Help

[katherine]

Hello! I'm in grade nine pre-IB and I'm having a few problems

-I'm constantly tired, I can't wake up when I want to

-Sometimes I procrastinate and I finish assignments and projects at the last minute

-I'm also looking for a good way to study

Someone please help me and give advice! It would be really helpful!

[I like pine cones ._.]

The constantly tired part seems like you have a bit of sleep deprivation going on (very common in IB/pre-IB students, at least at my school).

Ways to possibly improve that are:

• Set a strict bed time (far enough back that you can get at least eight hours of sleep before you need to wake up). Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
  
• Move more during the day when possible. That way, you'll be more tired and ready to go to sleep come bed time.
  
• Get a new mattress if you are not comfortable.
  
• Avoid eating or drinking caffeinated, fatty, or spicy foods 6-8 hours before you go to sleep. This is often difficult to abide by because of traditional dinners, but smaller dinners are actually good for you.
  
• Make sure your room is totally dark when you sleep. This is not always the case, but typically any light will disrupt sleep.
  
• Sometimes "white noise" like that of a fan can help people sleep.
  
• At least 30 minutes before bed time, GET OFF of the computer, and do something relaxing. This could range anywhere from knitting to reading, to petting your cat. Screen time, physical activity, and listening to music typically stimulate people, and are not wise to do before bed.
  

If you are still having trouble, see a medical professional. There could be a medical reason behind your drowsiness other than sleep deprivation that could be easily fixed with the proper assistance.

As for the other two, I'm still trying to figure that out for myself.

**Edit: The grammar just needed to be fixed... Dx

Edited December 2, 2012 by I like pine cones ._.

[Arrowhead]

Organise your day and stick to the schedule you make for yourself. That's really the best thing. Some people can't focus on work for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. So if you have a piece of work to finish that you think will take up a good 2-3 hours, schedule 5 hours for it and take regular breaks in-between. Say you have to write a commentary for English, write about 500 words, then pause, watch a youtube video or something, and have the ethic to come back and write another 500 words, pause, watch another video, reply to some emails, come back and continue until it's done.

This method takes longer, but you get the work done and it doesn't feel overwhelming.

The truth of the matter is that some people just have a good work ethic because they have to work hard for good grades and they're focused and more than anything else, determined. These people work like dogs and earn their results. Others are just naturally brilliant and can fly by with minimal effort/prep. Such people eventually pay for their lack of academic discipline when at university and the readings and work becomes too much for last minute prep.

The only way anyone's advice can actually help you is if you discipline yourself. Everyone here will give you loads of advice and tips for revision and what-not, but if you don't have that drive in you and you don't develop the habit of sitting and working when you say you will, you will always struggle and it will only get worse with time. You're still in Grade 9, so things will begin to get steadily more difficult as time passes. If you're already constantly tired and having difficulty managing, you need to learn to discipline your mind and be able to dissociate 'study time' from 'free time,' and try to keep procrastination to a minimum, to the best of your ability.

That being said, don't overdo it! Discipline and study skills develop and improve over time. If you try to do too much too fast, you will probably be productive for a week and then revert back to normal, in fact end up being lazier because you exhausted yourself in that one week. Take it slowly and in increments. Make sure one assignment is done with discipline this week, two pieces of homework the next, and steadily build your way up to having a conscientious work ethic that allows you to finish up your tasks in time.

That's my two cents anyway.

Best of luck!

Arrowhead.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Arrowhead

[Award Winning Boss]

I agree with all of the advice above (except for the fatty foods thing... I don't think that's reasonable unless you pretty much cut down on them all together (which would be a good thing in itself))

Read this thread and see if it helps because it seems to address some of your concerns.

PS. Make your titles more informative than just 'help' next time.

[Guest Positron]

I'm also in pre-IB, so I guess I could give you some advice

• As mentioned earlier, the best way to not be tired is setting yourself a bed time. However, one thing that will help you get up (no matter how tired you are) is to set one of Justin Bieber's songs (or any other music/alarm you hate) as your wake-up alarm, and then position your phone/alarm as far away from your bed as possible. The sheer thought of having to listen to that will force you out of the bed.
  
• Procrastination is something (almost) all IB students have in common. It's quite difficult to overcome; if you know you can do the work at the last minute, and still do well, it's really difficult to force yourself to do it earlier. I've noticed that giving yourself your own deadlines (that are before the actual one), and then writing those down, help. When you write down something like "I'll have this assignment done on (insert a date)", it becomes more "tangible". It's easier to procrastinate on things if you're just thinking "I'll start working on this some day next week", than it is if you wrote down an exact date when you'll start and be done. Usually it's the starting that's the most difficult part, so starting assignments the same day you get them might be a good idea. It's easy to continue working on an assignment once you have started.
  

Edited December 2, 2012 by Positron