What do you guys do to have better time management/not procastinate. My time management is absolute shit. I've tried to use Google Calendar, that didn't work. And now trying to keep an Agenda but I noticed I just move stuff to the next day. Like I try to focus on work but then I'm like "hey, let me check Twitter" or "i wonder what's trending on YouTube" thx in advance for anyone that replies :(
Posted Feb 16, 2020, 10:54 PM UTC
Fail a class or two and you’ll get focused real quick
Real talk, but sad. I got a D in Gen Chem cause my time management was shit and I was like I need to change my ways. But like, I don't think I changed anything and it seems like my time management is still the same and shit
So this works for me so it might not for you, but try it if you want. Get a physical calendar that has big slots so you can write everything you need to do for the day or week etc. Then fill it in with assignments and things you need to get done.
That’s all pretty standard but this second part is a little more tricky things you need to do everyday, whether that’s reading, coding, going to the gym etc mark off with a letter or symbol for if you did it that day. If you didn’t do it that day you have to do it twice the next day. Alternatively you could donate a dollar to a fund every time you don’t do something you have to do daily say to charity or something similar.
Last I take a post it and write something I’m not doing that day or something I want to do that day and I stick it on the calendar for that day. I then set a reminder on my phone of what that post it says if I have to leave my room for the day. Basically from there if you do the thing you get to get ride or the post it if you don’t the post gets moved to the next day. This might not help you because I know how I get things done is very different than how others do, but any time I can try to help someone with time management and improvement I’ll try.
I will most definitely try this!! Thank you so much!
I hope it works, I get anxious so like this kinda forces me to have a little anxious if I don’t follow the disclipine and that’s why I think it works for me. It may not for you, but you won’t know till you try.
This is gonna sound stupid but listening to boss music from movies and stuff helps me focus and get shit done idk why lmao
LOL I'll try that. Thanks so much!
Highly recommend the Dark Knight soundtrack lol
I tend to think ahead of how much time it'll take me to do this assignment and how much time I'll have to work on it in the future. For example, I have a data structures project due on Wednesday, but you can get a preliminary grade and resubmit your project if you hand it in by Monday. I realized that I would be busy all weekend and on Monday, so I decided to crank the whole thing out in about 3 hours on Thursday night.
I find that I work my most productively when I'm coming very close to a deadline, but I'm not panicking because I don't think I'll have enough time. Once I feel like I won't be able to complete something on time, I tend to just not do it at all (which is a really bad habit) or hand it in as late as possible since that becomes a sort of new deadline.
As long as I feel confident in my ability to complete an assignment, and I feel like I won't have the chance to work on it another time, I can usually keep myself focused and off of my phone/youtube.
I am kind of(not really) the same. I will do like an assignment 1-2 days before the deadline is due. However, I will study for quizzes/exams the day before which I hate A LOT.
Honestly, if you're getting the work done, then it's not that bad. Some exams will require more than a few hours the night before, but I've taken a lot of exams in my 4 years here with only 3-4 hours of studying behind them and done just fine. As long as what you're doing gives you the results you can be comfortable with, the only thing you need to worry about is not getting careless and overconfident.
For me I put my phone away and only have tabs open of my work and music. That usually keeps me focused.
Yeah, but for be, I would open a new tab and just start watching YouTube or something else
Hmm then you really just gotta tell yourself not to do that. Think about your future self and how mad they'd be at you for slacking off. That usually helps me as well.
True true. Thank you!!
In the same exact position. Failed Chem 2 and taking it for the second time this semester and still failing every quiz, although I do feel like I’ll do much better on the exams. Honestly I’m at the point where I feel like they expect way too much out of students, especially the chemistry department. If I fail again hopefully I can just take it at my county college. I failed calculus too but thankfully killing that shit this semester. And just like you, it was just noticing what I was doing wrong on my part, and I was not paying attention. So that’s better now. But good luck- most of us have rough classes and rough semesters and most of us still make it out with a degree🤷🏼♀️I’m sure you’ll get your shit together
most of us still make it out with a degree
LOL I don't know why but I was like damnnnnnnnn when I read that part. Yeah I was not a big fan of Chemistry. Good luck to you and thanks for the response!!
not sure if this could work for you or not but maybe it could help someone reading this- if you have an iphone they have something called Screen Time in settings where you can set limits on your phone for certain apps or types of apps where you can say you only want to be allowed to use that app for x minutes during the day, and every time you try to go into that app out of habit it'll remind you and sometimes block you out if you've reached the limit. of course you can choose to ignore it, but sometimes just being aware of it is enough to make you think about what you're doing and decide you really don't need to be on that app and go back to being focused. I've done this when i'm really in a time crunch like cramming for an exam or something
I've seen this before on some Android phones, I think its called Zen mode. Thanks for the response, I will def do this when trying to work.
