I really need some help with the concept of time management.....

[Istarus]

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Hello,

I am a premed student, but I don't know how long this status will last. I currently have a 3.1 GPA with 67 credits under my belt. Still time to improve this, as my states schools are my #1 choice of schools, and I'm not dying to get in to some top 10 school. However, this thread is not about my GPA.

Basically, I am the worst procrastinator in the world. I know we all kid, and we all say this to our friends, but for me, it is true. After 2 years of college, you would I think I would learn how to manage my time wisely. But at times, I feel like it gets worse.




I don't know how standard this is, but for me, my schedule usually goes something like this: Go to class, go through the motions, chill, go out, and relax for 2-3 weeks. Then, the week or so before exams, break out the books, notes, etc and start studying. This is what I ALWAYS do. And within days of the exam, I start making deals with myself. For example, I'll make a mental note of how stressed I may be at that time, and may remind myself to never do this again. Yet, then I do it again.

Within days of the exam, I'll even start to skip other classes just to study or work on some project before it is due. I really hate doing things this way, and I really don't know how common or uncommon these habits may be for college students.

I know I can be a good student. I know I have the capabilities. The work aspect needs to come into play for me though. The sad part is, it never does. Once I finish the stretch of exams, the stress is lifted, and I feel great. I then tell myself to relax and chill for a few days. The next thing I know, 2 weeks have gone by, the next series of exams has come along, and I'm breaking out the books the week before.

I don't know if I actually have some kind of mental/psychological issue, or if I just don't have the will or character to push myself to do work every day. I know that if I did work every day, if I studied every single day, then I would be a better student, and would currently be in a better position (in terms of my GPA) to become a future acceptant into my state school.

If anyone could post something inspiring, motivating, or even your own personal experiences, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[sosarah]

Hello,

I am a premed student, but I don't know how long this status will last. I currently have a 3.1 GPA with 67 credits under my belt. Still time to improve this, as my states schools are my #1 choice of schools, and I'm not dying to get in to some top 10 school. However, this thread is not about my GPA.

Basically, I am the worst procrastinator in the world. I know we all kid, and we all say this to our friends, but for me, it is true. After 2 years of college, you would I think I would learn how to manage my time wisely. But at times, I feel like it gets worse.




I don't know how standard this is, but for me, my schedule usually goes something like this: Go to class, go through the motions, chill, go out, and relax for 2-3 weeks. Then, the week or so before exams, break out the books, notes, etc and start studying. This is what I ALWAYS do. And within days of the exam, I start making deals with myself. For example, I'll make a mental note of how stressed I may be at that time, and may remind myself to never do this again. Yet, then I do it again.

Within days of the exam, I'll even start to skip other classes just to study or work on some project before it is due. I really hate doing things this way, and I really don't know how common or uncommon these habits may be for college students.

I know I can be a good student. I know I have the capabilities. The work aspect needs to come into play for me though. The sad part is, it never does. Once I finish the stretch of exams, the stress is lifted, and I feel great. I then tell myself to relax and chill for a few days. The next thing I know, 2 weeks have gone by, the next series of exams has come along, and I'm breaking out the books the week before.

I don't know if I actually have some kind of mental/psychological issue, or if I just don't have the will or character to push myself to do work every day. I know that if I did work every day, if I studied every single day, then I would be a better student, and would currently be in a better position (in terms of my GPA) to become a future acceptant into my state school.

If anyone could post something inspiring, motivating, or even your own personal experiences, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

This sucks because I know exactly how you feel. I am exactly the same way. But I think if we take a step back and look at the situation honestly, we both know the answer to your questions. We just have to suck it up and put the hard work in whether we like it or not.

 

[Moon1234]

I was reading your post, and it was like reading my own... journal. Sometimes I think, how am I getting by? Shouldn't I have been punished for this yet? I mean my grades are not stellar, BCPM grades so far have been B,B,C,B and a possible F, no kidding, but just wanted to ask: is the 3.1 your BCPM gpa or your overall gpa? Lucky for me, I chose an 'easy' (for me) major, communications, so my gpa is a 3.8 or so otherwise. I do the same thing, with the tests. My ochem exam is in exactly two weeks and I haven't picked up the textbook since Dec 14th... the day of my final.... which kicked my butt. All I can say is, you're not alone, I think some of us have those procrastinator genes and as my uncle says, who is this incredibly intelligent surgeon, "as long as you get it done".

