Dr.Motivation Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 I am posting here because I want to hear what people think while being anonymous. I have a lot of trouble sitting down and ACTUALLY doing things. I open a book and tell myself to study. I'll read one sentence before my mind drifts and I start thinking about other things. I can sit at a desk for an entire day and literally accomplish nothing. This is a problem I've had since I was young. It didn't surface in high school because there wasn't that much material. I understand things fast when I actually work. I'd still sit at the desk for hours but the small fraction that I spent working was ok. I have tried strategies including chunking my work, making schedules, pretending my exam is the next day, routine PA and taking a day off a week to just have fun. They aren't working. I can come home from going out and be totally motivated to work. I'll open a book and get nothing done. I will also say that I actually am interested in what I'm studying too which makes it even more frustrating. I feel like I can do well but I'm not. It's not because I am not putting school first or that I'm not willing to sit down and study. I just can't tell myself to just do the work. It feels terrible because my grades sway from A+ to Ds and none of the A+s matter because my overall transcript sucks. The differences in marks are not because the courses are harder. The only courses I sometimes do well in are the courses where the evaluation comprises mainly one thing (ie. 70% exam). If I manage to focus for that one thing, I do well. If the course breakdown comprises multiple things, I almost never manage to do well again because I focus so rarely. I told myself I'll improve in second year with better study habits. I just have to be consistent. I tried almost every study strategy in the book and nothing works. I am in my third year now and my marks are getting worse and worse. I feel like I have just given up. I'm a student at UofT in Trinity College and the Dean reviews transcripts and calls students in if he thinks it is necessary. My transcript was flagged and he advised me to see a counselor. I never ended up going. This is mostly because I don't know what to say to my parents. They walk into my room and I pretend to study because I feel bad. They are working really hard to put me through school and I don't want them to know that I'm not even studying. It's so hard to explain my problem. All these years I've been telling them I am studying hard. I did well so it didn't use to matter. In first year I thought I would change and improve in second year. But nothing changed. I get really irritable too because I feel guilty about not working. Ritalin was brought up by someone I knew and I wondered if it may help with my concentration problems. I would never take it illegally but I half-heartily brought it up with my parents as a question. Do you think I can ask the doctor if it may help? The result was a long talk about the importance of hard work, the lack of discipline within my generation and the hazards of drugs. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm honestly lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 Take a break completely from studies. Work for a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exocytosis Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 Talking to a doctor seems like a good idea. You've clearly spent a lot of effort trying to solve this problem with little success, so it doesn't seem like a work ethic/motivation issue. If you think it will help, go for it. Ultimately, it's your (not your parents) decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a1b1 Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 Think about it this way. The next few years of your life could determine the next 50 years. If you want to be a doctor you are going to have to work hard for it. Working hard starts today, not tomorrow, not a month from now but today. This is your shot, either buckle down and get it done or fall short like many others have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellorie Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 I think you need to make use of the services available at your school. I would advise seeing a doctor to make sure you don't have some kind of underlying disability, and possibly a learning skills advisor or counsellor at your school to try to help you figure out an effective way to study. You clearly aren't having much luck figuring this out on your own, which means it's time for professional help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m30wc0w Posted January 20, 2013 Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 getout of school for a bit. clear your head. you're just gonna work yourself into a rut and be depressed and waste your parents money. why you doing that to them? have you no shame in ur game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenziedmalady Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 I also did so bad in my previous year because of personal problems and lack of motivation (or concentration). I always procrastinate and did everything at the last minute. I also have a lack of focus and can't even sit through a whole 1 hour and half class without my mind drifting away. I have 3 classes right now that I have to sit through for 3 hours with 15mins break. I have been looking at possibility of getting some help and maybe get myself