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Mitigating Circumstances and anxiety

Albino BunnyAlbino Bunny JackieRegistered User regular
edited December 2013 in Help / Advice Forum
So, last year I did my first year of university. This year I'm doing it again because I fucked up and lost a USB drive for one subject and more or less dropped out of another.

Now I'm sitting in a lecture hall trying to work on an assignment that was supposed to be in last week which I thought wasn't in till January. Yet I still just find myself staring at the screen and procrastinating. With any luck I'll be talking to a Uni Councillor regarding my issues with in the week and if I get a miracle I'll get mitigating circumstances and be able to submit late.

I don't really know why I'm posting this, I guess just to vent because I can't talk to someone about it without getting angry or crying and even doing things like checking my e-mail or assignments makes me feel like I'm going to throw up.

Albino Bunny on

Posts

  • ThundyrkatzThundyrkatz Registered User regular
    Good that you are going to go talk to a councilor, admitting you need help is an important first step.

    For me, it was important to understand what was distracting me. I found that I could not work in my room, I had to go to the library or somewhere away from my bed, and TV, and refrigerator! Also, I had a job on the weekends, so there was not going to be time to do school work then, so all work had to be done before then. Lastly, I found that I was burnt out by 7pm. So I stopped studying after that.

    Also, there were some things I was just not going to be able to get to, if it was not going to be graded then it would get pushed to the bottom of my to do list.

    Lastly, I found that I could get most of the info I needed when reading material by just reading the right hand page, and any bold text and captions.

    you have to find what works for you, and stick with it.

  • ThunderSaidThunderSaid Registered User regular
    Since you say you're not sure what kind of advice you're looking for, I'm just going to give you the advice I think you need: Fix your current messes, and then put more effort into avoiding them in the first place.

    Part one: Talking to the councilor is a fine idea, if that's the way things are done at your school. You should also talk to the professor. He or she may be willing to work with you if you explain what's going on. When talking to the professor, I would suggest making very few, if any, excuses. I would suggest making plenty of apologies instead. Then you need to take whatever steps they recommend to fix your current problem. I expect that a big part of that is going to be getting your assignment done.

    Part two: I can't tell from your post if you've got big league, gets-you-some-sort-of-special-exemption-type issues, or just the normal slacker college student issues. If it's the first, the councilor can probably help you better than anyone on the internet can. If it's the second, here are my personal tips for avoiding these problems in the future.

    1) Manage your due dates. Every professor I've ever had has given me a syllabus. Most of the time, the due dates for everything are on the syllabus. If a due date isn't on the syllabus, the professor will give it to you when the assignment is handed out. Go set up a google calendar, and make an event for every single assignment. Have the calendar email you a few days (or more, for larger assignments) before the due date to remind you to get to work. If you've got a major project that will take all semester, set up events for each major portion of the assignment, so that you have checkpoints to help you stay on track.
    2) Find a setting that you can work in (like Thundyrkatz mentioned). I personally need a library setting if I want to get any serious school work done. You might work best in your bedroom, a coffee shop, or somewhere totally random. Try different places until you find what works. Then go there and work.
    3) Starting an assignment is the most important part. Even if you don't get much done, review the assignment very soon after it's given to you and put at least a little time into starting it. Once you've got something started, your brain will subconciously work on it. You'll find that working more on it will be easier.
    3b) Most assignments don't have to be done in order. If you've got a paper to write, pick the easiest part and work on that first. If you have to answer questions from the textbook, pick the most interesting one first. Again, doing something is more important that what you do.
    4) Store your work in the cloud. You lost a USB drive and that caused you to fail a class? Seriously? Here's what you're going to do now: Go sign up for Evernote and Dropbox. Set up the Dropbox folder on your computer to have a folder for each class you take from now on. Save all of your work to the class folder. Make an Evernote notebook for each class. Take class notes in Evernote. If you don't work on your own computer, you can still access both of those services through a web interface. Upload everything you do. Even if you take notes by hand, take pictures of your notes and upload those. You will never lose your work again, and studying for finals will be so much easier.
    5) Get to know your professors. You're probably going to screw up again. Everyone does. It happens. This is your safety net. If you've been to the professor's office hours at least a few times during the semester, you're much more likely to get some slack if you run into trouble. It's easy to do. Just pick one or two things you don't really understand from the class, and go ask the professor about them. Do this a few times throughout the semester. The professor will remember you as a diligent student, and that will be nothing but helpful to you.

  • Albino BunnyAlbino Bunny Jackie Registered User regular
    Thank you for the responses. I do have a Google Docs after the USB incident :P though professor leeway means absolutely zilch under the system the university uses for late hand ins. Regarding the due dates thing it's 100% my fault. I'd checked the assignment specs several times over the semester yet still had the hand in date pegged for next month mentally as a result of what it was last year.

    To those concerned/curious the updated situation at the end of the day is that next Wednesday I'm seeing the councilor. Both for personal reasons and to file for mitigating circumstances based on my mental well being. Based on whether I get that or not determines whether I can continue my course.

    In the mean time I'm downloading Photoshop onto my home computer and asking my part time job for the weekend free in order to finish off the assignment. If I don't post either an image or audio file up on this thread Saturday or Sunday please feel free to slap me through the internet.

    The whole crisis isn't done yet but for now all I can do is wait for my slow internet to get Photoshop down.

  • davidsdurionsdavidsdurions Your Trusty Meatshield Panhandle NebraskaRegistered User regular
    I'm an awful procrastinator as well. Only two things have ever helped me in this regard. First, study partners. Multiples, for each class. One year I had one guy who was in every class I was, and we pushed each other through the classes, getting better grades and understanding the material way more in depth than we could possible have done without each other. We even set up a ritual where we would eat lunch after one class, hit the gym for an hour, go to the next class, then finish the homework for those two classes right then and there that afternoon. BUT, I know that isn't always an option as making a friend like that doesn't always work out.

    That leads me to the second thing that has worked for me but it isn't a fool-proof method by any means. Rewarding thyself. Usually I'm distracted by video games. Imagine that, on THIS forum of all places. But, if I could force myself to get an assignment done before granting myself an hour of whatever game I was hooked on, that would really help. Again, not perfect, but works maybe 60 percent of the time for me? That's better than nothing!

    Good luck and way to go with the seeing the counselor for all purposes!

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