Rough semester

[BorisTheSpider]

Hey guys, this is really just a little whining on my part so feel free to skip this thread.

I also posted in the ADD subforum because I think it's related, but it's not very active there and I don't really know anyone. Everybody probably just forgets about it (like I do).

Anyhow, I'm having a rougher semester than I should be. I haven't been able to focus on anything school-related for a while. As a result, my homework is going un-done and my grades are slipping (now THERE is an understatement). There are only a few weeks left in the semester, but most of my professors are willing to work with me to let me make up some work (probably because of all the days missed due to bomb threats and bad weather).

The problem is, I don't think all the time in the world will help if I can't get motivated. I know what I need to do, and I know why I need to. I just can't bring myself to do it. It's just a bunch of math and programming, which I'm pretty capable of. I'm just hoping someone else here knows what I'm talking about. Maybe someone has some helpful tip for putting my .... in gear and getting the job done.

So that's it. I don't mean to bother anyone with my moping so feel free to let this thread get buried. Just hoping someone can help.

 

[cobaltblue]

I'm not personally familar with ADD so am not sure this will apply, I'm just so sorry you're going through that. Something that has always helped me when things seem overwhelming is to try not to focus on the whole job of catching up...just break down what needs to be done into smaller increments and do one step at a time. You Can do this as long as you remember that with a little effort in a few weeks everything will look great again. It sounds so simple but it really does work.

Bright lights and sunshine work wonders...and here's a (((((((hug))))))) 'cause those help, too.

 

[Darkwitless]

LOL - I'm browsing here instead of doing my taxes!!

Boris - use the kitchen timer method!

Get all your stuff ready for ONE subject that you need to work on. If you have room, get all the stuff needed for another subject in a different area or space. (Books, notes, calculator etc)

Take a 5 min break. Load your PV with your jooze of choice. get a drink. whatever.


Pick ONE thing you're going to work on - set the timer for 20 min (use the one of the microwave if you have to) and GO!
If you're still on a roll, continue at the end of of the 20 min.
take a break.
SET THE TIMER DURING YOUR BREAK!
Like a timeclock at work, break only lasts so long. 10-15 min - NO MORE.

Start over!

Either continue with subject 1 or move on to subject 2.
If you find 20 min isn't enough (cause you're on a roll) extend the time to 30 min)
rinse and repeat.


I work better in 30 min increments. except break - I can only take a break for 15 MAX. This sounds crazy but sometimes I do jumping jacks during my break. And I chew gum if I'm reading material I need to retain. A counselor suggested it - it fires a part of the brain apparently that helps long term memory.

You're an adult - now act like one. (that was the mom in me!) lol

Speaking of which, back to doing the taxes. Being a small business owner makes my taxes a little more interesting than regular taxes - being a sub makes it even more so! My boss is ADHD and still hasn't given me my 1099 - in fact I had to tell HIM how much he'd paid me for the year (face palm here!) Glad I'm not responsible for HIS taxes LOL!

 

[atsirk]

I agree with cobalt - it can be overwhelming when looked at as a whole. Start small, make your goals SMART. A cliche, I know but
S - specific
M - measurable
A - attainable
R - realistic
T - timed
Just pick one task, the first step of any one project - do it to completion, get up and do something else - then start again.
When I just look at a flight of stairs it makes my knees hurt, but if I just go up one, then another...you get the idea. You can do this!

 

[AnaCat]

I love Darkwitless' suggestions. I have ADHD myself (use vaping and caffeine as my stimulants because I don't like pharma meds). The timer thing works great. Also, do the thing you hate the most first to get it out of the way. You might want to switch subjects often, or you might get frustrated and give up. Have you tried listening to loud and fast paced music while working? It seems counterintuitive, but I've found that listening to loud (and I mean earphones in and volume cranked as high as I can stand it) rock music helps me focus better (Aerosmith's Pump CD works wonders for me when I don't feel motivated). I can't study, do homework, or write papers without loud music. I don't know why, but I just can't do it. I think it might have something to do with the ADHD, but I'm not sure. I haven't seen any literature about it. Good luck and <HUGS>! You can do this!

 

[BorisTheSpider]

Bright lights and sunshine work wonders...and here's a (((((((hug))))))) 'cause those help, too.

Being a night person by nature, I do tend to forget about this. I take vit D to make up for the lack thereof, but I forget how much good the sun can do. I course, I live in Canton, Ohio, and we seen the sun less often than Cleveland (but we're not Detroit!).

Pick ONE thing you're going to work on - set the timer for 20 min (use the one of the microwave if you have to) and GO!
If you're still on a roll, continue at the end of of the 20 min.
take a break.
SET THE TIMER DURING YOUR BREAK!
Like a timeclock at work, break only lasts so long. 10-15 min - NO MORE.

