I've been having trouble forcing myself to buckle down.

I technically get all my work and reading done on time, but it's always at the last minute. Like, I turn it into this 48-hour study binge that involves eating candy/drinking coffee/smoking cigarettes til I'm sick. And then I celebrate being done with it all by drinking too much beer.

I'm actually kinda worried about my health.

What do you guys do?

10/24/2010 11:28:18 PM

You could not smoke cigarettes for one.

10/24/2010 11:44:16 PM

study habits...how do they work?

10/24/2010 11:51:57 PM

I make lists. At the end of each school week I make a comprehensive list of all the things I need to complete before classes start again the next week.

I usually break it down to roughly equal segments that I need to get done each day. Even if I finish what I need to get done in a given day early I don't move on to the next days stuff. Segmenting it like that makes it never as overwhelming as easier to tackle.

Also, I almost always start with the easy stuff. Celebrate the small victories to get you going.

10/25/2010 12:47:33 AM

I do everything at the last possible minute, and I rationalize it as a healthy strategy by saying that the strict time challenge combined with the frantic pace and chaotic nature of last-minute work helps to keep me motivated and interested in the material.

It has yet to fail me.
...except in cases where a professor imposes such a soft penalty for late work that I end up never doing the work at all (well, I can always turn it in next class -> well, no point in doing it now, since I've waited so long I'd barely get any credit).

Also, in terms of "healthy" activities, it probably helps that I don't celebrate with excessive drinking... or at least not until I find out how well I did on something. Hell, even then I don't, because I don't really associate class grades with a sense of self-worth or accomplishment.... but that's just my habits, and who gives a shit about that, right?

10/25/2010 6:51:56 AM

I was hoping other people would confess similar habits and struggles.

10/25/2010 7:02:41 PM

^ Nope. I don't load up on candy, coffee and cancer (the 3 C's to getting Cs), and then celebrate my procrastination by drinking too much.

10/25/2010 11:57:26 PM