<p>I'm not really sure what to say...I have this habit. Maybe it's just how my brain works. Basically, for some reason unknown to me, I can focus extremely hard during a stressful period like final exams week and basically ace all my finals. Or around midterms. I feel like I'm not able to get as much from my courses as I would like, even if I'm making similar grades as people who study constantly. I don't take drugs or anything to help me, I am just a seriously terrible procrastinator. I'll always wait until either the day before or the day an assignment is due and knock it out. So I've basically learned half a semester's worth/or all of material in one or two days during midterm or finals. I'm going to say I have a better than average short-term memory and my long-term memory is random. </p>
<p>I actually hate this, but I will just never get to doing any homework or anything if it's not immediately due. I've tried to-do lists...how the heck do I motivate myself? It seems like unless I'm super stressed my brain isn't finding it worth it to put in some minimal amount of effort every day to study, even though I would like to so I wouldn't have to be so stressed during these times. Like even now I want to study...but I won't. I'll open the book and find it not so interesting. Then when I really need to I'll find it the most interesting thing in the universe, basically. I'd like to retain more things for the long-term.</p>
<p>It’s classic flight or flight. You’re running until you’re backed in the corner and have to fight. If possible, talk to a therapist and try to understand the root of the problem and to learn behavior changes.</p>
<p>I always thought the ADHD medicine they put me on for 14 years (12 of which I actually took it) was what gave me the terrible chemical screw up that made my brain work like that, as a different region unaffected took over during stress. Incidentally, I was then removed from the medicine necessity because I never had ADHD in the first place.</p>
<p>Did you perhaps get diagnosed with ADHD at any point?</p>
<p>I have the same exact problem. But is therapy seriously the only way to go? Self-motivation does not work, it’s a last minute thing. My friends are always amazed at how I manage to do it. Looking forward to the suggestions.</p>
<p>I make time for myself on the weekends and I say to myself, from 1 to 4, you are going to the library to study. And I stick to it. It also might help to try earlier in the mornings. I know that if I practice flute in the mornings for a solid hour and half, I can focus better for the rest of the day and feel more relaxed without worrying about the fact I haven’t practiced.</p>
<p>I wonder if I should see a psychologist or something after finals. Finals week is next week and here I am feeling the immense pressure to perform well. Just bought a bunch of coffee and power bars to cover 5 weeks of material. I tried going to the library to study after classes were over but that didnt end up working. I just ended up procrastinating until the last minute when homework was due and somehow finished it. I’ve tried drinking more coffee for concentration but that hasn’t helped. I don’t know why I can’t stick to a certain schedule. </p>
<p>I’ve never been diagnosed with ADHD cause I never had problems in k-12 making good grades probably. I’ve made plans but never stick to them and todo lists turn in to not do lists, ack.</p>
<p>Have you ever heard that asthma medicine can cause asthma? A reason why doctors HAVE to be sure that a child will actually have a diagnosis instead of randomly giving them pills.</p>
<p>Maybe you being on ADHD medicine actually gave something similar to ADD or ADHD from your lack of focus. <em>shrugs</em> I’m a bit of procrastinator also, since I do have a short attention span when teaching things myself. I’ve learned to give myself goals. If a assignment is due in 3 weeks, I’ll force my myself to panic enough to do it in two weeks, pretending the two week mark is the actual due date. </p>
<p>It’s all about tricking yourself into to doing what you want, lol. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I used to always do that too. I started reading Study Hacks and made out a shadow schedule to study for my classes. I also had to set up some kind of a reward system for it- for instance, I couldn’t eat lunch until after I had finished studying for history. No texting until after I read for geology. It takes a lot of self discipline to get over being a procrastinator, but I think it’s worth it:)</p>
<p>Change your actual physical habits. Here is an example: if you tend to go back to your dorm to hang out after dinner (even when you meant to study, but don’t get to it), take your books/etc. to dinner with you and go straight to the library after dinner. Turn off the internet access on your computer when you take it out of the bag at the library. Set your phone alarm for some period (90 minutes?) and start working through your assignments/reading/etc. until it goes off. If you need to do more, take a 10-15 minute break, then repeat. If you need variety, change up where you go to study in the evenings if your campus has multiple spaces you can use.</p>
<p>You also need to set your own short term goals. Keep 'em small, like:
Will do the problem sets assigned on the syllabus for class Xevery day