assess but I am embarrassed to do it. I did a lot better this year in the 1st semester but still struggled with concentration and procrastination. I've always been a procrastinator ever since I was young but managed to be pretty much on top of the class through elementary and high school because of my parents' constant guidance. So I realized now that I am on my own (parents are in another country), I need to have some sort of structure. I try writing things down and making to do lists so I don't forget. I still procrastinate and cannot concentrate but at least I can remind myself to do what I need to do. I also keep forgetting about little things, so writing down important stuffs has helped me. I want to get checked as well. But I am embarrassed that maybe it's all in my head or that I am just a lazy person. I don't think I am lazy because I work hard at work or when I am really into something. But if this is not the case for you, try to get checked by a doctor or clinical psychologist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 try pacing when you read, i literally almost never completely sit, try chunking 15 minutes then 5-10 minutes of exercise why stay home when you study, study for 10 min at a time between errands, or instead of reading, pretend you were teaching a class, take things you've very emotionally engaged in like, challenge the author try and extrapolate new suppositions from the information you take in honestly, you sound like you'd benefit more from an amphetamine the mph also b1, b6, magnessium, 5 small meals a day, easy on processed carbs, zinc, tyrosine, sam-e... that's a good start people misconceive adhd as a deficit in attention rather than an inability to shift attention to non-interesting events... personally, i only read stuff im insanely interested in, so schools a joke to me, then again, im always late, dont pay bills on time, miss deadlines, often interupt people unintentionally... i never sit down, i can go on forever... im on concerta right now cause i got a years supply, but seriously, i'd rather pay for adderall, even 2800 a year... nothing touches it overall... so short answer, meds work, but theyre only a part of a complete life shift... good luck. I am posting here because I want to hear what people think while being anonymous. I have a lot of trouble sitting down and ACTUALLY doing things. I open a book and tell myself to study. I'll read one sentence before my mind drifts and I start thinking about other things. I can sit at a desk for an entire day and literally accomplish nothing. This is a problem I've had since I was young. It didn't surface in high school because there wasn't that much material. I understand things fast when I actually work. I'd still sit at the desk for hours but the small fraction that I spent working was ok. I have tried strategies including chunking my work, making schedules, pretending my exam is the next day, routine PA and taking a day off a week to just have fun. They aren't working. I can come home from going out and be totally motivated to work. I'll open a book and get nothing done. I will also say that I actually am interested in what I'm studying too which makes it even more frustrating. I feel like I can do well but I'm not. It's not because I am not putting school first or that I'm not willing to sit down and study. I just can't tell myself to just do the work. It feels terrible because my grades sway from A+ to Ds and none of the A+s matter because my overall transcript sucks. The differences in marks are not because the courses are harder. The only courses I sometimes do well in are the courses where the evaluation comprises mainly one thing (ie. 70% exam). If I manage to focus for that one thing, I do well. If the course breakdown comprises multiple things, I almost never manage to do well again because I focus so rarely. I told myself I'll improve in second year with better study habits. I just have to be consistent. I tried almost every study strategy in the book and nothing works. I am in my third year now and my marks are getting worse and worse. I feel like I have just given up. I'm a student at UofT in Trinity College and the Dean reviews transcripts and calls students in if he thinks it is necessary. My transcript was flagged and he advised me to see a counselor. I never ended up going. This is mostly because I don't know what to say to my parents. They walk into my room and I pretend to study because I feel bad. They are working really hard to put me through school and I don't want them to know that I'm not even studying. It's so hard to explain my problem. All these years I've been telling them I am studying hard. I did well so it didn't use to matter. In first year I thought I would change and improve in second year. But nothing changed. I get really irritable too because I feel guilty about not working. Ritalin was brought up by someone I knew and I wondered if it may help with my concentration problems. I would never take it illegally but I half-heartily brought it up with my parents as a question. Do you think I can ask the doctor if it may help? The result was a long talk about the importance of hard work, the lack of discipline within my generation and the hazards of drugs. