Exam Season: Procrastination and Distraction!

So I put this post up on my old blog ages ago, well at the last exam season really and unfortunately it's that time of the year again... 

I've been trying to go hard at the books because my goal is still to finish this masters degree with a distinction! (70% average) but today and yesterday haven't been the best days! I mean I hate exam season. I know we all do, but I really really hate it! Hours and hours spent reading material and learning things only for them to not come up in the exam! I know people say “No knowledge lost” but what about the time spent?  O ti so nu ni now! (It’s lost now!) It’s so unfortunate that I actually want to be an engineer, I would have dropped out of school and become a stripper, sadly I don’t have the upper body strength for their profession. So here I am, typing away while I really should be studying, who does that? Oh all of you you say? LIARS! You guys are busy hitting the books hard and I’m here, allowing the spirit of procrastination to take over my life, Lord be with me! I need to become more serious about my schoolwork, how else am I meant to get that distinction? **sigh** but seriously though, can school somehow be made more interesting? I mean there are so many other things I’d rather be doing, e.g. reading blogs, updating my blog, listening to gossip, Facebook stalking people, Instagram stalking people, twitter stalking even more people (yes, I know a lot of stalkable people), sleep, stare. I don’t know, anything but studying! Luckily for me after an average of 5-7 hours all these things lose their charm and I think, heck, might as well study… After I have dinner.

When I eventually get down to studying after eliminating the demon of procrastination, a second gargoyle rears it ugly head; distraction! I’ve finally opened up the books, I’ve even read the first few pages then all of a sudden, I read something and my mind wonders down a completely different train of thought, so I pick up the phone and text my best friend the funny thing that just popped into my mind, this leads to an hour long conversation about nothing in particular with me saying “I really should be working” every 10 minutes or so. Ha! It’s ridiculous really! But I feel better because the books are at least open, that’s step one complete. After chatting to my friend and updating her on everything she’s missed over the last hour I finally resume studying. Just that I’ve forgotten what I just read, so back to the beginning I go. Surely you guys can see how this is a vicious cycle? I mean, I get to the line that made my mind wonder the first time and my mind wonders again! Sometimes even down a completely different path, which means I have to relate this NEW information to the bestie! **sigh**

Luckily I’ve found a means of combating this cycle, I have to say it actually works! Well except today where I’m just really allowing the laziness to take over! But it works on a regular day :) Here’s what I try to do:

Eat

The number of times I get up to “find a snack” while I’m trying to study is insane! So I just cut the crap and eat something! Hey! Listen! This is not the time to chow down some pounded yam or other carb heavy food that just makes you sleepy oh! Something small and relatively filling should do the trick. It also helps if you plan your snacks and put them on the table so you don’t have to get up eventually, as long as you don’t gobble them all at once like I would, hehe.

Plan your study time

I recently started this thing after a suggestion from a friend and I’ve found that it really combats the distraction. I get my watch out and place it somewhere visible, then I study in on-off fashion. So basically, I study for 60 minutes straight, then take a break for 15-20 minutes. Study again for another hour, break for another 15 minutes. Obviously this method needs some tweaking depending on what you’re studying, sometimes it’s possible to do 90 minutes straight then 15 minute break, the key for me is to not take too long a break, the whole distraction thing just comes back if I decide to spend 30 minutes on Facebook/Instagram and I lose the flow! 15 minutes is just enough time to pee, reply messages, quickly check Facebook and breathe. Sometimes in the break if the flow is going to good to be broken, I review the work I’ve just done to actually help me remember stuff. I’m working on maybe taking shorter breaks? Maybe.

Don’t Get Overwhelmed

Staring at the mountain of books waiting to be read is not helpful, if you’re anything like me all that does is put you in panic mode and then that makes you unproductive, then you get depressed about how unproductive you’re being and then depression sinks in and you feel like doing no work. If you’re lucky this only lasts hours but sometimes it can last days! I’ve found that making a timetable is really helpful but if I don’t meet the goals I’ve set for myself then I start panicking about falling behind and we all know what panic does… What I’ve been trying to do instead is set mini goals for myself from when I wake up or possibly the night before. This helps me break the work up into bite size pieces and the mini goals for the day are usually more realistic and achievable than the timetable I made two weeks ago! Being overwhelmed causes you to lose focus. Just think baby steps, little drops of water make the mighty sea.

My current to-do list for today and tomorrow. Sincerely hope I finish all those mini-tasks!

Well, after churning out all this advice I believe it’s now time for me to take some of my own advice and get a moving! It’s time to resume studying and stop faffing. Right after dinner. **wink**

Good Luck Everybody!

Reni x