How do you guys do it?

[scaryjim]

... I can't afford to do that with my mortgage to pay!

I was lucky - I managed to sell my house (at huge profit) just before I started, so I had enough money to see me through. The previous year had been a nightmare though, because we were renting as well as paying the mortgage on my difficult-to-sell house.

So how long will your MSc take?

[Mblaster]

I never did manage, which is why I did well at my GCSEs (easy) O.K. at A-Level (a bit harder) and flunked out of university (hard).

This is pretty much exactly the same story as me, my GCSE results were very good, average A level results, and just managed to pass at degree level.

I put some of it down to not actually having to put any effort in at school and just breezing through up to the age of 16, first time I did some revision was for my maths A level exams. So then when things became harder and actually required effort I wasn't ready for it.

The only thing that managed to motivate me to get my work done was when it go to the point that I was literally running out of hours in the day to finish the work, hence many long sleepless Sunday nights (all my deadlines were 9am Monday morning).

Although I am a serial procrastinator in my own time, while at work I never have the same problem, because I have gone to work and between the hours of 9am and 5pm I'm being paid to work, so I get on with it. Where as when I was given an assignment to do and told to do it whenever I like in my own time, 'whenever I like' always turned out to be the last possible minute.

As an aside, I never had many problems with the practical skills, but I am terrible at report writing, and this was my main downfall at uni, especially in the final year. If you can become good at writing essays/reports it will make a big difference to your grades (the majority of my exams were in this format too).

[dbh]

Oh yeah forgot to mention don't rely on caffeine drinks like RedBull and stuff you might go cold turkey when the effects wear off and might end up more tired than before you drank it! Water is best imo!

[tiggerai]

I was lucky - I managed to sell my house (at huge profit) just before I started, so I had enough money to see me through. The previous year had been a nightmare though, because we were renting as well as paying the mortgage on my difficult-to-sell house.

So how long will your MSc take?

No such luck - I'm stuck with negative equity at the moment, so can't move until the house prices do, or I make some serious dosh (which i hope, is where the MSc will come in, in a few years time).

2 years - part time... 1 module a semester. It's 20 mins from work though so might be able to strike a deal there. (or it means that I can work some half days in the weeks I've got lectures) It's relevant to my job so hopefully it'll be ok. It's the only way I can see of doing things without completely screwing myself over more!

[steve threlfall]

Banana ftw

Good coffee rather than sugary energy drinks.

[sammyc]

Bottom line is to not pressure yourself beyond what common sense says your body can handle while you are still not fully over the glandular fever. You may get away with a bit of pushing yourself, but if you can tell you're not up to things put your health first, everything else can wait - it's just not worth it long-term. More haste less speed.

[Powderhound]

I'm currently a sixth former as well, and my personal method when I have heavy workload for a given period of time (ie more than one evening's worth) is to draw up a to-do list of what needs to be covered, broken down into manageable chunks. The psychological effect of working your way through a set list with a known end point, ticking off things as they're done means that you have something to aim for.


Also, this might seem a bit random, but if you're finding that you're getting down with life, might I suggest doing something like voluntary work in your spare time? I've done ~200 hours work with dementia patients and disabled kids in the last year or so, and I've found that no matter how much work has piled up on the desk at home or however badly my social life was crashing and burning, a couple of hours helping out someone who really appreciates it helped me to get things in perspective and get my feet back on the ground.

[pp05]

Revise, complete coursework/homework and other work/school related things? I honestly cant seem to be able to complete any of my work in a respectable time frame or to a good standard (i was ok before i had glandular fever a month ago, still suffering gerrr). I find that when i try to revise or sit down i do my work i get distracted, if im on the computer im looking here/researching other technology things or looking at Hotukdeals or even face book!. When im not on a computer/have no internet im generally distracted by small things like pens etc or i just dont do the work, sit there and cant think of anything good to type/write up.

So how do you lot manage to complete all your work and revise, successfully? ANy tips/hints for me?

( Im meant to be doing cw now but i really cant be bothered >.<).

I was like you. I really couldn't study long periods unless it the night before sort of thing [nothing like a bit of urgency].

But two things helped - get yourself out of your house if that is where you're struggling to concentrate and somewhere where others are studying. (e.g. library). When at home - limit your study time to 2 hours.

Secondly - do 30 minutes stints. have a break 10 minutes - read mag/newspaper, go for a walk anything but your work - and then return and spend 10 mins testing that you remember and understand what you studied. Then do another 30minute stint.