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm honestly lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 just to ppl who are saying he's lazy, honestly, he's prob bored if he has adhd, here the 30 second explanation certain d4 subtypes that don't interact with d2 and glutamate (which is why amantadine attenuates hyperactive adhd's, but whatevs, lol, i stopped caring when docs say i havent heard of that cause i know i'll you were right eventually, and yeah... there's that whole drug development side arm to medicine, fantastic knowing a computational proteomics... materials science expert... we come up with cool ideas, and yeah, eventually patenting them i hear pays... so i stopped being p'd about docs who should get cme credit for every 30 min bs lecture they ask for because theyre so interested... but whatevs, apparently those details well, lets say patent law pays much better than psychiatry... soooo no more angst, yay, anyhoo... yeah, those subtypes tend to hypostimulate people, hence cause them to drift off it's like, yeah, i seem like a cocky ******* sometimes, because i want to do everything, and act as if i undoubtedly will, but its literally out of boredom, i have to be doing new things all the time, pushing the edge, otherwise yeah, iuno, things get old and boring... interestingly, ive never finnished a fiction book in my life, because to me, non fiction has a purpose, a human meaning, it can be a tool for social justice, hence the stimulation... but some fantasy thing, 2 pages in im done, so i can kind of resonate... lol k, there's my joke of the day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiny Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Huh!! Join the club!! hehe take it is dude!! It's not a disease to meet a doctor or it's not that you are a useless person.. i had the same thing a few years back or can tell few months back.. No need to underestimate yourself by thinking about those useless stuff.. Think whether you like the subjects you study at the moment. If you don't like just stop it do something else. If you cannot stop that now like you are too late.. Then do it somehow i mean somehow don't make so much effort it will bring you down even more. So relax.. Right after the things you are doing now , find a job that you love.. Don't go for something you hate and start struggling again. Don't be at home and sit in the same place all the time. Go out meet friends.. Talk with them about this.. i'm sure at least one of your friends have such kind of trouble.. Talk with them and make fun out of it.. You will find an answer very soon... hope for the best.. Keep smiling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intrepid86 Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Based on what's been said, I don't think your problem is ability (since you've managed to get A's in the past), and I don't think you have a medical condition either (especially if your difficulty concentrating only applies to school work and not tasks outside of it). You're basically trying to break a bad habit, and the strategies you listed usually help, but chances are you're not truly following through on them. I suggest you let someone else know (e.g., your parents since they're around) to help keep you accountable for the changes you're trying to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nem90 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 a1b1 put it best, quite poetically too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonstop Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Go talk to a doctor about ADHD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 the disabilities department at your school can do appropriate neuropsychological testing, sorry to be a ****, but hearing this **** from teachers from k-12 was ridiculous... adhd is one of the most objectively diagnosable spectrum learning disorders, and honestly, it's not even a disorder... the nature of the disorder is in forcing people to learn in a certain manner, i didn't even know about adhd for most of undergrad, and i only got a's because i was so **** what you do, i don't care... that i would go into empty lecture halls at 8 pm and pretend i was teaching the material, i took little exercise breaks every 15 minutes when i actually would sit down to study, i'd go where like no one in a library was and do 30 push-ups or something, and never would study more than 1-2 hrs a time, i'd always take a break to get coffee with a friend or something, so i never ended home, since my days were so prolonged, i also realized why i drank like 6 cups of coffee a day, and use to go to the campus mall where people studied overnight and just pace while i read (lot's of open space, no one walking around) while the other people i sat with... id sit for 5 min, walk around for 20 min... 25 min pure studying... they'd get like 6 on cause they'd be restless or on facebook, or sugar crashing from candy, lol... that was 5 g in parking passes to do that... in retrospect, i was doing all the adaptive behaviors anyone with adhd would do to actually learn better than the average person, just because i was the i dont give a **** type, and i could pull it off since i'd just explain the natural neurobio of why walking increases wakefullness etc. plus when you see the same people at 2 am for years, they're like yeah that's just so and so. but how many other students aren't very socially confident, and think they're stupid because of ridiculous generalized societal norms about the appropriateness of how we should learn. a1b1 put it best, quite poetically too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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