Posted by utopizen on February 15, 2004, at 22:58:26
Okay, I've never done a paper or had an assignment due yet this semester, so this is my first all-nighter for the semester. It's for a bio II survey class, covering 9 chapters that I haven't read yet for an exam this tuesday mroning.
I figure if I don't do the studying tonight as an all-nighter, it's less than realistic for me to believe it'll all be crammed in tomorrow for me. And I'm pretty sure I can bet on that.
Keep in mind I also have extreme daytime sleepiness on top of my ADD, and my sleep doc said these things "bounce off each other." Makes sense, because my sleepiness hits the fan the moment I try to read anything that's not something I have any interest in (in other words, I can read the American Textbook of Psychopharmacology with complete alertness, but anything related to my schoolwork I can't). I'm an English major, and all of my papers up to this point in my Junior year have been done as all-nighters.
My CBT therapist said ADD kids tend to be smarter, and they also work off adrenaline, and also this can become a habit because they realize that things seem to always "work out" at the last second. And it's true-- I tend to get A-'s or at least B's or B+'s on my work, despite the fact that I start and finish these 7 or 8 page things from midnight to 9AM on the day it's due.
That an when it doesn't work out, I see the professor the same day it was due and ask for an extension. Professors like me because I have novel things to talk about that relate to the course, novel insights I write about for my papers, and all that. My ADD must make me creative a bit too.
And when you have ADD, you need to be very good at the things that you need to do to overshadow the things you aren't doing, like handing in papers all the time and such.
But I am also tired. I've been diagnosed with narcolepsy, without the sleep attacks, I guess. I can feel awake and alert, unless I am trying to do something related to my courses or am working on projects at an internship like I had to do last summer.
So in other words, Desoxyn helps me stay awake for routine things like cleaning my room and writing on the web, but not for reading any books or studying in general. And staying up all night on Desoxyn, or Adderall like I did last school year when I had that, it forces me to focus on the subject for a whole night.
In the daytime, I divert my attention to whatever's not work-related. It's really bad. Executive dysfunction my therapist said it's related to (I had a neuropsychological evaulation). I'll call to make or confirm doc appts., call up people I'm suppose to contact, even buy things on eBay I really don't need at all, or clean excessively, in the afternoon. Then after 4 I'm super tired, but I'm not suppose to sleep according to my doc for a nap unless it's before 4. Either way, I have insomnia I haven't been prescribed Ambien for yet, and well, I figure if I have a poor shot at sleeping,
I may as well do work overnight. So this will be my first all nighter. I have a class at 10 this Monday morning, and then Tue my classes are from 9-12. The bio exam is on Tue at 9AM.
I figure if I stay up for the bio exam to study the 9 chapters I haven't touched yet, I have a good shot at knowing most of it. I can nap mid-day Monday a little, sleep monday night, review in between this, and then be prepared Tuesday morning. Much better than trying to brood over it all Monday and not getting much done.
Oh well. I should go to the library, shouldn't I? Anyone have a mental phase they throw in their head to resist those stupid diverting tasks they otherwise would end up doing instead of the thing they need to be focusing on? Like, "Is this as importantant as your test Tuesday?" or "Will this make you happier than being prepared for your test Tuesday?" Oh, good ideas I just put down... I'll try those.
Anyone else's coping strategies, please chime in.
poster:utopizen
thread:313871
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040211/msgs/313871.html