Start over!

Either continue with subject 1 or move on to subject 2.
If you find 20 min isn't enough (cause you're on a roll) extend the time to 30 min)
rinse and repeat.

...

You're an adult - now act like one. (that was the mom in me!) lol

It's awfully hard to pick one subject that I like least as I genuinely like all my classes. I'm taking three programming languages and pre-calc. Also some crappy speech class that doesn't really matter whatsoever (no homework...hardly a class). never heard of a timer method, though. Sounds like something worth giving a shot. Also, thanks mom!

I agree with cobalt - it can be overwhelming when looked at as a whole. Start small, make your goals SMART. A cliche, I know but
S - specific
M - measurable
A - attainable
R - realistic
T - timed
Just pick one task, the first step of any one project - do it to completion, get up and do something else - then start again.
When I just look at a flight of stairs it makes my knees hurt, but if I just go up one, then another...you get the idea. You can do this!

I think I like the idea of doing each thing to completion. Fun thing about my ADD is the state of hyperfocus I can get into with certain things, like programming. So, once I get something started, I should be fine.

I love Darkwitless' suggestions. I have ADHD myself (use vaping and caffeine as my stimulants because I don't like pharma meds).

...

It seems counterintuitive, but I've found that listening to loud (and I mean earphones in and volume cranked as high as I can stand it) rock music helps me focus better (Aerosmith's Pump CD works wonders for me when I don't feel motivated). I can't study, do homework, or write papers without loud music. I don't know why, but I just can't do it. I think it might have something to do with the ADHD, but I'm not sure. I haven't seen any literature about it. Good luck and <HUGS>! You can do this!

+2 to nicotine and caffeine in lieu of pharma meds. I do the same thing. I always have a tankard of sweet tea around, and I use Old Goat's bottomfeeder with a lanyard so that's always close.

Never heard of loud, fast music for studying, but I do find I need some kind of noise, but I used to listen to classical in the car when I drove because it was the only thing that kept me awake (yay for sleep apnea too!). I try to keep my TV on and I normally use a dual-monitor setup for very brief distractions when I need it. Maybe I need to finally drag my other monitor down to my new dungeon.

Thanks for all the tips and encouragement, guys! I think sometimes, the encouragement is the hard thing to find when you need it most.

 

[Cat_in_the_Playground]

I'm not ADD, so I don't have an excuse. But it took me 6 years to finish writing my master's thesis. I kept getting lost in the big picture. When I went through the program, the assignments were "write chapter 1" and "write chapter 2." That was way too big for me. When I would sit down to try and work on it, I would get lost in all the parts, which lead me to be frustrated, which lead me to be unmotivated. Who wants to do something that is just going to end up pissing them off? I think its even worse when you enjoy the work (I loved working on my thesis and the topic). When something that you enjoy frustrates you, its as if its kind of ruining something you enjoy.

Ultimately, the university approved me having a writing coach. I certainly don't need the help writing, but I needed help breaking it down into SMART tasks (to use atsirk's term). It was a BIG help. And I officially finished writing my thesis, defended it and graduated Aug 2010! Do you have an uber organized friend that can look at the work you need to finish and break it down into "assignments" for you? It helped me when someone else did the breaking down of tasks and then met up with me once a week. I felt responsible to her and wanted to make sure I was able to finish before we met. Even if I didn't do squat all week and finished it all the night before we met again - but hey, it was done!

I feel your pain. My 2 year MPH ultimately took me 8 years to complete. I was fortunate that the university was very understanding of my medical problems and gave me extra time to finish my degree (I had major back surgery over Christmas break after my first semester. Returned spring semester, but due to complications from the surgery, wasn't able to attend classes about halfway through spring semester and ended up having to take incompletes in all those classes. I had my third back surgery over summer break at the conclusion of what should have been my first year. I also stupidly took a full load the fall semester I returned (on top of having to finish all the work from my spring classes that I took an incomplete in). It was just too much. I ended up taking a leave of absence for 2-3 years. But once I got my writing coach, I finished writing my thesis in about 2 years. It took me a LOT longer than my classmates that I should have graduated with, but I'm still proud of myself for finishing given the obstacles I had. Once i finished, I had so many people (including my parents) say that they thought I was never going to finish. I think the only people never had a doubt about me finishing and graduating were my thesis committee members and my writing coach - bless her!

Hang in there. One suggestion - if you do have to take incompletes and you're not done with them by the time you start the next semester, DO NOT take a full load that semester. It will just compound the problem. Good luck - from someone who has been there and come out the other side.

