Procrastination re Studying/Exams-Can anyone help me figure out why I do this to myself??

[DairyleaAndPickleOnAStick]

Been doing this for years now and need to figure out why I'm doing it, and more importantly how to change it!

I have never been able to study for exams.Ever. I have spent years literally walking into exam halls after spending a few hours frantically cramming and then either passing the exam due to having a good memory/grasp of the subject or totally bombing it. The pattern is always the same, each time I tell myself that next time I will study and every time I leave it until the day or even hours before!

I really need to get this sorted-I'm at my wit's end and I really feel that it's ruining my life. Can anyone help?

Hi Dairylea, that sounds very stressful! I used to do a similar thing to a lesser degree. Maybe it has become an insurmountable problem in your mind?

Next time you have an exam, could you find a friend from your course (advertise on the bulletin board if you don't have a friend on your course), and arrange a study session with them? You're more likely to do the revision if you're working with someone else, and may help you overcome the problem so you're happier to do it alone later?

You wouldn't do it if it wasn't working for you on some level iyswim. Are you self-sabotaging because you're scared to fail and it's easier to blame failures on lack of revision than fail even though you revised? I find the anxiety created by procrastinating is only reduced by getting on with the work. Maybe set yourself realistic goals, write down some objectives for each day and get on with it, you'll feel really good about yourself if you stick to it and that good feeling might spur you on. Also revise in smaller chunks, no more than 40 mins at a time and give yourself a 20 minute break. The brain is like a sponge and can't take in more than 5 hours worth of revision a day. Or so my psychology lecturer told me. Good luck.

Thanks for your responses and some good suggestions there.

I think there might be something in your comment Janet about self sabotaging- if I am doing this then what can I do to resolve this issue?

I am interested in this thread...I do thi all the time with all my coursework and other things in life..I always leave things until i have no further ime they HAVE to be done..then panic but always manage to do the task..just not to my best ability by far

Dropdead Snap. Out of interest, do you do this with exams?

Have to go out now but will come back this evening.

Hi Dairylea

My brilliant tip for coping with procrastination works for me - hope it works for you too.

I have a kitchen timer (the kind that ticks and then dings and that you can wind up). When I am procrastinating instead of doing what I should, I set the alarm for (usually) 1/2 an hour. I make a cup of tea/go to the loo etc before I set it so I have no excuse.

My agreement with myself is that I will not leave the desk and I will stay focused on the task in hand until the timer goes off. No cheating, no MNing, no internet, just work, until the timer goes off, then I can do whatever.

What always happens is that by the time the timer goes off I am so 'into' the work that I am fine to carry on.

It's the first 10 minutes that I find the hardest. Once you get that done, it's much easier to carry on.

It's easier on the ego to say 'I never passed the exam because I never revised' than 'I never passed it even though I revised my arse off'. Are you a perfectionist? Maybe you're lacking confidence in your abilities? Maybe you need to have a bit more faith in yourself. Writing a to-do list or a timetable and sticking to it will boost your self-esteem, procrastinating only makes you feel guilty.
Or it could be that your real interest is not academic and you'd rather be doing something else? If your long term goal requires that you pass these exams then perhaps it would be more important to you, if secretly you couldn't give a shit about passing and instead want to become a ballet dancer/dog walker/whatever then maybe that's why you're self-sabotaging.
Just a thought, sorry about the armchair psychology.

I like the timer idea and I think I'll try it out- you never know it might work.

I have seen the procrastinator's anonymous thread proles but I feel a bit edgy about it iykwim, must be the denial

Hmmmm interesting Janet I suspect I may be a bit of a perfectionist- never really considered it before but I do have these tendencies.
My real interest is definitely academic so that's not the reason- it must be more to do with the ego and being able to say I failed because I didn't study.I feel like I need to figure out why I'm doing this if I want to get it resolved and at the minute I'm pretty stumped!

Glad to hear there are others who have these problems though!

Dairylea - I do it with everything!! I do it with houseork, with getting ready to go out, with finishing coursework, revising etc etc
I have found myself getting better at organising my housework but still find that I CANNOT do work for uni until it needs doing..just can't..??

Maybe procrastination is a bit like dieting, it'd be nice to have a quick fix magic solution but really it's just a case of getting on with it - like losing weight is a case of eating less and exercising more.
Don't over think it, that's another form of procrastination! Make like the Nike slogan, 'just do it'!

I think you may be right there- I have over thinking as a form of procrastination down to a fine art
I am going to fish out my timer and do 40 mins study like bmc suggested!

Dropdead I am the same, it feels like a mental block doesn't it? I feel like I'm throwing a tantrum with some part of myself!!

Dairylea, thanks for starting this thread!
I have been thinking over this alot in the last few years looking back I have sabotaged so much.

I now know it is because I don't feel that I can b a success. it isn't possible, I am not good enough.

I am still doing it now, but at least I can check myself a bit and try to remind myself that I do deserve to get paid for this job, (and I only get paid if it is done well and therefore needs planning)

All my teenage years things were left to the last possib;e minute to give things every reason for failure. Proving myself right that I am rubbish.

I like the ethos of flylady because she "gets me" at the end of each email it says.

"You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.?"

Anyway good luck with your studying.. DH has a note on his computer that says JFDI! (just fucking do it!) it is his little mantra to himself!

this may help

Do yu think that's where it all stems from Greyskull? And can it be fixed?
Like the JFDI

Thanks for the link Katymac Someone on that link made the point that procrastinators often think that 30 mins/1 hr whatever isn't long enough to get enough/anything done and I know this is something that I often think- I need to spend 5 hours studying and I only have 1 hour so 'll just start tomorrow when I can fit the 5 hours in- Crazy but true!!!

I just think that procrastinating is part of the human condition. I do it, my DP does it, my kids did it when they were at home. I have friends who do it, so what's the big deal. Whatever it is gets done (later rather than sooner) and there's a rush in the end but that's just the way it is.

I am sure there are people who never put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today and good for them. They probably have an easier time of it in the long run.

Both my P and myself do a lot of displacement activity whilst procrastinating about something we don't want to do - we find things that really need doing first (they don't of course) but when we've run out of these activities we have to get down to whatever it is.

Why not just accept the way you are?

I honestly think I will fail my degree if I dont get over this thoug... I so identify with the time bingeing
I almost belive that cutting it to the last minutes means I am therefore forced to do the task..wheras I seem unable to get a task done early because I feel I am giving myself less time to do it..ifykwim, even though in reality I have less time by procrastinating...ho hum

i hope you don't mind me tagging onto your thread here.

i haven't been at university for quite a few years now, but I'm currently making myself feel ill by sabotaging myself at work.

i am a total perfectionist and actually almost did fail my degree, despite telling myself it wouldn't happen. As it was i did a lot worse than i know i could have, it still bugs me to this day. hope you can get things sorted, i didn't realise at 18/19 years old what i was doing to myself and have pretty much always done.

i have been avoiding tasks i don't like at work till the last minute, surfing away huge chunks of time on mn as well. i live in fear of getting found out. i am generally a good worker and my manager seems to appreciate what i do, which makes it even stupider.

i also work for a good company and am in fact the only earner in my house with DH now a stay at home dad. so quite important that i don't screw up.

Crap. have totally hijacked this thread. would move to my own one but did whole post on phone!