Essay stress

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fuzzy
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Essay stress

Post by fuzzy »

ARGH having terrible difficulty with an essay thats due in on Thursday. Iv hardly done any reading for it at all, and i cant read for it. I dunno if its that i dont care or that im worrying about other things, probably a mixture of both. I just feel sick with worry about it. Everytime i sit down to do it i just think, 'oh my God. I cant do this'. Im sick of not being able to cope with stuff like this, thinking of just throwing in the towel. Im just not motivated at all and iv felt so sh***y over the last month or so, theres the odd good, even brillaint moment, but the majority of the time is so bad that i feel like theres no hope. I hate feeling like this so much and i have no idea of what to do anymore. I just cant see the light at the end of the tunnel here. I got an extension, but that doesnt seem to be helping. Im going to this concert tommorow night, and concerts always make me worry, mainly because im a perfectionist and i want everything to be absolutley perfect, which is never the case. Argh i just seem to be unable to cope. Im sitting here alone knowong that i wont sleep and that ill just worry all night, which is the most lonely horrible place to be. God, this is so pathetic.
Goodbye, and have a pleasant tommorrow!!
I swear to drunk im not God.....
Liz944
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Post by Liz944 »

Is the essay on a topic that anyone else on the forum can help you with? I know if it is in an area that I am familiar with I would be willing to give you a hand... I am sure others on the forum would feel the same way...

Have you tried breaking down your work into small chunks with breaks in between. If you find your motivation has gone - try going off and doing something you enjoy. Then try going back to your study...

When you can't sleep and you worry... try getting out of bed, and going into another room to do something that keeps your mind occupied for half an hour. Then try to go back to bed... sometimes it helps...

I know I have the problem of wanting everything perfect... at some point you get to realise that not everything is and you accept the fact...

I hope you enjoy your concert tommorrow... what are you going to see??
Greg
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Post by Greg »

From Fuzzys comment about wanting to be perfect I suspect it's more 'performing' than 'seeing'

I'll echo that offer of help, though if it's assessed uni stuff obviously you can't have anyone write anything for you if you don't cite them (though suggestions are alright)

If it makes you feel better I managed a high 1st in a module I did almost no reading for, sometimes it's all about knowing the area the work is in and having good ideas rather than reading every chunk of info on a narrow topic. Most people can knock up an adaquate essay on a subject they're familiar with in a few hours, there's no reason you should be an exception.

I find it best to break it down, if you do everything on a computer (like, I suspect, most of us) you can just sit down and type "Introduction, Point1, Point2, Point3, Synthasis, Conclsion" then go away for a bit. Then come back and write maybe a sentence on each one. Then a paragraph. Then replace the paragraphs one at a time with what you want to say. (You do need to go back afterwards and polish it so it doesn't look so bitty) It seems like a lot of things, but 10 one hour chunks over two days is easier than a 10hour sitting just before the deadline.

In HCI we talk about "the tyranny of the blank screen" whereby a person really struggles to learn to use a computer system if there is nothing on screen other than a flashing cursor and they've no clue what to do. Essays are similar, it's much easier to think about replacing "Introduction: Outline backgrounds in social psychology and AI and explain the purpose (but not method) of this research" with a paragraph listing specific studies to reference and a one line soundbite of what the research is about than it is to type an introduction onto a blank screen.

Or maybe not. Everyones different. Hopefully someones advice will help if mine sucks.
robyn

Post by robyn »

I used to get better marks on the essays where I didnt read the book. I was the bigest slacker ever though
Greg
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Post by Greg »

Well modifing the pace of your essay to include actual facts is always tiring.

Course now it's acadmic paper it's all about getting your information/word count down. The ultimate paper expresses the truth about everything in the universe in one word. It's not been written yet by my money is on sooner of later someone publishing "D'oh"
fuzzy
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Post by fuzzy »

Yo! Yeah i ending up getting it sorted in the end.... sorry for being so ARGH about it; i do this with EVERY essay/ peice of coursework, yarg! Going to a stress management class soon though which should help me to deal better with this kind of stuff :D
Goodbye, and have a pleasant tommorrow!!
I swear to drunk im not God.....
GWhizz
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Post by GWhizz »

I find mind maps very useful just a suggestion there is some research being done on methods called 'Sparking' has any one heard of it here?
All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you - Gandalf
Pooky
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Post by Pooky »

fuzzy wrote: Going to a stress management class soon though which should help me to deal better with this kind of stuff :D
That sounds good. Can you let me know what it like, what they talk about, etc?
Greg
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Post by Greg »

GWhizz wrote:methods called 'Sparking' has any one heard of it here?
I've heard of something that sounds similar, but it doesn't help with essay writing.
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