 

[Darkwitless]

Hey Boris - I just ate my elephant! TAXES ARE FINISHED! DH will be so happy!

 

[Cat_in_the_Playground]

Hey Boris - I just ate my elephant! TAXES ARE FINISHED! DH will be so happy!

So jealous -- wanna do mine???? They are easy. I promise.
At least I know what I'll probably be doing on April 14th between 8p and midnight... I'll prolly have to block ECF from my computer...

 

[cskent]

I know exactly what it's like to keep putting off homework. I'm working on my masters at KSU up here in Kent. I've been going to school full time since '05 and am in the burned out phase of it all. I just want to get this done with. I procrastinate, and then I procrastinate some more. I'm now at the stage of putting off my procrastination until later. I've been at this long enough to know exactly how long it's going to take to do everything so I wait until the drop dead time arrives and start working. Anyway, I get my assignments done, and my papers written, and everything turned in on time. My work isn't the best I could do, but it's done. I'm carrying a 3.75 gpa so I guess it's not all that bad though, I just know if I'd started those papers at the beginning of the semester they'd be much better.

How's that, I'm whining about it too. You're in the same boat as I am so I can't offer much advice. Just know that you're not the only one in that situation.

 

[atsirk]

I'm not ADD, so I don't have an excuse. But it took me 6 years to finish writing my master's thesis. I kept getting lost in the big picture. When I went through the program, the assignments were "write chapter 1" and "write chapter 2." That was way too big for me. When I would sit down to try and work on it, I would get lost in all the parts, which lead me to be frustrated, which lead me to be unmotivated. Who wants to do something that is just going to end up pissing them off? I think its even worse when you enjoy the work (I loved working on my thesis and the topic). When something that you enjoy frustrates you, its as if its kind of ruining something you enjoy.

Ultimately, the university approved me having a writing coach. I certainly don't need the help writing, but I needed help breaking it down into SMART tasks (to use atsirk's term). It was a BIG help. And I officially finished writing my thesis, defended it and graduated Aug 2010! Do you have an uber organized friend that can look at the work you need to finish and break it down into "assignments" for you? It helped me when someone else did the breaking down of tasks and then met up with me once a week. I felt responsible to her and wanted to make sure I was able to finish before we met. Even if I didn't do squat all week and finished it all the night before we met again - but hey, it was done!

I feel your pain. My 2 year MPH ultimately took me 8 years to complete. I was fortunate that the university was very understanding of my medical problems and gave me extra time to finish my degree (I had major back surgery over Christmas break after my first semester. Returned spring semester, but due to complications from the surgery, wasn't able to attend classes about halfway through spring semester and ended up having to take incompletes in all those classes. I had my third back surgery over summer break at the conclusion of what should have been my first year. I also stupidly took a full load the fall semester I returned (on top of having to finish all the work from my spring classes that I took an incomplete in). It was just too much. I ended up taking a leave of absence for 2-3 years. But once I got my writing coach, I finished writing my thesis in about 2 years. It took me a LOT longer than my classmates that I should have graduated with, but I'm still proud of myself for finishing given the obstacles I had. Once i finished, I had so many people (including my parents) say that they thought I was never going to finish. I think the only people never had a doubt about me finishing and graduating were my thesis committee members and my writing coach - bless her!

Hang in there. One suggestion - if you do have to take incompletes and you're not done with them by the time you start the next semester, DO NOT take a full load that semester. It will just compound the problem. Good luck - from someone who has been there and come out the other side.

I love the idea of having someone helping out with the breaking it down into steps - what a great help that can be! And congrats on finishing

 

[Cat_in_the_Playground]

I love the idea of having someone helping out with the breaking it down into steps - what a great help that can be! And congrats on finishing

Thx! It was a tremendous help for me and I never would have finished w/o her. Its funny - I'm uber organized. I could have done this for anyone else, but when working on my own project, I just kept getting lost in it and my own head. I think having someone else do it, as an outsider, she had a more objective view, that was not cluttered by all the things in my head. Additionally, it made accountable to someone else. Its easier when you are doing the work during the semester and have the deadlines. But when it was up to me to create my own deadlines, no one cared if I missed them - except me. And when I did miss them, it just made me more depressed and frustrated, which just made it even harder to work on it. Having someone else create those small goals was definitely what I needed.

Oh - and my writing coach always told me that I needed to celebrate a "win" every day. It could even be something small - like the fact that I read even 1 article (when I was in the earlier research phase). That helped give me positive reinforcement. As silly as it sounds, it does help (it helps with all the negative self-talk I was engaged in when I was so frustrated with myself for not being able to finish).