 

[sawood]

Okay, please take the following post as a funky story to illustrate a point that will hopefully help you snap out of it and study better....

There are times when I try really really hard to pick up shirt off the floor. I mean, I sit there and try and try. I lean down, reach out my hand, bring it closer to the shirt, but I never quite succeed in picking the shirt up, and it remains laying there in a crumpled heap. Time and time again I try to pick that shirt up off the floor, but I just always get distracted, discouraged, and never end up being able to do it. I think I have a mental issue, maybe I'm one of those people that just can't pick clothes up off the floor.

That sound weird? Probably because you either pick up the shirt, or you don't. There's no 'try' because its something you either do or you don't do, there is no in between.

Either you study, or you don't. Its a choice. The minute you understand that its a choice and not some weird 'procrastination gene' that 'makes' you procrastinate, then you'll understand that you have just as much control over whether or not you study for tests as the next person.

Except the next person didn't think about 'trying' to study for the test ahead of time, she just did it.

The solution to your problem is simple: choose to study sooner and more often. Its not rocket science. It just takes you actually doing it.

Good luck.

 

[135892]

Okay, please take the following post as a funky story to illustrate a point that will hopefully help you snap out of it and study better....

There are times when I try really really hard to pick up shirt off the floor. I mean, I sit there and try and try. I lean down, reach out my hand, bring it closer to the shirt, but I never quite succeed in picking the shirt up, and it remains laying there in a crumpled heap. Time and time again I try to pick that shirt up off the floor, but I just always get distracted, discouraged, and never end up being able to do it. I think I have a mental issue, maybe I'm one of those people that just can't pick clothes up off the floor.

That sound weird? Probably because you either pick up the shirt, or you don't. There's no 'try' because its something you either do or you don't do, there is no in between.

Either you study, or you don't. Its a choice. The minute you understand that its a choice and not some weird 'procrastination gene' that 'makes' you procrastinate, then you'll understand that you have just as much control over whether or not you study for tests as the next person.

Except the next person didn't think about 'trying' to study for the test ahead of time, she just did it.

The solution to your problem is simple: choose to study sooner and more often. Its not rocket science. It just takes you actually doing it.

Good luck.

👍

Seriously, there is nothing confusing about this. Either you want to do better, and thus study more, or you don't care to do any better and you don't study as much. But I mean if you enjoy just having fun, and doing ok in school, then you should just do that. If you get no satisfaction whatsoever from studying, then you shouldn't really torture yourself to do so.

 

[Auron]

I would recommend you study daily, even if you feel you don't need too. Study every single day. Set deadlines for yourself for assignments. Once you start studying everyday it becomes a habit and eventually you'll do it with no problem. The hardest part is to start the routine. Remember, procrastination breeds procrastination.

 

[PanicAttack]

I do empathize, OP. A lot of us never actually learned how to study in high school because we never really needed to besides a little cramming. But cramming isn't sustainable at the sophomore/junior premed level.

Here's a tip for daily studying - after each lecture: at the end of your notes, jot down 5 major ideas that were covered for the day. These should be the "take-home" lessons of the day (maybe not 5, more or less depending on the rigor of the course). Next, write the same number of possible test questions (if you were teaching the course, what would you put on the test). Put each question on one side of a 3 X 5 notecard, and the answer on the other. It will help your brain package the information in a meaningful way, and you'll have a stack of study questions by the end of the unit. Best of all, it only takes about 10 or 15 minutes, but that time adds up and is much more valuable than a cram.

As the course moves on, you'll have a better idea of what the professor is going to ask and focus on, so you should get better at anticipating test items.

Hope that helps, it definitely worked for me.

 

[Isoprop]

what do you guys do when you stop caring for the last 3-5 weeks of the term? i get that A LOT.

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

what do you guys do when you stop caring for the last 3-5 weeks of the term? i get that A LOT.

