Student working habbits..

I usually set myself 500 words/day to do for essays and things, it's worked OK so far (in my 3rd year now). There were times in first year where I was doing things the day before and, to be fair, the marks weren't much worse, but the stress was.
 
I've got a VB program to write, a Database to create and it's accompanying diagrams, as well as a write up for my Professional Skills module and this has to be done by mid Jan. I haven't even looked at any of the assignments yet.

Yesterday I went into the library just to have a quiet place to study and concentrate my thoughts but it just doesn't work. Knowing that there's Facebook, OcUK and Twitter at the click of a button is really, really tempting. I find myself logging into things like MSN and then trying to work in the background while chatting to other people. What normally happens is I end up splitting it about 90/10 in favour of talking to my friends and browsing the net instead... Really undisciplined I am at the moment.

I know what I need to do but it's the motivation of actually sitting down and saying to myself "Right, I'm going to do this, this and this and I'm not doing anything else until I get these done."

At the moment I lack that and it's always my brain saying 'I'll do it tomorrow definitely'.
 
Its all about doing things last min, im 24 hours away from a 3000 word essay dead line, iv got 3000 words to do and about 200 pages on self determination to get through...

Realistically i only have 10 hours as id like to go out tonight with the rest of my house....

Its all about pressure and the random things you fancy listening too whilst frantically wondering how to spell normal words.
 
willhub said:
Student working...
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You lost me right about there. ;)

Seriously though, when I was a student I always left everything until the last moment and I rarely got stressed about it. I thought that was the whole point of being a student.
 
I start as soon as I get assignments usually, but I leave them for a while and end up having to do them in a few days!

Only exception is java assignments, I bash them out in a few days :P
 
I guess this has probably been said but its just how different people work.

I know im one of those, oh crap its midnight, i better start my 3000 word essay due for tomorrow. I'm just somebody thats too laid back and don't let things like this get too me.
I also normally end up with grades that don't do my brain justice at all.

On the other hand you have the people like yourself. Get a little worked up over things, but non the less, get stuff done or nearly done as soon as they can. commit much more time and effort into perfecting work etc. The outcome i guess is better grades ;) ... in theory of course!!!
nothing wrong with you, its just how you work! wouldn't worry about it :)


now stop wasting your time posting on ocuk and get back to work slacker!!! :p
 
Funny this thread should pop up today...I'm sat here adding the finishing touches to some uni work due in tomorrow. I had the opportunity to do this last week but I found myself getting distracted and didn't get the work done. I knew that I would have today free so I left it until now and I'm tanking through it with no problems.

I think it depends on the nature of the work - this is preliminary research and tidying loose ends so I don't mind leaving it until the day before. However I have a 3000 word essay to write for when I go back after Christmas and I'll get that started (and probably finished) within the next few days so I have chance to go over it and see what can be improved.
 
Most of uni I've left things till last minute. I've never had less than a 2:1 , I'm just pretty good at doing coursework fast under pressure. The few times I've started early I just work much slower.

Having said that I'm now in my final year and have started everything much earlier, it's worth 70% so I figure I need to do well.
 
Nothing wrong with being planned... prefer to do it soon as I get it that way have the days between the deadline (after completion) to relax. :).
 
In my opinion there are three factors which balance out to make a good student:

Effort - the amount of time you put towards your studies

Raw 'intelligence' - The ability to understand things and appreciate complicated ideas relatively quickly, the pure processing ability of that person's brain

Common sense - Knowing what you should be working on and when, appreciating diminishing returns, looking to improve your marks efficiently rather than learning endless knowledge

Different people have different abundances of each. One 'genius' I know has unprecedented commitment to his work and 'raw intelligence', but has absolutely no common sense whatsoever and will frequently work too hard on one essay to find out that he has another essay due in beforehand that he hadn't even considered. Another chap I know has equal 'raw intelligence' and buckets of common sense, yet does not put in the same effort as the former friend. Both are examples of first class students - you do not need to excel in all three areas, but the very best students will.

I would say I score far higher in terms of common sense and raw intelligence than effort - I have shown myself to be very lazy on occasion, but I work 'smart' rather than hard. I also have the fortune to process a rather unnatural short term memory that helps me immensely, so I can get away with tactics of which other students cannot. Different people work best differently - the trick is appreciating how you work best and compensating appropriately.
 
I did everything at the last minute. I did software engineering.

assignment started when there was about a wekk left to the deadline.

essays started about two days before the deadline. (i can type/think fast so i do about 1k words in an hour)

final year project wasnt started until it was 3 months into the final year and finished about 4 days before the end

final year project write up started 2 weeks before the deadline (my mate started his 4 days before lol)
 
With regards to the title of the thread, I can't say I've ever heard of a student working in a nunnery....
 
At the end of the day it sounds like you get yourself into a routine and plan to get your work done in time to hand it in, I wouldn't worry about what others do, and I bet you get a better standard of grades than the ones who leave it all to the last min.

One day all the hard work will pay off and you will be glad you got your head down and did the work sooner rather than later.
 
Nitefly said:
I would say I score far higher in terms of common sense and raw intelligence than effort - I have shown myself to be very lazy on occasion, but I work 'smart' rather than hard. I also have the fortune to process a rather unnatural short term memory that helps me immensely, so I can get away with tactics of which other students cannot. Different people work best differently - the trick is appreciating how you work best and compensating appropriately.
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That's basically me
 
I always leave stuff for the last minute, and spend as little time as possible on uni as I don't really like it.

Presentations always get made in the last 2 hours in advance, assignments always submitted after the deadlines ( because that way I can see if they're needed to get my points, if I can get my points without making them in the end ( eg. just by passing the exams) , I don't make them) except in a few exceptions, and generally I test the teachers/prof's patience...

So basically, I'm a lazy **** if it comes to uni and try to get away with doing as little as possible.
 
a lot of people, virtually everyone I know at Uni here, just crams in the library in 12+ hours stints until it's done. Which is fine if that's how they work.

I never worry about work it's just not worth it.

People that spend all year out, smashed, blind drunk and then complain they have to spend 48hours in the library don't get any sympathy from me.
 
I always left essays to the very last minute, and exam revision for that matter. Its the only way I could focus. It worked fine for me and I got above average grades a good 2.1 LLB. Exams were pretty stressful though.
 
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