Making things happen

[kizzless]

So, almost entirely through my own procrastination, I have an extremely heavy workload of school this summer. I am taking 5 courses at the moment, 2 of which are intended to be full year courses, and I am trying to get them done before September. If they aren't done in time, I have to wait a whole year to try and apply for the masters program I want, which is something I really don't want to do.

I'm just really struggling with it. I need to be doing about 7 hours of school work per day, and my brain just isn't wired that way. I'm not good at memorizing at the best of times, and it's all heavy schoolwork (no fun light classes). It's also all online coursework, so it's quite challenging to make it all happen in a timely manner.

So my question is for those who have set themselves challenging tasks like this before (I'm thinking primarily of school, but really it's for anyone who's had to do something really hard to accomplish something they really want). What did you do to help yourself say on target? What helped you buckle down when you really just wanted to crawl back into bed and ignore the giant pile of work waiting for you? Anything that I might be able to apply in my life?

I'm already working the improved study habits and study space thing, and I'm trying to get out to coffee shops/non-home settings to help me focus. I'm also trying to make sure I get lots of exercise and good food to keep my body healthy. But any other ideas? This is really important to me, but it's hard to stay on task when there are so many other areas of my life that pull me in other directions.

[KBlue]

When I have a lot to study, I rotate through things. I'll work for a bit (maybe 1/2 hour unless I get sucked into it, which is also fine) on something mentally challenging, then I'll work on something that requires memorization, then I'll take a break and make food or take a walk or something like that (but limit myself to an hour), and then I repeat. When it's late at night, I just do the sort of mindless busy work things. I also intersperse exercise into periods of work, I'll get down and do 10 pushups, jump rope, go for a bike ride, etc. This sort of rotating studying works for me. I also schedule in rewards, such as, when I get done with this chapter or this paper I'm going to... (go out for ice cream with friends, take a lesson on my horse, fill in the blank with something exciting and fun for you, something you wouldn't normally treat yourself to).

Also, constantly reminding yourself exactly WHY you want this, and how getting through this course or this test or this paper will help you get there, may be motivational.

[Rachael]

That's a hard summer, and I am sure online courses are really, really hard. I felt the same way when I was writing my MCATS last summer; I had this massive book to study and I felt like all my friends were out sitting in the sun.

Do you know anyone in the courses or is there anyway you can connect with people online and suggest a once a week study group (online or not)? Sometimes it is easier to motivate yourself when you have someone to be accountable to. If not, do you have any friends that are also in school this summer, that you could organize study dates with? I have trouble getting to the library in the mornings sometimes, but I find if I make plans with someone to meet them at a certain time, I was much better at following through. That also gives you someone to have coffee breaks, walks with etc even if they are working on something different

I really agree with what KBlue suggested about rotating through, and giving yourself a reward, even if it's just a small walk, whatever, That's great advice.

I find it's best to assign myself a really strict schedule for every week with as much planned out as possible including where I'm going to study, breaks etc. Then make it a habit to stick to it, and it might help you get into a routine. I plan everything, even if it's just a 15 minute break to surf the internet.

If you have a lot to memorize and you are finding it hard, maybe change the way you are going about studying a bit. Don't just read things over, instead make charts and vocab lists with columns or words blanked out and then practice filling them in to make sure you are absorbing things. I did this kind of thing a lot and I found not only did it help me absorb better but it also kept me more engaged in my work.

As far as getting out of bed in the morning, don't get out of bed for school, try and give yourself something you look forward to a little in the mornings, even if it's just a really nice cup of coffee and 1/2 hour to read the paper, watch TV whatever... and then hopefully by the time you're really awake and get your head in the right place you might feel a little more motivated.

Finally try and print out or copy down what you'll need for the day and leave your computer at home as much as possible (might be hard with an online course). The internet is so terrible for procrastination sometimes!

good luck!

[Anna Leigh]

GET ENOUGH SLEEP!!!!

Aside from that....one learning tactic that works really well for me is to teach whatever I am studying to someone else. If I can verbalize and explain it to someone else, then I know I REALLY know the material. So if you can find someone to "teach" (they don't really have to learn your subject matter, just be willing to listen to you talk about it) then you might find that helpful. It might be a bit different for you though, as most of my school work has not involved memorization and traditional "studying".

[twpArwen]

My life is kind of like this, most of the time. I have an enormous amount of work to do and the only way that it will get done within something approaching a normal workweek is to be very disciplined about it. So a couple of hints:

Don't fight your body. You probably know by now at what time in the day you are the most alert and sharp naturally. I am at my peak energy in the morning so I start my day by blasting away at lots of small tasks that need to get done, rapid-fire. I save work that takes more time, but maybe less mental energy, for the afternoon when I am not as motivated.

Tasks that are relatively easy and not high-energy, like say, reading, I will put aside and save those for when I have some time that isn't the best quality time, like for example I on a Sunday afternoon while doing my laundry, I can do that reading. I've learned that it is real waste of my morning energy to spend it on something like reading that I can do when my energy isn't quite as up.

I like to see my list of things to do... I use a whiteboard in my office and each Monday morning I write my list of stuff that absolutely needs to get done in the week out on the whiteboard. It's there at a glance, if I finish one thing and I'm wondering, what should I do now, I look at the whiteboard and move on to the next thing on the list. There's a lot of satisfaction when I can cross something off on the whiteboard too.

The biggest thing I have learned is that nothing is ever as bad as it seems. I often don't like to start a project because it just seems to big and insurmountable. But usually once I get going, things start to fall into place and it doesn't seem so bad. So let's say I have an intimidatingly huge research project, I'll tell myself, all that I am going to now is a few basic internet searches just to get an idea of what is out there. That's all, I'm not going indepth with the research just yet. And then once I am into those basic internet searches, I'm learning, figuring out where I'm going, and it picks up it's own momentum. As soon as you break off one small piece to get started, a big project never seems that bad.

Finally make sure to take good care of yourself. I maintain a heavy workload but I have learned that I cannot do it without a lot of personal maintanance. I need to eat healthily, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. Sometimes I fall into the trap of skipping the gym or eating fast food to save time, but it doesn't save time at all because I start to feel like crap and I can't work as well. Taking the time to exercise, eat well and sleep pays off with increased energy that allows you to work at your most efficient. I realize you said you already do this, just wanted to underscore it.