I write on my dry erase board- "Do what you gotta do so you can do what you wanna do" and quote it over and over so that I make myself care.

I also remove myself from my normal environment to study-usually that means going to the library for a long time but I also will go out to the lake house of the family I nanny for which is the PERFECT place to study!

 

[metalmd06]

what you really should do is space your work and studying out over a longer period of time. Think of all the time you spend cramming that final week. Now, think of how much more time you would have if you had spaced that work out over the previous 2-3 weeks. I know exactly what its like to be under a time crunch. Imagine working 9-5, going to class from 6-9, going home and studying until 2-4am, then waking up and doing it all again. Now imagine studying for three finals at Harvard within a span of 4 days under the same circumstances. If I hadn't spread everything out over the course of the semester, I would have drowned. Study every day and review concepts weekly and as necessary. Basically, don't make it any harder than it already is. And, believe in yourself! Good luck!

 

[thebeatblitz]

Your situation is just the majority of college kids that haven't held a job or done anything with a routine schedule.

Think of it like running. The first few weeks are terrible; I wanted to kill myself at the start of every new season when I had to get up at 5:00 AM to run poles for no reason other than ****s and giggles. Eventually, you get used to doing it.

Make it a habit of studying everyday at the same time for a small period. 1 hour max. Just review your stuff, and it will make your life much easier. You have to get over the "hump" of getting your body acclimated to doing repetition.

Most people fail at getting over the hump.

 

[nevercold]

There is definitely an extent to which you have to just "decide" to study rather than procrastinating, but the psychology of procrastination is a little bit more complex.

Usually people procrastinate because they are scared. Procrastination is avoiding the completion of an action, so there must be some trepidation related to the action to cause the avoidance right?

For me, I procrastinate when I'm not sure how to do something, I procrastinate when I don't value something and deep down worry that I will be just wasting my time on it, I procrastinate because I don't know if I can get everything done in time (ironic, yes) and sometimes I procrastinate because I don't want to wake up some day and realize all I've done for the past month is complete a series of tasks without actually feeling like I lived the way I want to live. It just *feels* easier to avoid it all and not deal with it.

This is no way to go about things and here is why. You should step back and look at what tasks lie in front of you. If you are smart and know yourself, you will have chosen courses that you can be interested in and that you want to learn to help you in your future career. You will have chosen experiences that can enrich your life, so no need to worry about time lost to doing homework or other tasks. You should also learn to trust yourself. After all, you manage to get all this stuff done pretty well when you don't even give yourself enough time, so now you have to start trusting that you can do it if you start early and also trust that you might be able to get even more out of the experience. Finally, everyone has to constantly learn and find their way. No one is "there" yet. A daunting assignment should not discourage you, but be seen as an opportunity to try--an opportunity to keep moving.

I like this quote from an animated movie, "Keep moving forward." It's not a bad philosophy.

 

[joyrunner]

There is definitely an extent to which you have to just "decide" to study rather than procrastinating, but the psychology of procrastination is a little bit more complex.

Usually people procrastinate because they are scared. Procrastination is avoiding the completion of an action, so there must be some trepidation related to the action to cause the avoidance right?

For me, I procrastinate when I'm not sure how to do something, I procrastinate when I don't value something and deep down worry that I will be just wasting my time on it, I procrastinate because I don't know if I can get everything done in time (ironic, yes) and sometimes I procrastinate because I don't want to wake up some day and realize all I've done for the past month is complete a series of tasks without actually feeling like I lived the way I want to live. It just *feels* easier to avoid it all and not deal with it.

This is no way to go about things and here is why. You should step back and look at what tasks lie in front of you. If you are smart and know yourself, you will have chosen courses that you can be interested in and that you want to learn to help you in your future career. You will have chosen experiences that can enrich your life, so no need to worry about time lost to doing homework or other tasks. You should also learn to trust yourself. After all, you manage to get all this stuff done pretty well when you don't even give yourself enough time, so now you have to start trusting that you can do it if you start early and also trust that you might be able to get even more out of the experience. Finally, everyone has to constantly learn and find their way. No one is "there" yet. A daunting assignment should not discourage you, but be seen as an opportunity to try--an opportunity to keep moving.