Leave your phone in your room when you head to the library or cafe. You don’t need it to study or do homework.
For me- I get super distracted by social media. So whenever I have to do something important I delete all of my apps and turn off my phone. Beforehand, I tell whoever I need to that I’m busy and won’t be able to talk that day. I might still instinctively grab my phone to check it but if it’s off it’s gonna take time to turn on, and if the apps are gone it’s gonna take too long to redownload them and log in. The brain wants that instant gratification so if it doesn’t get that then it will ignore the action.
I also have a whiteboard in my room and write everything on my to do list. I never erase it until it’s all crossed off or everything in that section is done. It helps to see what I need to do and physically crossing it out feels so satisfying. You could easily do this with a notebook or a post it note. Use different pen colors and/or highlighters and keep it in plain sight.
Deleting apps would actually not be a bad idea, because I'd probably not want to redownload it and wait. Whiteboard in your room is smart, I started to do the same but with an agenda I can bring around. Thanks!!!
Okay this is going to sound bizarre, but working out truly helped me become more disciplined this semester. I think the legitimate aid of exercise can be attributed to two things: 1. It gives you energy and increases your focus, moreso than coffee or red bull ever will. Being energetic throughout the day has made me use even 55 minute gaps to efficiently get work done. While on the bus, I spend that 15-20 minutes reading about mitosis and meiosis or some bs like that bc I have the energy to concentrate. A lot of people are just scrolling through Instagram and shit bc they’re drained. Working out has allowed me to not be drained and has given me clarity. 2. It forces you to manage your time bc you will reach a point where you WANT to exercise, thereby more effectively planning your days/weeks to get that 30min to 1 hour in everyday (or a few times a week) bc it makes you feel amazing. You feel so proud of yourself for accomplishing something (your workout) in an hour, that you allow that to spread to other aspects of life, like schoolwork. When you exercise more, you start to care about gains/mileage, etc (idk this depends on what you do to work out), this makes you more efficient by nature.
I have two more things that also helped me, bc I needed more of a push (this highlights another point:KNOW yourself. If you know you hate doing work on Sunday nights, just do something right there and then when you think about the Sunday scaries. This trick kind of works bc we as humans are moreso focused on preventing pain rather than creating pleasure. We take the path of least resistance so to speak). Soooo I work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. This is called the Pomodoro method. Believe it or not, but the hardest part about this is making sure you don’t go over 5 minutes for your break. It makes you realize how fleeting time is and it pushes you to go faster. It’s so tempting to take more than 5 minutes, but you gotta get back to work bc you will seriously get in the zone, just allow yourself to go with the flow and you’ll see how effective it is. It’s kinda like when you first start working out, you don’t wanna keep going. You come back the next day and if you keep going everyday, you get stronger and your muscle memory and all of that stuff comes together, that’s how you should approach your studies. A lot of kids don’t study everyday when they should. They cram shit in over a three day timespan and then have to do it all again, and they end up doing okay for the most part. Don’t do this. It’s not wise to run 5 miles and aim for a 7 min pace the first time you ever run, you don’t end up running a good race when you do that bc attempting that or a 25-lb leg day for your first workout ever did not get you going back and being consistent. It’s the same shit with studying. Study that first chapter after your first class, break things into bits and pieces, do it everyday and you’ll see that you actually understand and are becoming good at the subject, you keep returning bc you have that validation that it’s working and that you know what you’re doing. This was long winded so let me use an example: let’s say your bad at planks or something, you can’t go past 5 seconds on day one, you try again on day 2 and it’s harder. You try it again on day 3, and it’s a little easier, and then you continue until you break your record of 30 seconds. The hardest part is deciding to go again after the second time. Substitute the plank with ICE tables or some other chem concept. It’s really all about consistently trying and getting better.
