Psycho-Babble Psychology Thread 313871

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College student, doing all nighters everytime

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.

 

Re: College student, doing all nighters everytime » utopizen

Posted by Elle2021 on February 16, 2004, at 2:06:48

In reply to College student, doing all nighters everytime, posted by utopizen on February 15, 2004, at 22:58:26

Hmm, I do the same thing. Before I changed my mind, I was an English major. All of my English papers were done the night before they were due. I have yet to find a good reason to stop doing this, because I always get excellent grades on the papers I do in a rush. *Disclaimer* I'm not recommending you start this habit. :)

I also used to have a HUGE problem sitting down to read BORING literature. I used to just not read it at all, and sometimes I still don't. I'm currently taking a Lit. class and I have read only about 25% of the assigned material. I just pay attention in class to the lectures, and I still manage great grades on the tests. On the last test I got a 98%, and never read the poem (it was Paradise Lost). But, I have found that it is quite necessary to read for other subjects, especially psychology. So, what I do for that is break up the reading into "digestable" parts. I don't read the entire thing in one night. I read by paragraphs or pages. This seems to work for me. I don't get bored with the subject (unless it was boring to begin with), and I feel like I've accomplished something after I finish the reading goal. Those are my coping skills.
Elle

 

Re: College student, doing all nighters everytime

Posted by utopizen on February 16, 2004, at 3:17:07

In reply to Re: College student, doing all nighters everytime » utopizen, posted by Elle2021 on February 16, 2004, at 2:06:48

thanks for the advice on not cramming all my readings at once. I think I can easily convince myself to stay up to read 10 pages versus the whole book a lot more easily.

I am an English major too, and this is my third year, and all my papers have been all-nighters.

 

Re: College student, doing all nighters everytime

Posted by fallsfall on February 16, 2004, at 7:38:27

In reply to Re: College student, doing all nighters everytime, posted by utopizen on February 16, 2004, at 3:17:07

I was a college student many, many years ago. My Freshman year I worked hard and got mostly A's. First semester Sophmore year I found the joy of studying into the wee (and not so wee - 4AM) hours of the morning. Actually, I needed to stay up that late to get my homework done. The problem was that Organic Chemistry was at 8AM. So I would grab a couple hours of sleep. Go to my Chem class and literally sleep through the class. This was not helpful.

In hindsight, staying up late to study (particularly to study for a test) was counterproductive for me. I would have done better on the test if I had some good solid sleep behind me. I have tried to learn this lesson (and teach it to my children) with varying degrees of success.

When I was in high school, somehow I was smart enough to go to bed at a reasonable time and then get up early to finish whatever it was. That way, at least, while I was working on the project I wasn't falling asleep at the same time.

This rambles a little - I haven't been sleeping well 8^)

I guess the bottom line is that I believe that you will do better work IN LESS TIME if you are getting enough sleep.

 

Re: College student, doing all nighters everytime

Posted by Karen_kay on February 16, 2004, at 11:56:55

In reply to Re: College student, doing all nighters everytime, posted by fallsfall on February 16, 2004, at 7:38:27

I have to agree with Falls... I usually wait until the very last second to get started, end up going to bed and waking very early to finish my projects. And I always do well on them.

Getting sleep is very important. I usually sleep and wake very early (sometimes at 5 am when I have something due at 11) to finish a large project. Start the coffee, I'm on a roll!!!! And stay away from Babble! It gets me every time!

As for asking for extensions, I'm the Queen! I received several bonus points on a law exam for flirting with the Prof.... There was a question about pornography and the tcom laws regarding and I asked him if he was in it (on the exam, mind you!) ... I also wrote, If you are in this particular film, could you pass me 2 copies? He replied, Nope, I'm not in it. Sorry. I talked otr him after class and he said he really appreciated my comments and if my grade was on the line, he'd keep them in mind and swing my grade higher.... If you are confident, flirt a bit! It works!!! :)


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