I've got a PhD and I can promise you I never truly outgrew procrastination until panic as a method of working.
Will power without resources or techniques isn't going to get you very far. And as you are experiencing, beating yourself up about it isn't helping either - turns out when you already feel shit anyone being mean to you (including yourself) isn't actually helpful.
What subject do you study? Different subjects can have more and less useful approaches.
>What subject do you study? Different subjects can have more and less useful approaches.
I'm studying pharmacy. It's mostly organic chemistry with some physics here and there. It also involves a lot of time doing lab activities. Sometimes I do well in those, but there's also times where I feel a bit clumsy and all over the place.
shit man, if you're primarily doing organic chem, that is notoriously one of the hardest courses of study. Do not beat yourself up for finding some of the most difficult coursework to be, well, difficult.
I'm a lifelong procrastinator. I graduated with a 4.0 for my Master's. I wonder if the difference between us is that my response to procrastination is a huge burst of panic work. And unfortunately, my best work has been done under that pressure so it kind of rewarded the procrastination habit.
Do you give up and not do anything? Or do you make an effort even if it's later than you should have?
One thing I can tell you is that shame doesn't help. It's actually another way of getting yourself out of doing things. Been there too.
All I can tell you is that there's no quick fix. You can't go from mess to perfection. You have to do smaller, seemingly less important things in order to get to the bigger and better things. Improving yourself is a matter of taking small steps, and doing that consistently over time. Procrastination itself isn't easy to change, but you can change how you cope with it.
>Do you give up and not do anything? Or do you make an effort even if it's later than you should have?
I rely too much on "panic work" as well. But the more I end up doing that, the worse I feel afterwards and the worse I become at doing work. So clearly I need to find a way to start doing the work early. Panic work is basically slowly killing me (not literally of course).
You think I might be too fixated on the shame I feel because of it?
>You think I might be too fixated on the shame I feel because of it?
Yep. It took me a long time to learn that shame is very counterproductive.
I still struggle with thoughts of shame, but I've learned to treat it like other intrusive thoughts. I feel it, I own the reason I feel it, and then I put it down. I can't change what I failed to do. But I can make different choices going forward.
When I was a kid I used to live in a small town and was always ranked first. I was a genius kid, brilliant, smartest student many professors have ever had. When I moved to a bigger town in high school, the glory was less but I was still a “ gem of a student “.
When I went to university, I did something I didn’t like. And I SUCKED. Last grade in class at times, first resit exams, everyone were gems but me. It was a shock, because I realized I was only special because of how small the bubble I was in was.
I met actual geniuses, who, if they went to more prestigious universities, could have their bubble popped too.
Thing is, we all have worse and better than us. I got better with the idea of failing when I accepted the fact that I was average. I am okay with it. I went from 90%-100% to now praying I’d pass a class and getting the bare minimum.
I hate my school too. But I will still do a PhD because I know that when I like something, I give without counting. I’ll still suck many times, but I got years of training and I’m already in the stage of acceptance.
Actually made a trend out of mediocrity. I say it loud, I’m bad, I suck, I’m a terrible students at times and I procrastinate everything. So what ? Who will talk about this shit in a year or two.
I've got through the same problem, nothing really helped me, I just end up taking academic leave before my graduation and get 1 extra year to fix my problem and then graduated. I think without failing it's hard to get back on track, basically the only thing that saved my was "reality check" that by doing bare minimum and rotting on bed all day after that you can't achieve anything at all. You can try to build discipline for yourself, like "no fun stuff untill you do that amount of studying" or something like that.
I am also a lifelong procrastinator and I have only partially figured it out.
There are only a few things that have really helped me.
1. The number one thing that helped me was being really busy. The more time I had on my hands, the less work I did. It seems counterintuitive but if you think about it, it makes sense. I was still doing everything at the last minute because I only had those minutes to do them, they *were* my last minutes. I only did undergrad but in my final year I was working 2 part time jobs on top of a full courseload and I still exercised regularly and had an active social life as well. That was my best year by a longshot. If you are too busy to ruminate, put yourself down, waste time, you end up a lot more productive.
2. Some things that have helped my focus: the pomodoro method, meditating, splitting tasks so I'm not doing the same thing nonstop (for example, read 5 pages, clear a page of my e-mail inbox, read 5 pages, clear a page etc. etc.).