What I found doing this was I got an extra 3-4 hours work done. Also if you got mates, talk to them about subject area. That always reinforces what you're doing and keeps you interested.

If it's coursework - break your project down into small chunks. Each chunk gets 20mins read up, small break, and then move on to something else for 20 mins.

I hope some of that helps.

[nibbler]

I'm pretty worried at the moment. I got 9 A's at int 2 (roughly equivalent to GCSE) without lifting a single textbook. Now I seem to be coping with Higher (roughly equivalent to A level) teh same. However I really don't want any b's yet I cannot bring myself to study. Uni is possible a bad plan

[Will404]

Chemistry, so I've just retaken my final chemistry exam today... again the revision absolutely killed me,

[Off topic]
Was it ocr???? I did OCR organic chemistury exam today

Hope it went OK
[/Off topic]

My one piece of advice would be to drink loads and loads and loads of water. I was drinking about 500ml a day, but since joining the gym I have started drinking at least 2L a day, and it has helped my concentration, mood, everything

[jim]

[Off topic]
Was it ocr???? I did OCR organic chemistury exam today

Hope it went OK
[/Off topic]

Twas indeed OCR, but specifically the evil Salters course, so not the standard one.

[Rave]

This is pretty much exactly the same story as me, my GCSE results were very good, average A level results, and just managed to pass at degree level.

I put some of it down to not actually having to put any effort in at school and just breezing through up to the age of 16, first time I did some revision was for my maths A level exams. So then when things became harder and actually required effort I wasn't ready for it.

I went to an excellent school- but slacking wasn't tolerated by most of my teachers, so I had little choice but to put the work in. Plus, TBH, GCSEs are basically easy, and A-Levels not much harder. I got an easy A in Physics (got an A in all six modules in fact)- in fairness my mum was (and still is) a Physics teacher at my school, and I definitely take after her in my aptitude for (basic) Physics. I just scraped an A in Chemistry, and a C in Maths. I'm not interested in maths at all and my teacher was an utter ****, so I could slack off and consequently did (the maths teacher nixed my application to Oxford too- double ****). I still got 90% in the first mechanics module though.

I went off to uni to do Mechanical Engineering with high hopes- only to find that it was, erm, mostly maths. Which obviously I was crap at. And I had no idea how to organise my work by myself. Unfortunately I managed to scrape into the second year mainly on the back of scoring 83% in my Thermodynamics exam. I missed several lectures and fell asleep in the others, panicked and bought the textbook 24 hours before the exam, then found that it was all basically A-Level physics anyway. Of course I spectacularly failed the second year, but by then it was too late to switch courses to something that would actually interest me.

Although I am a serial procrastinator in my own time, while at work I never have the same problem, because I have gone to work and between the hours of 9am and 5pm I'm being paid to work, so I get on with it.

I'm not like that unfortunately. I got demoted from my job of Assistant Manager of a camera store because I was way more interested in finding out about cameras and then selling them to people than I was in actually managing the store (my sales record was spectacular though, on some weeks I outsold everyone else in the store combined). Then I nearly got sacked from my civil service job because the work was so tedious I couldn't be bothered to do it until people shouted at me for it.

After six months on the dole (which I didn't mind at all, since I was on the internet all day reading about stuff I enjoyed) I got a job as a bus driver, which is a job where failing to concentrate really isn't an option, because then you'd risk crashing a 12 ton vehicle with up to 85 people on board. After a year and a half, I was lucky to get promoted to be a controller, which involves trying to make sure that between 20 and 60 buses don't run late, or run early, or worst of all run together! Again it's a job where failing to concentrate isn't an option, because within 15 minutes two buses that were, say, 6 minutes apart on the road can end up running together if you don't call up the bus behind and tell him to slow down.

I don't feel hard done by now- I have to do about 20 days overtime a year to make the average wage for London, but that's not a bad wage for a 30 year old. I only have to start before 6am 4 days every 8 weeks, and I only finish after midnight 2 days in that time, which is far better than when I was a driver. But- without wanting to sound arrogant, I'm pretty smart and with a degree, and the ability to concentrate, I would be earning that, or more, for a 9-5. Then there's the fact that to this day I am constantly on the verge of being late for work because I get interested in stuff and stay up late on the internet, ending up with 5h sleep. And I drink a hell of a lot, because being sober of an evening is too boring.

