procrastination and cramming.

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I seem to derive some sort of sick pleasure from procrastinating until the night before (and/or the day of) the exam, when I finally cram it all into my skull. Same goes for writing papers. I always write it the day that it is due.

I really don't understand this, because I don't just do it with the subjects I hate. I even do it in my favorite subject, which is math. I sit around twiddling my thumbs until the night before the test when I frantically cram all the formulas.

I suspect that I keep doing this because I some part of me enjoys the adrenaline rush that comes from staying up all night in a mad dash towards test time.

Also, I'm scared that if I really put in some effort and do poorly, I will be disappointed. At least now if I fail, it's partially because I didn't try.

And somehow, it always seems like there is something stopping me from beginning to study until it is absolutely urgent. I don't know what it is that's stopping me, though. I'm just uncomfortable with starting anything, so I put it off and put it off until I can't put it off anymore...

So frustrating. I am definitely not performing at the level I could be, but no mater how many times I tell myself I'll fix this, it never happens.

I think some people are consistent throughout the day in how they act, they are strategic. I'm not one of those people, I don't have that sort of time. Take it from a minimalist: do not under any circumstances trust your future self. An hour from now you will be a totally different person. If right now you realize something needs to be done, do it.

It is a well known pattern. I have some tendencies that way myself.

I may do the first draft a week ahead of time, but I can beprinting it off the morning of the meeting.

I procrastinate, although I think it's just laziness. I've never really made an attempt to rationalize it.

I have the same problem. For me, it's a mix of poor resource management skills, low self esteem, perfectionism and my being bright enough to get good grades without studying seriously.

The perfectionism makes me want to do really well (It's november now, we get our report cards in july - and I decided yesterday I would get an A in four subjects and at least try for an A in the three others ... ) and at the same time makes me feel really afraid of failure. And anything that's not 'perfect' is failure in my eyes. On the other hand, even when I do well I don't usually feel proud of it, because I'm gifted so it's to be expected. That's the low self esteem's interpretation of things ...
(I also am not only scared of bad results inspite of studying, I'm also very scared of standing out too much, which makes things even worse.)

The poor resource management skills are what make me twiddle my thumbs every day I sit down and tell myself to study now, because I want to do everything at once and perfectly and don't allow myself to try out and make mistakes, and because I can't decide where to begin and can't tell when I know something well enough to proceed. This is so exhausting that I then tell myself I'll do it tomorrow. Only when the deadline is approaching fast is when I allow myself to just do some superficial review or just come up with something, anything based on the sources I've read already. It's almost as if I can't make any decisions unless my adrenaline is really high.

I try to ignore the whole perfectionism delusion and I also try to do study a bit every day. It's really difficult and I usually don't succeed, but then there are days when I do succeed, and that's awesome. (Uhm, I mean, to be expected.)

I tend to procrastinate. I'm procrastinating my philosophy term paper right now. It's always really difficult to get started, so I don't, even though procrastinating makes me feel like crap. Eventually I realize I need to work, so I really focus and do a lot of work for the couple days before it's due. Afterwards, I vow to never procrastinate again. Problem is, I almost always do well on papers and projects I've procrastinated. Since I have to work and focus for long blocks of time, I'm able to really get into what I'm doing. So sometimes I end up with a better result after procrastinating. This takes away my motivation to manage my time better.

Alas I have a PhD in procrastination
I finished a ten page paper today that was due today,within hours. However I never do the cramming,I start a week early to study,the day of the exam I meditate as much as possible before,and great results. Once I have memorized the material,I only review it before I go to sleep and when I wake up,so it is part of my natural cycle and I retain it.Works like a charm!

I did some my first semester. I actually couldn't really cram due to medication issues. Now that I'm more stable. I'm more afraid of failure, in fact so afraid, that I usually start a week or two early. I actually couldn't really cram even if I wanted too, though I do have a tendency of understudying/bad study habits. I usually start taking tests much earlier than I need to, I schedule out my time and have a to-do list for every day. Weekly activites I do the same, it works better now and was the only way it used to work. My freshman year, I could only stay focused for about an hour, but due to better study habits I was able to increase this to two-three hours without breaks.

I can cram if I need too, but I usually start to emotionally break down.

I usually find if one works three-five hours every day on schoolwork, you'll be fine as long as you don't go over 15 hours.