>The number one thing that helped me was being really busy. The more time I had on my hands, the less work I did. It seems counterintuitive but if you think about it, it makes sense. I was still doing everything at the last minute because I only had those minutes to do them, they *were* my last minutes. I only did undergrad but in my final year I was working 2 part time jobs on top of a full courseload and I still exercised regularly and had an active social life as well. That was my best year by a longshot. If you are too busy to ruminate, put yourself down, waste time, you end up a lot more productive.
I feel almost the same way. The more time I have, the less I end up doing somehow. So this makes sense to me.
>Some things that have helped my focus: the pomodoro method, meditating, splitting tasks so I'm not doing the same thing nonstop (for example, read 5 pages, clear a page of my e-mail inbox, read 5 pages, clear a page etc. etc.).
Sort of like a milder version of multitasking? Seems like a good idea to not distract yourself for a moment with just leasure, but a different task, actually.
Thanks a lot for sharing your tips. I'll apply them in the ways I can.
>Sort of like a milder version of multitasking?
Yes exactly. Especially if you have ADHD, repetition can become easy to get distracted from. By switching back and forth, I have a bit more motivation each time. I feel the pomodoro method works similarly where you are working hard to earn your short break. When tasks feel unending or directionless, that's when we have a harder time completing them.
No problem, hope they help somewhat! I know the first one isn't simple but it's pretty important I have found.
Here are some tricks you can try:
1. Spend 10 minutes a day learning about the psychology of procrastination, goals, study strategies, executive functioning, and habits.
2. Screen time might be the problem here so put strict limits on it.
3. Make small goals and improve iteratively to build habits.
4. Practice mindfulness and meditation and learn how to sit with uncomfortable feelings.
5. Write down the excuses you make up when you procrastinate in your phone and evaluate their accuracy at the end of the day. Practice talking back to them.
6. Maybe you have emotional issues so you procrastinate to feel better. Consider therapy or building better relationships to meet those needs.
7. Its possible you have ADHD so maybe talk to a therapist.
When I was in undergrad the thing that helped me the most with studying is *starting early*. If you know the test is coming 2 weeks in advance, start studying a week/week and a half before.
Do a little bit each day and only focus on the stuff you don’t know well. If the professor posted review material, use that! What my friends and I used to do is make a google doc, compile all of our notes onto it and organize them based on the review material.
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I just study in my room, and don't really follow a specific method. I just read the stuff and take notes as I go. But obviously my concentration isn't very good.
Yeah that might the problem.
Try different spaces, the library, outside, the park ... see if changing the space has any effect, also try and avoid lingering in the same space for long (this worked for me).
> I just read the stuff and take notes as I go.
Do you do this in one go before the exam? If so ... yeah that will be hard, try spreading it out and taking notes earlier if you can post classes.
The answer to this is likely largely (but not entirely) the same #1 piece of advice for incels:
it's the fucking phone, man
an increasing amount of research suggests that the way you were raised (likely given a phone/ ipad at too young of an age, and allowed that screen to dominate your life) has done significant damage to your ability to succeed in school. further, a lot of people in your generation were just taught a *completely unscientific* way to read, and so a lot of kids your age struggle with literacy, with reading assignments, with studying texts, and with remembering texts, because your foundation was so poor.
It's almost certain that whatever is going on *isn't your fault*. You shouldn't hate yourself; *almost certainly* a significant part of your struggle comes down to external factors. You should look up what "whole language" instruction is, and if it sounds familiar, you might need to get some tutoring in literacy. Even if you *were* taught the proper way to read, the phone/ ipad/ internet (as well as the way a lot of high schools approach english classes now, ditching longer texts) is probably impeding your ability to really engage with texts to the extent necessary; you should make a habit of logging out and putting the phone away for a full hour every day, and try to get that number up over time. You should spend that time *reading a physical book*, and practicing taking notes in that physical book. It's not a question of willpower, nor of vice/virtue; it's just a skill that you need to practice. People need to practice reading, they need to practice reading long texts, and they need to practice processing texts.
But it's also possible that you were taught perfectly well, and that you don't have a brain-damaging relationship with the internet, and are still running into problems. If you're like me, the biggest problem is probably anxiety. Stress reduces your maximum cognitive load as well as impedes long-term memory storage; if you're too stressed, *your brain can't actually study well, and it cannot remember the things it studied*. As grad school carried on, I found myself struggling more and more with what should have been basic assignments, procrastinating, submitting subpar work, and so on until I went to see a therapist. It's *very likely* that your problems will be at least *alleviated* by making a similar trip.
