of it is you have chosen to allow yourself to become lazy and now it is hard to know where to begin. It is also maturity. That is not an insult. All young people are immature and the goal is to grow and change and mature. Trust me, some adults have still not figured it out yet and some don’t want to.

When you don’t know where to start, you start small and your build up. Accomplish one goal.

Making your bed is a simple act with powerful consequences. To rise in the morning and complete the first task of the day will give you motivation to do more; to accomplish more. The bed also represents you. Few things in your home are more personal. Making your bed is a reflection of your discipline, your pride and your personal habits. If you can’t get up in the morning and make your bed, what else are you incapable of doing? If you want to change the world, or just make yourself a little better, start off by making your bed.

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I don’t think mechanical engineering is for you. Try Aerospace Engineering, it’s literally rocket science.

4

Hey, chiming in here as a fellow procrastinator.

I basically relied on my intelligence to get me through my math degree, but I did not also work at the time. I spent a lot of my time rushing around exam time to learn all of the material, but I had ample time to learn it as I did not work.

Being a procrastinating student AND someone who works, you will be punished severely.

Your goals sound closer to electrical engineering or aerospace engineering, not mechanical engineering. Two years ago I was 100% I’m going to retrain and become a mechanical engineer. Now that I’m a working software engineer who is not happy with his mechanical engineering coursework anymore, I’m dropping ME.

Life changes things. My mom also got cancer and I’ve been able to work through that this past semester (but she is on the upside as it’s in remission). I have a girlfriend who is quite clingy as well, but I hope she has the maturity to understand what needs to be done for you to do well in school.

I’m also a high functioning autistic man who has trouble understanding people and am constantly reminded of that in the workplace and at home. I also get obsessed with things that aren’t relevant to my real life and you have to learn to put them aside. I spent a lot of my day today using my girlfriend’s sickness as an excuse to clean the house rather than dive into my mechanical engineering coursework.

Eventually though…you get to it.

Now, it doesn’t sound like math is your forte, so it’s not going to be the same experience as it is for me. If it’s the math that’s getting to you, you might want to go to tutoring or visit your teacher’s office hours. I know that for people who struggle constantly in classes this becomes a lifesaver.

But if you really don’t like math and you’re having trouble with calculus I, you are going to get weeded out in statics and if not by statics, definitely dynamics.