Lastly, you have to try to associate your work with pleasure. You’re still here, despite all of the busy work and the bullshit that comes with Rutgers, bc you love learning and you know deep down inside that this is going to lead to a better life and your dreams coming to fruition. Often times we get caught up in the pleasure of dreaming big that we forget that the process itself can be exciting. See, a lot of people associate homework and studying with displeasure bc they do it last minute and that creates stress, the type that isn’t pleasurable. I hate physics tbh, but I kind of tricked myself into thinking that Brahmia’s crazy HW is fun and challenging like a puzzle, and that regardless of what I got wrong, I was learning. I went from 2 zero’s on the first two HW’s to and 8.75 on the third and the rest is history.
So in short I wanna say that if you leave things to the last minute and do not use the week effectively, you’re gonna hate all of this shit and maintain a deep-rooted association with pain.
Tl;dr: Treat your mind like you would treat your body
I read the whole response and really appreciate that. I've always said to myself I should work out but never like actually gone to the gym. And I like your strategy in Brahmia's class, I will definitely try that. Thank you so much!!
I feel you completely. Last semester I wasn’t really that interested in any of my classes and I procrastinated worse than ever before. This semester, I actually like the classes I’m taking and it’s been so much better. I’m not putting stuff of nearly as much as I did last semester. Just something to think about.
Yeah, I noticed, last semester I really did not like any of my classes. This semester, I'm taking some classes I like and noticed I'm on top of my gain for them. But for like the other classes I don't like, I need to work smarter. Thank you!
Just start. I use what I consider a Brain Warmup where I focus on doing something for a short period of time, like 3-5 minutes. I mean who doesn't have 3-5 minutes?
What that really does is create momentum. After you have some momentum, start writing your goals down for that particular session. It should then be pretty easy for you to just get started after that. (I also have a pre-set go-to playlist of music I put on when I do this. It helps prevent me from searching the web to find music only to get distracted again)
The trick is finding what works for you, and I highly suggest putting your phone down -- face down -- and sometimes out of reach when you want to be productive.
Ok weird question. When you like listen to music while doing work, what music are you listening to? Cause if I like the song, I don't think I'll be able to concentrate. I feel like I should listen to like white noise or classical.
I listen to chillhop / chillstep. It's the perfect background noise with enough tempo to keep me up beat
I just imagine failing and that is what usually gets me to do my work and get up for my 8ams lmao.
See its weird because if I imagine it, nothing will change because I know like I'm only just thinking it, it's not really happening. If it is happening(real-life) then Ima be panicing LOL
You gotta ID what's the underlying problem first. Ex: Do tasks seem to big? Too overwhelming? Break them down. Like, really really small. Need to write a paper? Put "open MS word" on your task list. It sounds silly but when you show yourself the smaller components, itll seem more manageable after a while. It's all about retraining your brain, which may mean lying to yourself for a bit.
Maybe, like me, you have trouble committing to a task. Doing a whole ass paper is stressful. So make the task time-limited, rather than task limited. If I know I'm gonna spend all night on something, I'll prob procrastinate. But I'll say "okay, just 1 hour on this, and that's it." And usually I get into a groove and keep going past 1 hour, but if not, eh, 1 hour isnt so bad. Time for a 15 min Twitter break! Then another hour, etc. Or switch up the task. Studying multiple things is better anyways as you're more likely to recall.
Also find something that motivates you intrinsically. Like, some ppl say reward yourself with a candy bar for each chapter you read. But I'm an adult and can have a candy bar whenever tf I want so that doesnt work for me. I have an app called Forest, which plants a cute lil fake tree in my fake forest when I stay off my phone for a designated amt of time. The guilt i feel when i kill my tree by going on the dumpster fire that is Twitter is immense. Find what works for you.
If you've tried a lot of different methods and nothing seems to stick, you should look into ADHD as a possibility. Especially if you have the motivation to work but sitting down to do it seems impossible. Also for staying off your phone, I use an app called Forest. By ignoring your phone for a set amount of time, you can plant little trees. "Plant" enough trees and real trees are planted in five African countries :)
u gotta be mentally strong and avoid things that distract you. challenge yourself to not be on social media so much. you can’t fall into the temptation to do things that won’t help you in any way because when you do, you won’t get out of that. for example, i woke up late a couple days ago and didn’t go to one of my classes, i eventually kept doing that over and over and now i’m screwed pretty much. make a schedule for yourself, be so busy that you won’t have time to procrastinate.. wake up early, eat, go to class, go to the gym, do your work, and limit social media to less than 30 minutes a day. use your time on the busses to check out those things if you want. once you’re consistent with a good schedule, you’ll be a much happier person
Thx I really appreciate that!