When ~special interests~ take over.

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What do you do?


I'm under major stress right now.
Because of the flu, I've missed two classes and haven't been able to do any homework (one assignment is for a grade:\).
All hope of meeting the deadline is pretty much lost, though....just maybe I could hand in a very bad version.. just so I'll have *something* to hand in...


But instead of putting all focus on the things that need to be done ( I've even tried writing a list, dividing the pages I have to read in small sections etc.)...
my mind is set to YARN AND KNITTING YARN AND KNITTING YARN AND KNITTING 24/7 >_<

I cannot stop thinking about it. Even now I'm thinking about some yarn made of sugarcane and how pretty the colours are and what awesome things I could knit out of it etc.


It is driving me insane 'cause I just want to read the *&@&#(*@& TEXT in my 'Geographies of Development' textbook.



Anyone else like this?
How do you cope, 'cause I'm just about ready to bash my head with this book out of frustration.

One possibility is maybe to submit to that desire more willingfully and content it, perhaps allowing you to then focus on your work a little more?

That really was a pathetic idea but I can't think of much else.

It's a good idea, and theoretically it should help;)
It's not pathetic.

But I did that as well... I knitted for at least 1/2 hour and I promised myself
that if I was a good girl and would read 1 chapter, I could get myself that sugar cane yarn...
I even let myself indulge in my second interest, Japan...


but to no avail >_<
(I'm not letting myself order the yarn until I read the chapter though).

hi
i dont have any good advice about this matter, but i can say this;
your knitting wont disappear, nor will it stop being fun.
so if i where you i would think of it like a backup thing or something you can motivate yourself with. yeah i know this is sucky advice, but its all i got.
please let me know if you findout anything that works better.

now a days i have like 5 interests that consume my mind, ontop of that i have work :/

Yeah.. that doesn't work either >_<

If only you could just go into your brain and turn the switch -special interest- off.


I think I'm just going to email my teacher and explain why I have trouble finishing my stuff.


My head is still on meltdown mode:\
So so busy it succcccccccks.
It's like I'm going to cry any second. Yesterday was the same though I ended up crying 'cause the pressure of everything was too much.

BLAH. so lame.

At least I made an appointment with the student counselor for tomorrow.
See if she can help me out (apparently they have a special program for autistic spectrum people here at uni).

hah thats a good idea, just tell them whats up.
if they dont get it, its not your fault.

and about that button thing, im pretty glad i dont have that button, i like not being able to sleep at night because i have a new idea thats blazing hot in my brain wanting to come out.
sure its annoying if i have somehting to do the next day, but really... this is me, this is how i am. i mean i could have been born without arms and legs and had 2 heads and what not.
having a overactive brain is not that bad.
but i understand though. tell them whats up and im sure they will understand and if they dont.
they are the ones being ignorant.
its a shame that you feel so anxious that you cry.. i know how that feels as well.
you should go out and walk or something, somewhere where there is no traffic etc. just walk feel the wind, the ground your walking on etc. kinda helps, not really, but it does a little.

I really can't calm down from walking.
Too much sensory issues:\
And it's worse now 'cause my headphones broke (I'm going to order a new pair soon, studio headphones so I'll be able to listen to music in top quality XD).

I do want the button because then you can control it.

HOW the hell by the way, did I manage to type wonkeyness between ou and t (to form out)...
0_o
or wait it only appeared in the quote...weirrrd.

this month almost every power adapter and/or connector has broken.

I save time reading for university by scanning books then converting it to editable text using an OCR (I use ABBYY Finereader, which is expensive but is very accurate & quick to use), and then have the text read aloud by a TTS program (NaturalReader9 is the only one I've found so far which reads large text files without problems).

I then listen to my readings while doing other things such as sewing, walking, shopping, washing dishes, etc. You could listen to your readings while knitting.

As in the earlier post, I'd also recommend using knitting as a reward for completing a set amount of work -- for ex. allow self to knit for x minutes after completing y. Don't give up--try to work out why it may not have worked in previous attempts, and modify your rules. For example, try adjusting the ratio of work to knitting/other reward.

I've struggled with similar behaviour recently, trying to use the little time & energy I have left to complete uni work on time, or at least not too long after the deadline to lose too many marks. A large part of my problem I think is aversion to the work due to past unpleasant experiences. The solution seems to lie in fostering interest & enjoyment in the work which needs to be done, avoiding unpleasant experiences associated with doing the work, and using positive reinforcers for doing the work. This is easier said than done however. Reading up on psychology (positive and negative reinforcement, conditioning, behaviour modification techniques, etc.) were very helpful.

Work methods can also make a big difference. From my readings on software development, I've found that writing essays and completing other assignments can be done much faster using "rapid software development" methods rather than a "waterfall" process. This involves quickly completing an incomplete &/or rough draft withing a very short period, including nothing but the most important features which are possible to do within that short iteration. Then one or more feature/s which seem most important to add or fix are done within the next iteration, and so on. At the end of each iteration, the work should be as close to being worthy of submission as possible. Don't spend time on anything but the most important features of the work--don't do anything less important before something more important. At least with this method there's always work ready to be handed in at the end of each iteration (even if incomplete / still room for improvement); it avoids various time wasters of other methods, and can result in work of the highest possible quality within a minimum amount of time.

For me gardening is the current interest. Specifically growing eremophila plants, they're Australian natives and have always been my favourite plant. I don't really swap interests too often, I have three that are always there at varying levels of intensity.

even reading this post is helpful. i don't know what to do when this happens. my interests generally take me over, and i don't know what to do about it. my parents used to make me do my homework, which was helpful, but now, my hubby unfortunately doesn't have that priority, although he probably should, since i think it would be more helpful. since i changed my major to something more suitable for my personality, that has helped a lot. not nearly as much stuff to do as chem. however, i think getting my homework done early (which i should be doing right now) would also help, saving more time for fun stuff, later.

i hope you feel better. i too like to knit.

that is very good advice, thanks a lot!