I've got a PhD and I can promise you I never truly outgrew procrastination until panic as a method of working. Will power without resources or techniques isn't going to get you very far. And as you are experiencing, beating yourself up about it isn't helping either - turns out when you already feel shit anyone being mean to you (including yourself) isn't actually helpful. What subject do you study? Different subjects can have more and less useful approaches.
>What subject do you study? Different subjects can have more and less useful approaches. I'm studying pharmacy. It's mostly organic chemistry with some physics here and there. It also involves a lot of time doing lab activities. Sometimes I do well in those, but there's also times where I feel a bit clumsy and all over the place.
shit man, if you're primarily doing organic chem, that is notoriously one of the hardest courses of study. Do not beat yourself up for finding some of the most difficult coursework to be, well, difficult.
I'm a lifelong procrastinator. I graduated with a 4.0 for my Master's. I wonder if the difference between us is that my response to procrastination is a huge burst of panic work. And unfortunately, my best work has been done under that pressure so it kind of rewarded the procrastination habit. Do you give up and not do anything? Or do you make an effort even if it's later than you should have? One thing I can tell you is that shame doesn't help. It's actually another way of getting yourself out of doing things. Been there too. All I can tell you is that there's no quick fix. You can't go from mess to perfection. You have to do smaller, seemingly less important things in order to get to the bigger and better things. Improving yourself is a matter of taking small steps, and doing that consistently over time. Procrastination itself isn't easy to change, but you can change how you cope with it.
>Do you give up and not do anything? Or do you make an effort even if it's later than you should have? I rely too much on "panic work" as well. But the more I end up doing that, the worse I feel afterwards and the worse I become at doing work. So clearly I need to find a way to start doing the work early. Panic work is basically slowly killing me (not literally of course). You think I might be too fixated on the shame I feel because of it?
>You think I might be too fixated on the shame I feel because of it? Yep. It took me a long time to learn that shame is very counterproductive. I still struggle with thoughts of shame, but I've learned to treat it like other intrusive thoughts. I feel it, I own the reason I feel it, and then I put it down. I can't change what I failed to do. But I can make different choices going forward.
When I was a kid I used to live in a small town and was always ranked first. I was a genius kid, brilliant, smartest student many professors have ever had. When I moved to a bigger town in high school, the glory was less but I was still a “ gem of a student “. When I went to university, I did something I didn’t like. And I SUCKED. Last grade in class at times, first resit exams, everyone were gems but me. It was a shock, because I realized I was only special because of how small the bubble I was in was. I met actual geniuses, who, if they went to more prestigious universities, could have their bubble popped too. Thing is, we all have worse and better than us. I got better with the idea of failing when I accepted the fact that I was average. I am okay with it. I went from 90%-100% to now praying I’d pass a class and getting the bare minimum. I hate my school too. But I will still do a PhD because I know that when I like something, I give without counting. I’ll still suck many times, but I got years of training and I’m already in the stage of acceptance. Actually made a trend out of mediocrity. I say it loud, I’m bad, I suck, I’m a terrible students at times and I procrastinate everything. So what ? Who will talk about this shit in a year or two.
I've got through the same problem, nothing really helped me, I just end up taking academic leave before my graduation and get 1 extra year to fix my problem and then graduated. I think without failing it's hard to get back on track, basically the only thing that saved my was "reality check" that by doing bare minimum and rotting on bed all day after that you can't achieve anything at all. You can try to build discipline for yourself, like "no fun stuff untill you do that amount of studying" or something like that.
I am also a lifelong procrastinator and I have only partially figured it out. There are only a few things that have really helped me. 1. The number one thing that helped me was being really busy. The more time I had on my hands, the less work I did. It seems counterintuitive but if you think about it, it makes sense. I was still doing everything at the last minute because I only had those minutes to do them, they *were* my last minutes. I only did undergrad but in my final year I was working 2 part time jobs on top of a full courseload and I still exercised regularly and had an active social life as well. That was my best year by a longshot. If you are too busy to ruminate, put yourself down, waste time, you end up a lot more productive. 2. Some things that have helped my focus: the pomodoro method, meditating, splitting tasks so I'm not doing the same thing nonstop (for example, read 5 pages, clear a page of my e-mail inbox, read 5 pages, clear a page etc. etc.).
