Getting behind.. and letting it happen.. :o(

[SleepyJess]

Hello I expect you guys are all 'proper' students on here, unlike me... but perhaps that makes you well qualified to comment on this post

I started an OU course in Oct. I love it.. and to my surprise I can DO it.. there IS a brain in there after all! (16 years since I left the sixth form which was the highest I took my education!)

I really think maybe I could get this degree... although I know it's early days.. but I love the tutorials, everything.. and so far, have not found the course work or the assignments too taxing. It's just the TIME! Or lack thereof! I have three kids..2 with things wrong with them (sopecial needs), but all school age now... dh also disabled and at home, or else I'd never be able to do this at all.. but I can NEVER just get up there and study for any length of time.. and when I do, just lately I'm unmotivated/unable to concentrate.. or Iget interrupted by the phone, or the front door.. or something..I am stressed about stuff.. extra stuff like my dad being ill.. have loads of appointments (for my kids and also now my dad who is totally reliant on me for this kind of stuff.. there is noone else).. ..am knackered, don't get to bed til the early hours, up at 6.45am.. my house is a tip. I'm not very behind yet.. should have started a new block of study a few days ago.. but normally I stay AHEAD in order to stay on top of it because I usually have days where I can't do anything at all because of circumstances.

Now DH has man-flu..! One child off school ill with same thing (except normal version, not the dreaded man version thank God!).. I am stressed and stroppy and resentful of not being able to study.. my house is a tip as we were away last week visiting relatives (so took whole half term week off of studying which I was happy to do as long as I got stuck in this week.. but it's just not happeninging! Aaargh!!)

I need a kick up the backside or something.. or actually think I just needed to vent... thank you

SJ x

hi sleepy jess i am the very same,a maturish student,still marvelling at the fully operational brain in her possession!

but with a couple of years under my belt i now realise that you cant be up and running all th etime...sometimes you are the most slack skiving umm slacker and the next month somehow or other you are ms motivated and fit it all in.

what course are you doing?

just asked a question...but im going to study now..my 9.15 deadline!

Hi Beans I am doing social science (an into to..) ..currently on course DD121, starting DD122, in April. Not much of a clue what I want to do with it.. or if I'm going to follow the social science route all the way through.. but know I'm working on the right kind of track because it really interests me. I have always been up for saving the world ( LOL!) and this seems one way to try..

I am glad you understand.. and relieved to hear that these phases are inevitable. This is the last block in the current course with something very similar to an exam next month (sort of.. not really.. already have questions.. but set under exam conditions, no notes allowed type thing).. and despite being interested in the subject of this block, I am least motivated when I need to be MORE motivated than with the others!

Just spent an hour on the pool side where DS swam (age 12.. swimming laps for club training so doesn't need 'watching proudly' lol!)) and was alittle motivated for a short while.. but a drop in the ocean really! I think my problem is the initial panic of studying for the first time since school (!) has worn off.. and now, despite not being bored by any means, my brain seems to have gone into laid-back mode, while the rational part of me (obv. not my brain lol!) is screaming 'just get on with it you lazy cow!'

What are you studying? Is it with the OU or a 'bricks and mortar' uni?

SJ x

Hi Sally, lol.. fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl.. that's from Pretty Woman innit?! (Must try not to put 'innit' in any of my essays.. I keep using it lately! )

Good luck Sally.. keep at.. I will read up on your other posts..

SJ x

lol 'innit'in essays

i want to put [faces] in mine!
sallystrawberry is right..mumsnet does not repeat not help when you are trying to get work done!

jan and feb are always hard motivation wise for me...cos im always thinking ''stop stop stop teaching new stuff,i just want to do my exams now before my head explodes''

but they keep piling it on!

fortunately my choice of degree is up there next to family in terms of how passionate i am about it.[though not v.confident as yet]
im doing speech and language therapy in london.

my dp did an ou course when our son was born..i have every respect for you,i couldnt study without the structure of reg lectures.
must go.
x

Hello SleepyJess

Fancy seeing you here (you'll know who I am in a minute... you introduced me to MN... hence, here I am wasting time on it instead of getting on with my work!)

First things first... you are a proper student. You wouldn't call someone who worked part-time as, say, a nurse 'not a proper nurse', would you? So... you are a 'proper' (part-time) student.

Second thing... time is bound to be an issue because there is a helluva lot going on in your life already. You have to try to 'carve out' some time for your OU work when you can (and it may not always be possible). Have you tried working away from home - e.g. in the local library, at your mum's house, anywhere that might be relatively quiet and interruption-free, really? That may be a way to avoid the temptation to tidy up, have a cup of tea, whatever. And it means that other people have to leave you alone for an hour or two too because you make yourself unavailable (turn off your mobile).

Third thing... you are doing really well, so you can 'afford' to be a bit behind. I know you want to do well, but it may be that due to the circumstances sometimes you just have to 'skip through' things rather than reading them properly, or hand in a piece of work which you are not 100% pleased with, just because you don't have time to make it any better. The 'classic' 18-year-old student with no ties and no dependents does this all the time... only they don't lose sleep over it.

Finally... if you really feel that you are getting behind, talk to your tutor. You can ask for essay extensions, or for advice on which bits of the set work you can 'skip over' and which bits really require full concentration, or whatever... but let them know that you are finding it difficult at the moment. The OU is designed for people like you, who'd find it hard to study any other way, and they have systems in place to help, I promise.

Sorry to hear about dh's man flu (cuss Sid, cuss Sid!. Hope he's better soon. My dh has developed a new affliction - man-tiredness... it's (obviously) much more debilitating than 'normal' tiredness and requires immediate and prolonged lying down! Huh!

No kick up the bum from me - just hugs to you and everyone.

EB

Hello Ellbelle. (I sense a theme here, lol!) Oh dear. You found me! (Not that I was hiding..)

I can see how you knew who I was.. I am not very good at being incognito am I! In a mad hurry now.. do you know I have wasted (sorry MNers.. not really 'wasted' but YNKIM) all morning on here.. not even looked at my books.. and now I have to take my dad for an oncology appointment.. remember my motorway phobia??! Have been posting on a very neurotic thread (neorotic from my point of view) about it this morning. In fact, oh God.. just don't go looking all my neurotic threads..

Thank you for your input.. clever and calm.. and balanced as always!

'Sid' as taken DS2 to an allergy appointment somewhere far away in the other direction.. has recovered from his man flu! (Don't think it was ANY kind of flu! I think he was just feeling knackered!) He has stropped off without even wishing me luck with the motorway probably due to my having been moping around in silence all morning while HE cleaned the kitchen and bathroom which is all very well when I amstudying.. but I wasn't..and blatantly so!!

Sigh. I'll probably email you later so you know I survived the motorway. oh God.

SJ x