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I need some encouragement.


Enox

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I'm in my first year of IB.

To start off, I'm not a very well rounded student. I'm smart, but relatively lazy. I don't always do my work, but it's not because I just flat out don't want to do it. I actually have a strong desire to get good grades and I do know the level of effort I need to put forth in order to do that. I suffer from ADD and I am not professionally diagnosed with, but I show symptoms of moderate dyslexia. (I've taken a handful of tests.) My homework takes me 2-6+ hours to do as I cannot focus that easily. Any sound or intervening thoughts can throw me off easily. I don't feel like I have too much work, I just feel like it takes me too long. Right now, I'm sitting at 3 A's, 4 B's, and a D. I procrastinate too much... and every time I do, I say I won't do it again, and that I'll be smart and start early but when the time comes for me to be starting my work, I suddenly don't see the consequences are that bad anymore. (I hope that makes sense.) When I procrastinate, though, it's often because I'm dreading the fact that it will take too long to do.

My D is in History. History RIPS me to shreds. It's my most difficult subject. The homework takes the longest. I suck at analyzing things because I don't have a strong foundation of World and US history due to my lack of interest causing me to pay no attention. I almost failed one of my paper assessments. I DID fail this paper I wrote on a book... I am paying for it now and I really feel like I'm in SO deep a hole that theres no point in even trying. I haven't done most of my outlines because they take me 2-4 hours each and we have to do them every single day. On the other hand, I do like history when I can understand it. Thats the hard part, though. Currently, I have around 10 outlines I could turn in. They're all weighted 1s. I feel like the longer I wait, the more work keeps piling. It's a scary pile too, quite daunting.

So, there you have it. That's my whiny sob story. I'm looking for motivation and encouragement. Has anyone ever felt the same? What did you do? (Or what should you have done?) Advice?

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First of all, you're still in the beginning of IB1! Don't start panicking from now!

You have said that your lack of interest if behind inability to concentrate, usually the only solution for this is to change the sbuject. If you really don't like at all and find it impossible to concentrate on it already, then change it!

Having dyslexia is not a huge problem trust me, I know people who passed IB with a pretty good score with dyslexia, just don't make yourself believe it's a huge problem!

You feel you suffer from ADD, get yourself diagnosed properly and the doctor should be able to give you tips to help you concentrate more.

Remember, everyone procrastinates, and everyone says "its the last time im doing this", you're not the only one! :no:

Just keep in mind, that you are a smart person and the only thing you need is a bit more concentration on your subjects. To motivate you, remember that you are in this program because you're cut out to be in it. When you're doing your HW, just say: "If I finish this without zoning out or procrastinating, I can do whatever I want without having to worry that I have work that needs to be done" I always used that motivation, it was very hard, but the thought of having free time without having to worry about this undone work, just pushes me.

You are not in a deep hole yet! But you will be if you continue thinking this way! There are many ways in which you could be helped in your symptoms and studies!

Always always remember if you mess up IB, then that's it, everything is messed up! And that is not going to happen to someone as smart as you are!

Once again, you are in IB therefore you are certainly smart and deserve to be in the program! :)

If you need any help in any subject, we will be glad to help you.

Good luck! :P

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I like the comment above mine. The first thing I'd advise is to just relax! Just take a deeeeep karmic breath.

For your ADD, I can't pretend I know what that feels like but I have a friend who has it and he takes medicine to help him focus.

Theres not really much else to add but I would like to echo Mahuta's comment in that you're only just starting out! Remember that IB does things differently than what you're used to and so you'll need time to adjust. Remember it's only October of your first year. Find a point of motivation and lock onto it.

And frankly anytime you're looking for support get on here. It seems that this forum is just a huge pool of peer support. This is also a great place for homework help and if you ask someone for help that have already taken the course chances are you'll be helping them out too. Teaching is the best way of learning :P.

Bonne chance.

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Glad to hear from you guys! I just need a little bit of encouragement every once in a while. I really appreciate your posts and I will try to follow your advice. A little procrastination leads to a lot, generally. I am trying to correct my habits. That being said, I'm off to do two history outlines before I sleep. Two weeks are left in the quarter and I need to play catch up. I'm also thinking about the teacher, she's going to have a lot of work in a short period of time. Oh man, I'll think about it next time. Sorry, teach.

If anyone else wants to post, go ahead. >:3 I really enjoy reading advice. I'll be back to check tomorrow... or maybe before I sleep.

:P

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You can do what I do every so often, although it is a rather arrogant way of thinking and could possibly only apply to certain schools. You're doing work most kids would laugh at and say "nope, not going to happen, ever, can't do it" or just flat out say "**** it, how will this help me?". You doing IB shows you want to learn, you doing it with ADD/dyslexia shows how you don't care about obstacles. Finish the work and at the end you can think to yourself of the accomplishment you just did instead of thinking how you just wasted 6 hours on homework (not a waste by the way).

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Holy crap, that's exactly what I do. Ehm, you've thrown me into a bit of a panic attack :)

But I find that when I really try, and turn off all my distractions *cough* IBSurvival *cough*, I can work, though its hard staying motivated.

Maybe go into a room with just a chair, desk and a pen, and try working for a solid hour?

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All I would say is that it's easy (and part of procrastination) to roll out excuses and tell yourself that you're smart but lazy etc.

Occasionally it's worth just being military style about it. How do you know you're smart if you've never applied yourself? If the answer is "when I apply myself I do well", ask yourself what your goal is. If it's to do well, I'm inclined to agree with what Grumps said -- man up! Get somebody to help you make yourself do things, even if it's just asking your parents to not let you watch tv/use the internet for an hour when you get home.

Also if things are taking too long to do, ask yourself why. I can see how it would put you off starting things (it does for me too!) but generally time can be cut down if you just think very critically about how to improve on your times. Prioritise things, do it all at once rather than in small stages, start writing immediately and so on. Don't plan your time better, plan what you're doing better to make it so that things don't drag along. If you can identify a few things about the way you work which would speed things up if changed (like not planning things for so long...) then do them!

One excellent way to cut down on planning is to plan your points but not your order. To explain that a little more clearly, I mean to look at anything relevant and not worry about whether it should go in your intro, your first or second paragraph etc. but just get down the raw facts. Don't order the points in the essay as you make them, just get the meat of it down on paper and either order them as you write your essay or quickly once you've compiled everything. Breaking essays (and more or less anything) down into parts is also motivating because you check things off. Once you've gathered all your points you can tick that off and feel accomplished.

Also simple skills like how to read things (expressly to gather the right kind of information) may seem kinda obvious but if you're not doing it right, that could also be adding on time. Basically just break down what's causing you to take so much time and find a way to speed it up. It's horrible to feel like things are going to take so long there's no point in trying, but if you go about it the right way, things shouldn't be taking you multiple hours but maybe 1 hour max. Especially for just an outline!

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