Will get the reading done before class X every day
Will spend 30 minutes per day on long term project for the whole week
Reward yourself when you get one piece done (snack? 15 minutes of gaming or online time?). But time it and get back at it when the time is up.</p>
<p>No one can really give you self discipline. You need to try tricks & techniques on your own until you find a combination that works. Maybe even commit to yourself that you will try this new way for just one semester and evaluate at the end to see if it worked. If you get good grades and feel less stressed, you will probably be more likely to stick with it.</p>
<p>Are you taking breaks in between studying? It sounds minuscule, but I found that to be all the difference for me while studying. Think about it, if you’re a long distance track runner, are you going to sprint and use up all your energy at once in the beginning? No. Pace yourself. Your brain works in a similar way and if you overwork it all it once, you’ll burn yourself out.</p>
<p>What I do is set a 40 minute timer, and study hard for the period, and as soon as the time goes off, I stop what I’m doing, get up and take a 10-15 minute and repeat. Hell, even if you need to take a 40 minute powernap, do it.</p>
<p>I never ended up seeing a psychologist. I have pretty much stayed true to my old ways except this past quarter I had to change things up a bit. My fall quarter, I basically ignored every other class except one, which I still procrastinated heavily in, but I relied on talent to get me through. I got decent results.</p>
<p>This past quarter (winter) I took my most difficult classes alongside each other, so I buckled down more than I ever have before. I still procrastinated in Real Analysis II and relied mostly on talent in that class, but I put in a fair amount of work and attended every lecture. I knew what I was doing. Abstract Algebra wasn’t difficult but the teacher made it as difficult as she could and was extremely harsh with grading, so I knew that subject like the back of my hand. Cold. I studied it pretty intensely for an A. Complex Analysis and Applied Probability Theory I probably studied maybe 5-10 hours total each over the 10 weeks I could have and wound up with B’s. What helped me the most is I found people that studied all the time, so I hung out in the library and just worked on whatever homework I had and studied what I felt was most needed to study. I’d procrastinate from stuff I didn’t think was super hard and that’s kind of a bad thing to do since it can bite you in the butt at the end. </p>
<p>@Ricky93: I did that once and it worked well. However, I find that if I stay in my apartment nowadays I will not get anything done. I think I spent more time watching That 70’s Show twice over during finals week than I spent studying. My brain can pick things up pretty quickly, but it’s almost like I have to really force myself to do something that’s going to be mentally draining. </p>
<p>@noimagination: What I mostly do when I get home is watch Netflix. I don’t usually play video games or anything. I’m usually just reading news stories or using instagram while I watch netflix. Sometimes I just listen to music and surf the net for interesting things to read about. I’ve tired “eliminating” those distractions by staying in the library. </p>
<p>I’ve tried making lists. I love lists, but I never end up using them. I’ll say I’ll get to this and that each day, but I don’t ever end up following through unless it’s due the very next day. </p>
<p>I still think I lack a fair amount of self-discipline. The class I put some actual effort into I got a 113% on the final. So, I know I can do well if I just try…but I try to rely on talent 'cause I’m lazy. I doubt the real world will work like this, which kind of scares me because I’m graduating in June. I had tests, quizzes, and homework every week which kept me on task and I never skipped a lecture without getting the notes from someone…I think I just need to work in a high pressure job where they want immediate results.</p>
<p>i read like the 5 chapters or whatever the material covered was the weekend before finals, don’t do any of the hw, or if i do do it, i turn it in all late heaped together at my professors office door the last day of the term, and doing things in such a way i have sometimes displayed an unusual understanding of the material (which got me points in their eyes and made up for my nonattendance and other deficiencies) but more often displayed an incomplete and fragile understanding, where i was unable to even apply some of the most basic elements of the course; still, i have managed to not fail a single course applying myself in this way but i have on occasion been met with a C.</p>
<p>it’s safe to say that this WILL have repercussions in life after college, even if in college it merely sets you apart in how you prepare and not how you perform. in life after college there will be repercussions on performance. for example, i can predict i will never be able to hold down a job, and not only that, that i will never be able to have a family, and so i must seek some other way of obtaining subsistence, and that this way must not include things such as “work” or “tasks” or anything that is like what consistent engagement in what ones coursework requires. </p>