I know this is a long, and completely un-asked for life story- but I post it as a salutary warning to the OP and others suffering concentration problems. Maybe the good advice posted here will sort the OP out, or maybe it won't, in which case help is available if you pay for it. My best mate from school had similar problems to me- a complete geek about subjects which interested him, he got an E in Computer Studies A-Level because he wasn't interested in the course. After flunking out of uni like me he got himself diagnosed with ADHD at Dr Kewley's operation and got a prescription for Ritalin. The change in him was dramatic to say the least. He could concentrate way better. I can't say how he's doing now as he completely dropped me as a friend when I got married, I haven't spoken to him since- and he had other problems, like severe checking OCD- 20 minutes, as a bare minimum, to leave the house every time. But the Ritalin was a start.

Ritalin, as I understand it, is basically an amphetamine. When I had problems at the civil service, I tried to get myself diagnosed with ADHD on the NHS. At the second session, my wife came with me to back up the fact that I was (and still am) an alcoholic fruitloop, prone to heavy self medication with booze, random bursts of hyperactivity, and general self-defeating indolence. Apparently the fact that I'd read the DSM IV was proof that in fact there was nothing wrong with me- according to the guy I saw, to have ADHD, you apparently have to be an idiot.

So, Hicks12, there you have it, a bunch of ideas to sort yourself out. I hope they work for you. But if they don't, I would seriously think about paying for a prescription for legal stimulants to allow you to fulfil your potential. I've exhausted my options on the NHS and am now out of luck, with a job that is basically fine. If amphetamines were legal I would utilise them to do all the **** I've always wanted to.

[Lucio]

Lack of concentration? Feeling generally 'down'? Jumping from one train of thought to another fairly quickly? TBH, it sounds like the symptoms of stress and/or depression mate.

I certainly go through similiar things, especially if combined with a regular inability to sleep. It's worth talking to your doctor again, especially if the other tips given here don't pan out.

[Searcher2]

I have only scanned through the thread - but if you are at school and thinking about going to Uni I would seriously think about working for a year before going. Firstly it will give you some money but secondly it gives you a reality check.

I hated Uni the first two years and only scraped through by the skin of my teeth - I got the lowest 3rd you could get in the 2nd year which counted towards 30% of my degree. The only reason I stayed on was because I wanted to do my third year placement year (which was optional). Once I worked in industry I got to see how a degree could help you get up the ladder and it also gave me the discipline of working 9 to 5 with free time at night. When I returned to Uni for the final year I sailed through (relatively speaking) and came out with a 2:1. It was noticable that in the final year, whenever we had projects to do, those people who had been on placements had theirs done in plenty of time and were well organised. Those that hadn't been on placement tended to be those up until all hours of the morning at the last minute trying to get it completed.

It may even be worth getting a job now (if you haven't already). You may think you don't have time for one - but it may instill some pressure on you knowing you haven't as much time to get your study done.

Thankfully the internet wasn't around when I was studying though.

[finlay666]

Sleep: Yes i do need sleep more so good point, will sort that .
Food: No sweets, done. Now to stop family buying crates of chocolate and giving me some!.
Time: Split it into do able sizes, i shall try!.

Get into the habit of instead of eating junk food have a piece of fruit, ideally one from a fridge (just the cold helped me wake up a bit more than a sugar rush)

Yeah i keep thinking everything will be a lot better when im at Uni but its the getting there that i dont want to do! . Ive applied for plymouth Uni to do - Computing(3rd year software/games development),Computer and Information Security, Computing Informatics, Computer Systems and Networks.

You applied to one uni for all the courses you wanted to do?
And not to be rude but I would avoid a games dev course. Final year myself and the main thing I have learned.... you really don't get taught enough, and if you get into the industry, the pay is low, the hours are long and you're pretty expendable because there will be people queueing up to do what you do

Information security sounds pretty cool though

I got replies back yesterday and all got conditional, however im struggling to decide what one to aim for... all have exact same conditions but what one to reply to .

I presume one uni all the grades will be the same, aim for your best. Set yourself a decent period of time to just work each evening or revise. Try to look at more advanced questions to reinforce your original understanding.

The work may look intimidating, but split it into short chunks, ideally ones that can be completed realistically within an hour, and dont work more than 45 mins at a time, and try to work per day on one area. Being focussed on a task I find easier than working on lots of different tasks

Most importantly, set yourself a reward for when you achieve your goal.