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[Rankor]

Hey Bay12, need some advice here:

So tomorrow a new trimester in High School begins for me. For a long time I've known that I need to get my shit together, but I've not really done much about it, up until a bit before the end of last trimester. Long story short, I've been changing a lot about how I live my life, and currently the issue I'm working on is my organization. I know I have the ability to be an organized person; I've seen myself do it when I actually get engaged into things (ex: one of the courses I took last trimester, I kept all my shit together). Usually I start a trimester alright, but then about midway through, everything just falls down the drain. I end up not doing homework, fall behind, fail tests, and never really get caught up. Anyways, I'll be moving into higher-level things next year, so I want to really get rid of these issues now. Any tips?

tl;dr: help me stop procrastinating and not getting shit done, and be more orderly.

[Imp]

Usually I start a trimester alright, but then about midway through

Zoom us/yourself in on that time period, that right before everything goes bad.  For me, and I suspect a lot of other people, there are triggers/warning signs.  Something changes, that might be in how you feel, or maybe you start to get a little behind and start to try less hard at the same time, might be pressures at home or with social situations at school or in work.  Could be related to sleep, stress, progress, the approaching holidays, cold/flu season.... The list of possibles is loooooong


My guess also might be wrong - but what I'm asking you to do is not kick back and imagine what it might be - look to your actual and real past.  Since this problem has happened repeatedly for you (that's actually not bad - it means you have access to data that can make fixing it possible - fluky problems usually are almost impossible to avoid, prepare for, or fix - because they are flukes and who in real life is crazy prepared?), it should have a history that you can reflect back on, and try to identify what was going on in the weeks/up to about a month before each time you can remember where you had troubles.

[Tiruin]

Also: Do what you think you should be doing and do what you know you should be trying.

For me, and I suspect a lot of other people, there are triggers/warning signs.

There totally are. It's subjective from person to person but it is coincidental with the formation of habits.

And I also forward what Imp said: Identify what plagues you and either note that down for personal thought or...tell it to someone who could help you. Like family/friends.

[Rankor]

Well, my home life hasn't ever helped. I've never had my parents there actively *supporting* me. They've just kindof existed in the background, saying if I need them, they exist. Other than that though, they never tried to become a part of my life when I was a little kid, so I lost a lot of motivation there.

Last trimester I feel behind in mathematics because I missed a single day (only day, keep in mind), and never asked about it. That was my fault, and I know, understand and admit it. However prior to that, it's normally depression that hits. Something causes some depression, usually self-harm and such occurs, I block out the world for a little while, and then when I'm over it, I'm screwed over in all my classes so I simply never resume-caring about said classes.

Now lastly what I think causes a loss of motivation is that I don't ever push myself to do good. I simply ride through life as it happens, rather than try to succeed. For a long time I mistook this as school being too easy (though it could have been more difficult); I knew I *could* be one of those students who gets put into all advanced classes, but in most of them I never tried because I never felt pushed to actually try and *learn* from material I already knew. Don't get me wrong, I'm in upper level science (As a sophomore, I'm in Junior-Chemistry, looking at taking AP Bio next year), and mid-level mathematics, looking at advancing into higher-level (AP Calculus and Stats) next year.

Science and Mathematics have always given me a solid base to learn from, so those have never been an issue, except my lack of desire to do things after school (eg. homework or studying) because of the first two reasons mentioned. Literature/Engrish/Language Arts, however, has always taught the same material, just with added complication, over and over again. That's why I felt a "lack of difficulty"; I looked past the 'added complication' mentioned.
Anyways, I'm looking at actually *working* towards getting put into Honors Lit next year, so I can *mayyyyyybee* take AP Literature my Senior year. After school today I met with my Lit teacher, and she agreed that I have the ability to be in honors lit, I simply need to do the work in normal lit this year. Which I'm resolving to do.