Assignments :(

Associate
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Does anybody else have problems starting assignments and leave them to the last minute like me. People say its best to just start them early than to leave them till late and rush them. But i can never get round to doing it, always put it off to the last minute. Can anybody relate to this? or have any tips lol. Maybe im just lazy
 
Associate
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Done it my whole life, and I honestly think I write better when Im under a lot of pressure. That being said, I try and do a little bit of background reading before the 2 or so days before it normally takes me to crank out an essay.

Depends on the size of course.. Got a 6000 worder in next month, defenitely not going to be leaving that until the night before :D
 
Soldato
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Ive got one in for today which was done a week ago and just finished my second one!

Still got one to do which is in for the 6th Nov. All are 2000 words. We got given them the week we started our final year and only had 5 weeks to get to know the subjects :o
 
Soldato
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I used to be like that (and still am to some extent, but nowhere near as bad) until I realised that I actually could do the work and get a better grade without the last minute rush/panic. Whenever I rush things I always think "if only I had a bit more time". Now I set myself targets like if I get X done i'll do Y as a reward.
 
Consigliere
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Urgh. Done all my essays/reports the night before for the past 2 years of my degree...same as i said last year: THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT! :o

...i never learn. :(
 
Soldato
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Does anybody else have problems starting assignments and leave them to the last minute like me. People say its best to just start them early than to leave them till late and rush them. But i can never get round to doing it, always put it off to the last minute. Can anybody relate to this? or have any tips lol. Maybe im just lazy

Keep a list of things you need to do, then say to yourself "Worst First", i.e. give priority to the thing you least want to do, to get it out the way.

Set yourself a little reward for doing something.

Get plenty of sleep, and go to bed relatively early (e.g. 11pm) and get up the same time every day. Around 8 hours sleep is about right. This will rest your brain, give you more in reserve, and will allow you to make decisions faster and be more productive in general.

Hope that helps.

Rgds
 
Associate
OP
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Keep a list of things you need to do, then say to yourself "Worst First", i.e. give priority to the thing you least want to do, to get it out the way.

Set yourself a little reward for doing something.

Get plenty of sleep, and go to bed relatively early (e.g. 11pm) and get up the same time every day. Around 8 hours sleep is about right. This will rest your brain, give you more in reserve, and will allow you to make decisions faster and be more productive in general.

Hope that helps.

Rgds

thanks :D
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
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58,899
I've always left things till the last minute tbh.... tis pretty hard to change that habit - I guess if you really put some effort in you can but pressure is always a god motivator - I'm always more productive closer to a deadline.
 
Soldato
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whats uni coursework like compared to say, high quality A-level/Level 3 BTEC at college?

some of those assignments werent easy... i'm just wondering, does it go up a notch? in quantity anyway?
 
Soldato
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In my own little world
I would start my assignment when I was first given it (by start I mean create the file, title, header, footer and maybe the first sentance) and then i'd leave it to maybe a day or 2 before the dead line. I would then spend the rest of my time finding ways of doing the assignment without actually doing it :confused:

MW
 
Associate
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I have done the same, start the assignment then lose motivation halfway through then do it the night before. Though this time round I have not finished it before the dealine so have got to get my groove on to complete it as I have already gone over the deadline for the next one :(
 
Associate
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1 Oct 2006
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385
On both years during my degree I've done it all in the last moment. And i mean the last possible moment with like 10 minutes to spare before hand in. During May i didn't sleep for 48 hours doing assingment work and i never want to be in that possition again. But i find it very hard to start doing anything. But once i get going I'm fine.
 
Associate
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London
I'm like this. The worst thing is when the stuff is pretty doable in a few hours/couple of days, so it annoys me when I don't just get it over and done with at the beginning of, say, a week or two off (e.g., this week). It plays on my mind, even if it's a reasonably simple task, and so I never feel comfortable procrastinating, yet I end up doing it anyway.

The problem I have is that I hardly have anything better to do other than to just get on with my coursework. Once I get into the groove, it's a piece of cake, but it's starting those introductory paragraphs that I always need to get my head around.
 
Soldato
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30 Sep 2009
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3,626
i've been a brinksman the past 2 college years but i don't know if i will be able to pull it off this year (i'm on day release - work full time)
i sat down at my laptop last night to start an assignment we got nearly 3 weeks ago and ended up streaming the spurs game and browsing the net instead.

i really need to get my act togethor as it's my fianl year before uni
 
Soldato
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Saudi Arabia né Donegal
I always try to start coursework as soon as I get it. Doesn't always pan out that way but it certainly beats all nighters trying to get stuff done. Leaving things to the last minute resulted in me dropping out of my first course having failed the year. Now, by tackling the work straight away, I'm able to get a constant average of over 85%.

With this stuff it seems easy to put it off as there are no immediate consequences to leaving the work for another day yet it all has a habit of piling up making the situation worse and, in my case certainly, causing a lot of stress.

Unfortunately there are an infinite number of things which are far more appealing than course work, watching paint dry for instance, otherwise why would the lecturers bother handing it out (other than to test your ability and make you learn stuff in the process).
 
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