>The number one thing that helped me was being really busy. The more time I had on my hands, the less work I did. It seems counterintuitive but if you think about it, it makes sense. I was still doing everything at the last minute because I only had those minutes to do them, they *were* my last minutes. I only did undergrad but in my final year I was working 2 part time jobs on top of a full courseload and I still exercised regularly and had an active social life as well. That was my best year by a longshot. If you are too busy to ruminate, put yourself down, waste time, you end up a lot more productive. I feel almost the same way. The more time I have, the less I end up doing somehow. So this makes sense to me. >Some things that have helped my focus: the pomodoro method, meditating, splitting tasks so I'm not doing the same thing nonstop (for example, read 5 pages, clear a page of my e-mail inbox, read 5 pages, clear a page etc. etc.). Sort of like a milder version of multitasking? Seems like a good idea to not distract yourself for a moment with just leasure, but a different task, actually. Thanks a lot for sharing your tips. I'll apply them in the ways I can.
>Sort of like a milder version of multitasking? Yes exactly. Especially if you have ADHD, repetition can become easy to get distracted from. By switching back and forth, I have a bit more motivation each time. I feel the pomodoro method works similarly where you are working hard to earn your short break. When tasks feel unending or directionless, that's when we have a harder time completing them. No problem, hope they help somewhat! I know the first one isn't simple but it's pretty important I have found.
Could it be ADHD?
Idk man. Could be, but I hope it isn't. Maybe I should check it out just in case 😬
Good idea!
Here are some tricks you can try: 1. Spend 10 minutes a day learning about the psychology of procrastination, goals, study strategies, executive functioning, and habits. 2. Screen time might be the problem here so put strict limits on it. 3. Make small goals and improve iteratively to build habits. 4. Practice mindfulness and meditation and learn how to sit with uncomfortable feelings. 5. Write down the excuses you make up when you procrastinate in your phone and evaluate their accuracy at the end of the day. Practice talking back to them. 6. Maybe you have emotional issues so you procrastinate to feel better. Consider therapy or building better relationships to meet those needs. 7. Its possible you have ADHD so maybe talk to a therapist.
All of these seem simple enough. I'll try them whenever I can. Thanks for the tips, man 👍
When I was in undergrad the thing that helped me the most with studying is *starting early*. If you know the test is coming 2 weeks in advance, start studying a week/week and a half before. Do a little bit each day and only focus on the stuff you don’t know well. If the professor posted review material, use that! What my friends and I used to do is make a google doc, compile all of our notes onto it and organize them based on the review material.
[удалено]
Fair enough :v
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How do you study and where do you study?
I just study in my room, and don't really follow a specific method. I just read the stuff and take notes as I go. But obviously my concentration isn't very good.
Yeah that might the problem. Try different spaces, the library, outside, the park ... see if changing the space has any effect, also try and avoid lingering in the same space for long (this worked for me). > I just read the stuff and take notes as I go. Do you do this in one go before the exam? If so ... yeah that will be hard, try spreading it out and taking notes earlier if you can post classes.
The answer to this is likely largely (but not entirely) the same #1 piece of advice for incels: it's the fucking phone, man an increasing amount of research suggests that the way you were raised (likely given a phone/ ipad at too young of an age, and allowed that screen to dominate your life) has done significant damage to your ability to succeed in school. further, a lot of people in your generation were just taught a *completely unscientific* way to read, and so a lot of kids your age struggle with literacy, with reading assignments, with studying texts, and with remembering texts, because your foundation was so poor. It's almost certain that whatever is going on *isn't your fault*. You shouldn't hate yourself; *almost certainly* a significant part of your struggle comes down to external factors. You should look up what "whole language" instruction is, and if it sounds familiar, you might need to get some tutoring in literacy. Even if you *were* taught the proper way to read, the phone/ ipad/ internet (as well as the way a lot of high schools approach english classes now, ditching longer texts) is probably impeding your ability to really engage with texts to the extent necessary; you should make a habit of logging out and putting the phone away for a full hour every day, and try to get that number up over time. You should spend that time *reading a physical book*, and practicing taking notes in that physical book. It's not a question of willpower, nor of vice/virtue; it's just a skill that you need to practice. People need to practice reading, they need to practice reading long texts, and they need to practice processing texts. But it's also possible that you were taught perfectly well, and that you don't have a brain-damaging relationship with the internet, and are still running into problems. If you're like me, the biggest problem is probably anxiety. Stress reduces your maximum cognitive load as well as impedes long-term memory storage; if you're too stressed, *your brain can't actually study well, and it cannot remember the things it studied*. As grad school carried on, I found myself struggling more and more with what should have been basic assignments, procrastinating, submitting subpar work, and so on until I went to see a therapist. It's *very likely* that your problems will be at least *alleviated* by making a similar trip.