procrastination- how do you get over it?

Moon~Shadow

I've got a 3000 word essay to do for next Weds but doing ok with the research. Been off work and Uni for 2 months with chronic back problems so I've got an extension for my dissertation - means I will graduate but ceremony will be in Jan instead of Sept.

My Diss is a difficult subject with limited books available at Uni or library through work. Got a couple off Ebay but one I wanted in particular would mean buying it, which I want to avoid.

Emailed the library at work to see if I can get it through the British Library & yah they've got it and it's on order. Seems most books that have been printed should be available through the British Library so off to do a more detailed search for some more material.

A good money saving tip - saves me buying them :-)

Tallulah22

Good luck with all your work moon shadow..

thats great news that they have your book in for you..

patwa_2

I've been thinking a lot about this. For the last 18 months or so I've been feeling really 'sluggish', it's almost like I am detached from life and that issues that affect me just aren't important or worth considering. For example, a lot of the bills that I pay are done by individual BACS, I know the date for payment is approaching but I just don't do anything about it, even though I spent lots of time online and it'd take just two minutes to make the payment. I know that coursework is due in say a weeks time but I just leave it, yet I don't do anything in the time that this inactivity leaves me. Anyone that has known me for a long time would say that this is not like me at all, as I used to be right on the ball. I have a list that's pages long of things that I should have done ages ago but just haven't, and there's just no reason for it.

Now this is not meant to be some pity rant, but for a long time now I thought it was just pure laziness or procrastination on my part. I thought it was stress caused by the computing course, or just life in general having not much in it.

But then I went to the doctor for a routine checkup. I've had neuralgia in the feet for about ten years now, and have been taking Co-codamol (which contains codeine (drum roll here)) for that same period of time. In 2000 I started getting headaches which have worsened to the point where I'm taking the painkillers every two hours.

Anyway I told my doctor about all this, basically how I've described it above. He told me after some research that it's probably the codeine that's the root of the problem. It's messed up my sleep cycle to the point where it's not even a cycle any more, this obviously impacts my day-to-day life as well as the headaches, the high codeine dosage has basically doped me up so much where it's almost a part of me.

The reason I went into all this is that I think a lot of people put inactivity or when things don't go as normal down to laziness or just procrastination, but you've got to make sure it's not some underlying cause. True, some people are just naturally not organised people, and I'm not trying to undermine those who have actual problems in their life or who're suffering stress that is making things go downhill, but I think people often overlook a factor of it all that might have been playing its part for years.

As for me, it's a little late to make drastic changes now, but as soon as the exams are over we're going to start slowly reducing the Co-Codamol, until we can work out just how much it's contributing to everything, or whether the original problem that started it all is still there.

Take care everyone, and remember things can often be more than they seem.

H.

TeaBoy_2

having successfully gained an extra week through my 'illness', i've done nothing since and am now starting my final peice of work with 24 hours to go. ruddy hell. y do i not learn?
good luck everyone

Oompa_Loompa_2

Aww well I would be exactly the same! Good luck with it Teaboy. I was supposed to hand something in a few weeks ago, worth 30% but I never got round to it. Been too busy working (paid work) to pay rent and bills! Thinking of handing it in now anyway, just so I can draw a line under it myself... although it could mean nothing!

patwa_2

Room for one more guys? Done exactly the same, had the medical cert in and everything - oh well, exam's tomorrow, hopefully I can go strong on that and salvage something.

H.

LilMissEmmylou

i used to look at the word count for my essays and think no way its far too long - i cant be bothered, ive not got the time... ill do it later.

Now i think of the word count in relations to pages. Depending on font size you get 350 - 500 a page. So 2000 words can be as little as 4 pages I then set myself targets of a page or so a day right after i get the essay! yup thats right as soon as i get it. it saves the stress and hassle and when everybody else is rushing to get theirs done... you give them a little hand and ask them for tips on what they are using... you can then bulk up your work with more content which is sometimes something you havent thought of but is really good to include

PandaPants_2

My first exam is tomorrow and i didnt do apick of revising today! Ive revised about 5 hours in total!!
Im totally bricking it now, im just hoping it will all come to me in the exam!
Although im at the point now that i dont even care how i do, i just want to pass and graduate in January!!!

patwa_2

I had my first exam today and I did something I'd never done before, I wouldn't usually do this but it's all related to my previous post. Anyway I read straight through the whole session's lecture slides, half last night and half this morning two hours before the start, surprisingly enough a fair bit stuck and the exam (Distributed Systems) wasn't too bad once I got going.

kevinbarry

This is what I said in my new book - just came out in 2007

I’VE REALLY GOT TO START THAT ASSIGNMENT

Every assignment you do goes through three stages:
- You gather information and organise it.
- You read your notes, decide what you think, and plan out your
answer.
- You write it up.

For good marks at university, the first two stages are the really important
ones, although paradoxically many students tend to worry more about the
final stage of writing. When you get the first two stages right, the essay
almost writes itself. Discussing the issue with others can provide valuable
assistance in preparing an assignment and can help you gain even better
marks. Figure 5 illustrates the stages of preparing what could turn out to
be a great assignment.

Making a start
Even if you have always wished to be a procrastinator but kept putting it
off, that urgent assignment needs action. Just start! Pick up a pen and a
piece of paper and begin jotting down things like:

- What you think about the topic.
- Why you think you were afraid to begin (this might show you
what to tackle in the future).
- Any ideas on how it might be organised.
- Where you might find information about it.
- Any famous names that are associated with the topic so that you
can quote them.
- Who you know that you could talk to about it.
- Any points that occur to you that are relevant to the question.
- And maybe a rough outline of a possible answer.

And if you still cannot make a start
- Talk to your study-buddy about the question or discuss it with
your group.
- Promise yourself a reward when you have made your first outline
answer – a nice cup of tea, a piece of chocolate, watching a (short!)
piece of day-time TV... stuff like that.
- Set yourself a punishment if you don’t start within half an hour:
no sweets or ciggies for the next 4 hours, no alcohol before 7 p.m.,
or whatever. Or maybe you’ll sweep or vacuum the carpet, wash
up those grotty dishes, make the bed and tidy up all those clothes
on the floor or draped over chairs.
- If it’s really difficult to pick up that pen, set yourself both a reward
and a punishment!

Improving your mental attitude
Lay aside the list of ideas you have just made, take a break, and then return
to it in about 20 minutes. Look it over, tell yourself the question is
interesting, and persuade yourself that you look forward to finding out as
much about it as you can (motivate and salivate!). Maybe picking up a
book on the issue and reading the contents page might help. You should
find your interest develops with such activity.
It is easy to feel too afraid to begin if the question seems big and
difficult – it may look like mission impossible but isn't really! A big topic
need not frighten you. All you have to do is to divide it into manageable
sections or bite-sized pieces and keep nibbling away at it until it is done.
Start with a simple outline and keep expanding it by dividing more and
more finely. The project should seem easier when each separate part of
your plan looks feasible.

(Extract pages 78-9 Going to University: the Secrets of Success, Kevin Bucknall, Exposure Publishing, April 2007, ISBN 978-1-84685-660-0)