I like this quote from an animated movie, "Keep moving forward." It's not a bad philosophy.

I agree completely. I read in a book that there's sort of an "action bell-curve" with emotion on the x-axis and action on the y-axis, so when your emotions are in the middle, not too high and not too low, we get the most done. So if you are scared of failing to not procrastinate, you are likely to do nothing. The last few days before a test, you have no choice but to reign in the emotions and study. I do the same thing. Oddly, even before I knew about this aspect of procrastination, I noticed that I did much better in school when I was busy. Get a job or commit to a routine such as joining a committee or sports team. If you fill up the part of your schedule that's empty, you won't be not studying out of fear, and when you do get an hour or two in the day or night to study, you'll take advantage of it. I hear a lot of people in school with jobs say that they do better with a job than without.

 

[TheMemoirist]

I would recommend you study daily, even if you feel you don't need too. Study every single day. Set deadlines for yourself for assignments. Once you start studying everyday it becomes a habit and eventually you'll do it with no problem. The hardest part is to start the routine. Remember, procrastination breeds procrastination.

Great advice. When I switched from being an English major to being a science/pre-med major, I learned really quickly that you simply have to study to get by--not just look at your books, but engage yourself with them. My dad gave me pretty much the best advice ever--go to the library, every day, and make yourself study, no matter what. I know it doesn't sound like awe-inspiring advice, but up until that point, I hadn't developed a serious or worthwhile study routine. Getting my @$$ to the library helped block out other distractions and made me focus. If you want to go to med school, you'll definitely need to start getting into better study habits now, or you will be eaten alive in med school. Good luck!

 

[speeter]

Pure brain power won't get you through any more. You have to put in some time. There are lots of smart people with no work ethic that end up jobless.

 

[AWhitehair]

Your situation is just the majority of college kids that haven't held a job or done anything with a routine schedule.

Think of it like running. The first few weeks are terrible; I wanted to kill myself at the start of every new season when I had to get up at 5:00 AM to run poles for no reason other than ****s and giggles. Eventually, you get used to doing it.

Make it a habit of studying everyday at the same time for a small period. 1 hour max. Just review your stuff, and it will make your life much easier. You have to get over the "hump" of getting your body acclimated to doing repetition.

Most people fail at getting over the hump.

This is true. Treat school like a FT job. Set a schedule and stick to it. If you need the extra push, pretend as though you have a boss and he/she will catch you if you come in late or leave early, this breeds accountability. Try to realize that if you weren't in college you would be having to work anyway, at least this way you are on your way to doing what you want. If you do not build a good work ethic/study ethic now, you will struggle in med school and your residency later.

 

[Jolie South]

what helped me not procrastinate was studying outside of my house. if i was at home, i would just watch tv, get on the internet, or find some other reason to be lazy and do nothing.

coffee shops worked best for me. once i got there and got to work, there were no distractions and i couldn't make excuses not to stay and study.

also, whenever i had breaks between classes during the day, i would find a place to study or catch up on reading instead of going back home and chilling.

 

[sunny1]

Agree with the others on here. You have to put yourself in a spot where there are no distractions and it's just you and the books, so your only option is to study.

For me, that's the library at a desk on a top floor overlooking the mountains with headphones and music to drown out background noise. Whether you want to study or not, you're there. So you'll study. I find that once I get started, it's not so bad.

It's just like exercising. You feel better about yourself after exercising (and you'll feel better about yourself after studying). But getting to the gym is the hardest part for lots of people. Now the question is whether you can force yourself to walk over to the library or whatever location it is that cuts you off from other distractions.😉

 

[aaj117]

Have you ever considered the possibility that you may be depressed? I know that when my depression got really bad it effected my schoolwork significantly; i was never able to concentrate or study, always felt like i deserved a break, deserved to sleep in, sometimes i wouldn't get out of bed all day because i just couldn't. Obviously that's an extreme case, but i notice when i'm off my medication or just entering into a period of depression that i do the same thing to myself. Maybe you should see a counselor and see if they can help figure out why you do this to yourself.